Remember how AMP made the web faster and more user-friendly? Learn how it works in email, and how it can be revolutionary for marketers.
There’s so much trash talk about email. That it doesn’t work. That there’s too much of it. That it’s so overwhelming.
Yet, it still works. And not only that. It’s better than ever. 59% of marketers cite email as their number one source of ROI.
But, imagine if email got even better and more relevant.
That’s what AMP for email does – and it’s now supported by Braze.
What is AMP for email?
AMP for email enables senders to include AMP elements inside their rich engaging emails, making modern app functionality available within email. The format of the AMP email provides a subset of AMPHTML components for use in email messages, that allows recipients of AMP emails to dynamically interact with the content directly in their message.
Via medium.com
Let’s pause for a moment and explain what this means and why it’s so valuable.
Because of 3 things:
- Providing better user experience
By adding interactive elements to your emails, you can make them more engaging and create better experiences for users. You feel like making changes to your reservation? Do it directly from the email message. Or maybe you want to renew your subscription – just click the ‘yes’ button in the email message and you are all set. You’re not leaving the email client (gmail and outlook for now), it takes fewer clicks, it’s faster, and more convenient.
- Reducing the number of steps in your marketing funnel
The more steps before your customers reach their goal, the higher your dropoff rate. With AMP for email you can remove at least one or two steps, which in turn should get you higher conversion rates.
- Making your campaigns stand out from the crowd
Email is now much more powerful. And, as uncle Ben said, with great power comes great responsibility. So, make sure your campaigns enable your users to do something in a way that’s easier than before. If you understand their context and delight them every time, you will become their champion.
Interactive email isn’t new. It exists, but it’s not standardized, meaning it’s not secure, and it’s not reliable. To achieve similar effects people were hacking regular emails which is not only dangerous for users but can also trigger spam filters. Additionally, this hurts deliverability and your IP credibility.
Here is how companies use it:
- One of the first platforms to adopt AMP for email was Pinterest. They wanted to improve their primary feature, which was for people to pin images into different boards. Previously, these images were static and led to the web. Now, users have multiple options to choose from, right within the email. They can select topics to follow in their email, pin images, give feedback if the pins aren’t relevant, etc. Fewer steps for the users, more insight for Pinterest to continue personalizing its content.
Via emailonacid.com
- To make sure the product works well, Google started AMP for email with Google Docs. Each time there is a new comment, all those involved receive an email. From there, they have the chance to comment, resolve, reply, etc. All the upcoming times the people open up the email, they will see the latest thread.
- Doodle is an online platform for time management and coordinating meetings. AMP for email was a game-changer for Doodle since it enabled them to extend their scheduling and coordinating functionalities inside their email messages. Let’s say if a user creates a poll in Doodle, all the people that are invited will get an email, including the creator. People can vote in the email messages and will get up-to-date information about the engagement with the poll. Basically, everything your app can do, you can now transfer to an email, saving users a few extra steps!
- Indeed is a job-seeking website that has adopted AMP for email to create a dynamic experience for its users. The email usually consists of related job listings where users can check out all the terms and conditions. In this niche, up-to-date information is essential. AMP for email helps Indeed show the most relevant, yet available job offers to users. Having such a personalized approach, enabled Indeed to see an amazing increase in the job applications filled through dynamic emails.
- OYO is the world’s third-largest hospitality chain for leased hotels, homes and living spaces. Among other things they created with AMP for email, they did an amazing carousel experience for its users. They can browse preferences and book experiences directly through email. They had some incredibly powerful results.
Such numbers have been consistent across the board. AMP for email has definitely changed what people expect from their email.
Why all the bad-mouthing about AMP for email?
There is a lot of noise about AMP for email. Truth is, there will always be pros and cons when it comes to innovations.
With all the interactive content inside the email, the businesses that DO decide to adopt AMP for email will notice a visible decrease in their website traffic. Why?
Simply because of all the possibilities for users to complete multiple actions within the email itself, they don’t feel the need to visit the brand’s website.
Although this may motivate more users to finish the action you want them to in the email, at the same time will keep them away from your website or app – where they may do even more, consume more content, or discover new items to purchase.
Another red flag element was email speed. AMP for website increases site speed while AMP for email basically decreases email speed because of all the rich content inside the email. You don’t put these two things in the same basket.
It goes without saying that AMP for Email now has an even longer road ahead with an arguably more stubborn audience. But there’s no need for that. Consider AMP for email a trade-off. One that is well worthed and will bring your user experience on another level.
Final thoughts
To sum up, AMP for email can make a huge difference for both brands and consumers. If done right, it will transform email into one of the central hubs for brand interaction, instead of being a one-way street to communicate with consumers.
So, we can simply agree that Antony Malone – Senior Product Owner Direct Marketing at Booking – was not exaggerating when he said: “AMP for email is the biggest thing happening to email since the creation of email.”
If you want to understand how AMP for email can be applied to your business feel free to drop us a line: kiril.jakimovski@alite-international.com.
