runtastic | Brigitta’s Blog ♥

Internet/online marketing is a popular and developing type of advertisement; one of the most popular types being email marketing. Email marketing involves both advertising and promotional marketing efforts via email messages to current and prospective customers. Using an example from my own inbox, this article demonstrates the power of email marketing.

As I can access my emails directly from my smartphone, I usually open all emails very briefly without paying attention to the content simply to clear my notifications. However the subject line of this particular email ‘You have burned 937 more calories than last week!’ enticed me to pay attention to the content.  Knowing that I don’t have an application set up to track my weekly burnt calories, I was confused yet interested in how Runtastic could have collected this personal data. After reading the full email I  discovered that this wasn’t strictly true; in fact it was less personal and more promotional. There was a call to action of subscribing to their Runtastic gold membership.

Despite the claim of the subject line, I did not feel deceived. Rather I felt it was a clever way to get me to engage with the content of the email. The content itself was very  informative but also ‘short and sweet’ which I think is important. It also offered me an incentive of 30% off my membership price. The email contained a good customer service tone; it was persuasive yet not too pushy/sales-focused.

There were several hyperlinks, one of which being the image, to the desired landing page. The landing page offered exactly what the email promised; the opportunity to upgrade my account to a gold membership. On this particular occasion I didn’t follow through with the upgrade as I am still contemplating whether this is the right decision. I suspect that within the next few days there will be a second/third attempt of contact to remind me of the offer and persuade me to upgrade and complete the sale.

As an existing customer of the free Runtastic application, the trigger of this email was to remind me of their business as I had become a dormant customer; and also to promote a new membership. The email made it very clear for me to unsubscribe from this mail listing, however this was a permission based email and I was more than happy to receive it.

The analysis of this email has certainly confirmed and complements the theories that I researched in M. Mohammadi, K.Malekain, M. Nosrat and R. Karimi’s short review on email marketing. It is a great investment for all businesses regardless of their size, as it is a low cost way to achieve their marketing goals.

Mohammadi, M., Malekian, K., Nosrati, M., & Karimi, R. (2013). Email Marketing as a Popular Type of Small Business Advertisement: A Short Review. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 7(4), 786-790.