In 2026 I Resolve To...

Many people use New Years as a reason to make resolutions to embark on some grand purpose.  Most resolutions don't last through the end of the month.  Generally speaking, I am not one to make resolutions just because starting off with a new calendar for the year.  This year, however, I have one.

The idea of 'Inbox Zero' is one that many have tried many times over.  With the barrage of emails we receive, most of it is noise and is a waste of our time.  Those important emails and the ones that you actually want to receive get lost in the muck of the promotional emails you probably don’t want; let alone need.  Visit some website to make a purchase and give them your email and you get promotional emails.  Not an uncommon practice. 

This year, I'm aiming to get rid of the noise that is polluting my inbox.  A quick way to do that is to eliminate those emails that have no real content unless you load the images.  Particularly those that have no real content ‘above the fold’ as it were.  Now, you may wonder why not have the images displayed by default.  Well, for me, it has to do with privacy and trying to limit my digital footprint.  (See other posts with the Privacy tag for more info.) Most, if not all, of those images that are in your email have embedded information in the link that identifies you.  You and I could get, what appears, to be the same email from a retailer but if you look at the links that pull in the images, they are likely different.  They may both take you to the same page on a website, but information contained in the link identifies you.

This example from Zappos is a prime example.  Apart from some text for where their logo would go, you have no real context as to the purpose of the email or who it is from the body of the email.  Prime candidate to use the Unsubscribe button.

This is another example but from Office Depot.  At least they have some readable alt-text for where the images are supposed to be placed.  They do, however, fail to provide any info on who they are unless you scroll to the very bottom of the email.  Unsubscribe.

This one from Sur La Table is one that has actual readable content that shows the intent of the email - their cooking classes - and only graphic that is above the fold is their logo.  This one actually has real content without having to load the images.  A keeper.

This last one from Jazz Alley also has real content and does not require displaying the graphics to relay their message.  The artist, dates, and a small blurb.  Also a keeper.

So, as emails arrive in the inbox in this new year, if they are just a bunch of placeholders for images and have no other real content, they are going to be unsubscribed.  If, as a marketer, you don’t have enough respect for my time to make it worthwhile to view your content, I don’t need your emails.  Yes, this will not take me to inbox zero, but it will get rid of some of the crap that I don’t need.

PS

The next morning received a new email from Sur La Table.  This time, it was just a bunch of placeholders for images with the exception of the paragraphs of fine print at the bottom of the email.  Unsubscribed.

-MSW