Let’s talk about content-free email newsletters
Let’s start with a piece of email I received this morning from a trade show, about “This is what we have lined up for you today”. So what’s lined up for me today?
![SUMMIT PARTNERS unsubscribe](images/Screenshot_2021-04-29_18-30-07.png)
Nothing, apparently. Yup, that’s the plain text version of the email, in its entirety. Three words. Nothing of relevance. I kid you not.
Surely a bank should do better? Ok, let’s look at what I got from a bank three hours ago. Here’s what they have to say about “Last chance to make your move. Get up to $1,100* in bonuses”:
![HSBC / Trouble viewing this email? https://click.messaging.hsbc.ca/?qs=ecf243777182f8eec3684e3583b8021c2966707d0bb3c7e767613c6d8504261a693289d22972817e0a86ddf928a1475d5425b80cd563080816e1971e1d6eb960 / View in browser](images/Screenshot_2021-04-29_18-29-34.png)
Nothing really, apparently. Do they really think people would even bother with that spammy-looking link? By the way, I haven’t tried reading this in a screen reader but a long web address with 128 random digits isn’t acceptible at all if they cared even a little bit about accessibility.
Okay, let’s render that text/html part and see what they really have to say:
![](images/Screenshot_2021-04-29_18-29-49.png)
Much nicer. So the question is, why don’t they render their content in their plain text version of the mail?
Guys, if you think plain text parts are a waste of space, then don’t even include them. Is that too hard? Dummy content is disrespectful. You’d literally be doing the right thing by doing less work.