Transforming a Promotional Email Program into a Brand Story

HerRoom.com had a highly promotional email program that reached thousands of customers and prospects several times a week. Over time, performance began to decline. The messages were doing what they were designed to do — promote offers — but they weren’t telling customers why HerRoom was different or why they should choose the brand beyond price.

 

I saw an opportunity to shift the role of email from promotion engine to brand storyteller.

 

Working closely with our internal creative team, we developed a new five-part welcome series designed to introduce customers to the full HerRoom story.

 

Instead of leading with discounts, the emails focused on our competitive advantages, our expertise in fit and service, and what made shopping with HerRoom a better experience overall.

 

Each message built on the one before it, guiding customers through who we were, what we stood for, and how we could help them feel confident in their purchase. The goal was to create connection first, and conversion second.

 

Out of the gate, the welcome series delivered the strongest performance of any email program in the business, achieving the highest open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates across all campaigns. What had once been a purely promotional channel became a powerful tool for both brand building and revenue growth.

 

This shift helped redefine how email functioned inside the organization — not just as a sales driver, but as a core part of the customer experience.