Email's first impressions

I entered a contest to win a Chevy!

The price of entry was all my contact information. Sure, I'll agree to receive marketing communiques in exchange for a chance for a NEW CAR.

The contest also gives me a chance to see their email marketing in-the-wild.

Here's the first message:

Things I noticed:

• Personalized, engaging subject
• Brief, engaging text
• The "Learn More" button helpfully rendered without images enabled
• Loads of white space (no image alt text) in the email

That last point carries the day. While I'm sure they're proud of how the new Malibu looks, I can't see it. All first (and most subsequent) emails won't show images.

Email marketers either ask recipients to enable images or make emails look great without them.