How to turn your (boring, generic and barely converting) emails into emails that convert

Every day, we see between 4,000-10,000 messages ( RedCrow). That number includes text messages, emails, ads and phone calls; dozens or hundreds of people and brands trying to get us to take some sort of action. So how do you filter through the noise?
Or better yet, how does your customer do it?
How does she decide which emails to open and which to trash without even taking a glance? How do you make sure she opens your email and takes action?