As a panel participant at industry events, I am often asked a common question on the topic of online marketing: "How do you increase the open and click-through rates for e-mail?" I see hundreds of e-mail campaigns by dozens of marketers each year, and I've found it's the fundamentals that marketers overlook when building their e-mail strategies.

Have you or anyone you know ever been pursued by an intriguing e-mail offer from a source you believe to be trusted, only to be determined ineligible upon finally deciding to explore the offer? Unfortunately, this is a common but less talked about problem with e-mail marketing.