Yes, I'm a marketer. I've been in marketing for over 12 years after realizing I loved data and analysis but found molecular biology too esoteric and removed from everyday experience.

My philosophy is that marketing connects brands with people seeking them at the right place and time.

Unfortunately, most marketing is still rooted in pressing people into a purchase without regard to that person's finances or well-being– or concern for the environment. This article is my expert advice about reclaiming your time, money, and sanity from over-zealous marketers. And with good odds, you'll be helping the environment by doing so, too.

Part I: Clean Up Your Life

Unsubscribe from All SMS, Email, and Push Notifications

This season so far, I’ve unsubscribed from 102 marketing SMS subscriptions, 38 Push notifications, and 350 marketing email lists. Companies sent me a whopping 5,338 marketing messages spanning the past five months. And that’s only the count from marketing communications I’ve received in the past 10 days!

If you've let it get out of hand like I have, make a little time every day to unsubscribe. First, unsubscribe from a marketing email, and then delete all previous messages from that sender. That's how I've been working through it while keeping track of which marketers I’ve unsubscribed and how many earlier marketing communications from them I deleted.

Keep going through that process until your email, texts, and push notifications are clear of unwanted marketing.

Unfollow or Block Brands on Social That Start Emailing You

This is an annoying tactic that brands try to convert social followers and likes into customers.

Technically, it’s not illegal: Brands look up the email address on your profile and add it to their mailing list. They can do that manually or using an automated program like ZoomInfo to scrape your data from any website or public profile on which it appears. It's SPAM-my, but since the info is public, there's a technicality that it can be used.

In any case, brands that do this often count on your being confused because you do like them on social media, or think you would be welcome to it. They don’t deserve you following them. My first tactic is to block them immediately on all socials.

Next, look at the email they sent you. At the bottom of automated mailings, companies in the USA are minimally required to tell you why you are receiving the newsletter. If the statement is something like, “You’re receiving this because you showed interest in XYZ brand,” they’re technically telling the truth, albeit shady. But that’s also a good way to tell you didn’t sign up specifically (versus signing up and forgetting).

Oh, and I’ve seen some that either omit the “Why am I getting this?” or outright lie and say I signed up when I know for a fact I just liked their post or profile because it was something a friend sent me.

What to do? Unsubscribe and report if you don’t want this! Reporting an unsolicited newsletter as SPAM helps send them a warning against this practice. It also squeals on them to their company’s automated platform since platforms require marketers to keep SPAM rates under a certain amount or risk shutdown.

If reporting as SPAM isn’t an option, many email platforms will still ask why you unsubscribed, and you should note that you did not subscribe in the first place.

Do Not Sell Your Information

Do you know those notifications from credit card companies, banks, or other sites are required to inform you that your information will be sold to partners unless you specifically tell them not to? TELL THEM NOT TO!

Go through the process for banks and credit cards first since those are direct marketer insights into your purchasing behavior.

Second, look at any Customer Loyalty or points apps, like Target Circle, Walmart, or Ralph's. Even if you've unsubscribed from their messages, they are still selling your information.

Next, look at sites or apps that require you to be logged in when browsing; for me, Zillow was a big offender for selling my browsing info to realtors and I could tell because I was getting realtor marketing emails for areas I’d browsed casually but don’t live in. 

Then look through your emails to see if you've received "Partner Offers" from anywhere else, and after unsubscribing, call the originating company or tell them via their website you want to opt-out.

Buy When You're Ready, Not When You're Told

Nowadays, every season 'Tis the Season for Marketing Overwhelm. Black Friday? That's in the past. Holiday 2024 sales have been advertised since October, with stores displaying holiday products before Spirit of Halloween popups closed their doors. Meanwhile, Halloween products were on the scene in the heat of August, and Valentine's Day products hit the shelves in early December.

EEW to all of that, and not just because of the candy sitting on shelves for months. For one, marketers aren't allowing us to enjoy the moment without trying to whisk us earlier and earlier into a buying frenzy for the next 'event.'

The marketing behind it is to make you feel 'on top of things' by buying early and having everything ready. What will actually make you feel 'on top of things' is to enjoy the moment you're in and have less unnecessary stuff to deal with. Studies show that having holiday products available longer drives up profits, too. In layman's terms, that means buying earlier doesn't really make you feel prepared and organized; it just means you'll buy more stuff.

Part II: Stay In Charge

Close Sign-Up Popups Immediately

Marketers saw SMS (Short Message Service, aka text messages) as the new frontier for inserting marketing messages into your life. And email? I remember the days when you used to get personal emails from people you cared about. Nowadays, you just want to cut through marketing emails to get to a company notification you need, like an appointment confirmation.

Popups appear the moment you open almost any website, and some won't allow you to browse without giving up your information. These popups will try to entice you with an offer on your first purchase before you even know whether you want to buy what they're selling.

Who wants email and text notifications interrupting their day constantly for a website they browsed once and didn't even like? Just close these immediately and continue on your way, or leave the site entirely if it won't allow you in. 

Look for Discount Codes Online First

If you've done your research and are about to make a purchase, look for discount codes online before you sign up for marketing communications. I post Wearing Conscious codes on all our socials, plus I post affiliate discount codes on Bluesky for brands I’ve purchased myself. While I’m no longer on X, many users are posting codes there as well. There are also aggregator sites for codes if you look them up via a search engine.

Ready to make a purchase, but can't find any working codes? Find a way to sign up for the discount at that time. Then, immediately unsubscribe after you've used the discount code.

Search on DuckDuckGo

Google, Siri, and Alexa (and Microsoft Bing, Cortana, Gemini, or any other search engine, AI-enhanced or not) are tracking your searches for marketing purposes. The mountains of data they have on you are incredibly effective for determining your marketing profile, and you will get slews of very targeted, very enticing marketing offers for many things you don't need.

So, use Incognito mode for marketing research, or (as mentioned) DuckDuckGo or another untracked search engine.

Consider Dropping Loyalty Programs Entirely

Comedian Bill Burr joked about how stores aren't doing these loyalty programs to make LESS money, so they must be suspicious. It's true! Giving you a small discount on something so they can hoard all your purchasing information is a huge advantage to the store. 

In addition to enticing you back with limited discounts, the stores are also trying to deter you from competitors who may be a better deal or offer artificially deflated pricing on some things while maintaining jacked-up margins on others.

Think of it this way: If I want something enough, I will pay a few dollars more for it. If the only reason I'd buy is a loyalty sale, I'm better off financially by not buying it.