There is speculation that direct email marketing solutions will not continue to be as worthwhile as they were 4 or 5 years ago. The economics of email marketing for customer retention and acquisition will likely be different in the future. However, one thing will continue to be the de facto standard in email marketing – permission. For positive email campaigns however, more will be required. As one email marketing solutions founder said, "permission has become so mainstream now that while in the past there was a real difference between acquisition email lists harvested from newsgroups and permission-based lists, being permission-based is no longer the differentiator it used to be for either the marketer or the user."

In the present online marketing field, only permission-based email campaigns that have a high ‘inbox visibility’ degree provide worthwhile and positive Return on Investment to marketers both on the acquisition and the retention fronts. Today’s email marketing solutions are aimed at improving inbox visibility through implementation of practices that are related to crafting email subject lines and strategies of the sort. However to attain sustained inbox visibility, email marketing solutions strategies will need to go deeper. Implementing strategies that insulate one from the shifting market dynamics in email marketing will give any company the real competitive advantage.

What email marketing solutions strategies will prove successful? Directly anticipated email communications. By and large, directly anticipated emails will prove immune to growing inbox invisibility since their arrival is anticipated by the recipients. These campaigns can be run through email newsletter campaigns. Other strategies include gathering emails of individuals interested in particular products and delivering such information immediately to the individuals. It is becoming increasingly difficult to overcome the problem of inbox invisibility but email newsletters seem to have a better chance of overcoming this problem as well as other email marketing solutions that move away from direct email strategies.

Don’t Send Unsolicited Email
They won’t read it, and that’s best case scenario. What could be worse is that they’ll label your email as SPAM and you risk getting blacklisted by their email provider or have your account suspended or removed. And the worst thing that could happen is for your recipients to spread bad things about you, which you can’t really blame them for since you’re the one at fault. Yes, we know you had good intentions, but it’s just not enough. If you truly have nice news to share then surely you could convince them to give you their email addresses!

Do Build Your Email Opt-In List
Email marketing always starts with an email opt-in list. Opting-in signifies their approval of receiving emails from you. Now, you’re probably wondering how to build your opt-in list, right? First, you need to hook their interest: what could you offer that they’d want badly enough to opt-in to your list? This could be a promise to provide them valuable tips on your area of expertise or other freebies. You could give subscribers a preferential discount rate or some other privilege.

Do Subscribe to a Proper Format
Email marketing newsletters adhere to a general format. It all starts with the subject line: make good use of this. Make sure to call your readers attention, let them know that it’s not SPAM and that they did sign up for it. Lastly, make sure it contains the key topic of your email.

Next to this would be the salutations. Be sure to personalize your letter by addressing them directly and using your recipients name. Your introductory paragraph should be brief and detailed, the body of your email equally concise, and your closing paragraphs containing a summary and call to action.

Don’t Bombard Them with Emails
Consider contacting them on a weekly basis at the least. If, however, you think that what you have to say deserves daily contact then at least give your subscribers an option to receive your email either daily or in a digested form.

Do Offer Them a Chance to Unsubscribe
Lastly, let them know right from the start that they always have the option to unsubscribe. When you do, you’re also letting them know that you’re confident they won’t do that because what you have to share would be truly valuable to them.