Email has been effectively helping marketers channelize their single most important goal of enhancing engagement through experiential and relevant conversations.
AMP was introduced last year, as a technology that can help improve email experiences by allowing marketers to embed interactive components such as carousels, accordions, purchase button etc. in the emails. Basically, the user does not need to move out of the email to experience these elements.
Now that you know what AMP is, let us understand why you should incorporate AMP for your emails.
Why AMP is Important for Emails?
AMP offers great many opportunities to the email marketer as discussed below.
- It offers a smooth experience to the email subscribers, thus providing more opportunities to enhance engagement and the person is likely to stay longer on the email.
- Many marketers find email newsletters drab. However, things are likely to change with the introduction of AMP. The channel will be more dynamic and interactive, as a result of which more people will find it easier to use the email channel.
- Personalization has been key to increasing the opportunities through email marketing. With AMP, the marketers have a greater opportunity to send and receive data. As a result of this, the marketers will be able to get access to better insights, which can help them personalize better. The dynamic view of these emails allows the users to enjoy the personalized content without having to leave their inbox.
- As of now, AMP is in its nascent stage, which makes the space less competitive. If you grab the opportunity offered by this technology right now, you can make the most out of it. It will help improve your interactions and channelize your marketing efforts the right way.
Use Cases for AMP in Emails
You are aware of the benefits associated with AMP in emails. However, the question persists, how best to use this technology, and where to apply it.
- AMP can be used by the marketers in the eCommerce industry, who send an email to showcase their fresh products or want to send a coupon to the audience. Marketers can embed the checkout process into the email, thus ensuring that the users don’t need to move out of the email to complete the purchase. You can even embed this technology within cart abandonment emails, which can help increase the conversions.
- AMP can help improve email engagement in the finance industry. For instance, if someone is applying for a loan, the loan related form sent within the email should be able to calculate the loan details, by providing the tenure and the EMI. It will make things a lot easier for the customer.
- AMP within an email from the travel and food industry can allow subscribers to complete the booking of the travel ticket or reserve a restaurant table. Basically, bookings and reservations can be done hassle-free if you implement AMP into the email.
Here’s how Booking.com does it.
- A lot of people tend to forget sending a RSVP to the sender of the email, because they have to either move out of the email or there is some process associated. If you can enable the subscriber to stay in the email and send the RSVP, you would be able to increase the engagement and event attendees.
- Many subscribers avoid responding to surveys because it requires them to move out of the email into a landing page. However, if you can embed this element into the email, you would be able to increase the response rate by reducing their effort.
- App-based businesses that use email marketing can create emails with the help of AMP technology and simulate the app interface right in the subscriber’s inbox. For instance: Tinder can send an email that lets the user swipe right or left from the email itself.
Pinterest has done a great job with creating an AMP email that emulates the app interface so that the user does not have to switch to the app to access it.
Best Practices for Implementation
- Dimensions are very important when you are implementing AMP in emails. The ideal width for the AMP email would be 800px. The reason being, if the width is small, then the contents wont fit, and this would lead to discrepancies. You can have a long AMP email, which means there is no fixed or ideal height for these emails.
- Emails are definitely more engaging and personalized as compared to other communication channels. However, you need to remember that the AMP emails are an extension of your website and will follow a similar structure. This is specifically true if you are planning on incorporating the checkout process within the email. The email elements should be visually in sync with your website and should reflect your personality so that there is minimal learning curve and maximum conversion
- When implementing AMP components, there is a good chance you will go overboard with the elements. However, it is best if you can introduce one or two components at a time. You should design the email responsibly so that your subscribers enjoy reading these emails.
Limitations of AMP in Emails
- Limited Support from ESPs and Email Clients: The technology is still in the nascent stage. Moreover, the emails cannot be designed the way traditional emails are. As a result, you will not find support for this technology in most of the email clients. In fact, AMP for emails is exclusively made available on email clients like Gmail, mail.ru, and Outlook as of now. ESPs like SparkPost, Twilio Sendgrid, Amazon SES, and Amazon Pinpoint support AMP.
- Tracking Issues: For a marketer, it is very important to track the email opens and click rates. The traditional emails could be easily tracked and measured. However, there is a limitation with AMP emails as they offer limited to no tracking as there are a lot of components within the email. You will need to optimize the email and define the elements that need to be tracked.
Wrapping Up
AMP for emails is a new technology, which was released in March 2019. Since its inception, it has clearly defined the use and benefits associated with incorporating the technology. There is obviously less support and less competition in this segment, which means there are more opportunities and work to be done.
When implementing AMP in your emails make sure you ensure a smooth on-boarding for the users.
Author Bio:
Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers, one of the fastest-growing custom email design and coding companies, and specializes in crafting professional email templates, PSD to HTML email conversion and free HTML email templates. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.
