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Are interactive AMP emails right for your company?

amp emails

What are interactive AMP emails and should you experiment with them? They’re cool and full of potential but a bucket of Rocky Road ice cream makes the same claim. You have to ask yourself, “is it worth it?”.

Luckily, I’m your AMP email guinea pig on this fine Thursday morning. I slurped up more info about email coding than the average human could survive. All of which I’ll spare you.

The only thing you need to know are the pros and cons of testing interactive AMP emails in your campaigns. Those are coming up along with use cases, predictions, platforms that save you from coding, and success stories. 

What Does AMP Do for Email Marketers?

AMP was invented… 

No one cares. Just some team of average geniuses. Folks do care about speed. Which is what AMP provides web surfers. Who are in a big hurry for some reason.

AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. The tech was built to speed up website loading and functionality (helps desktop & mobile). A better faster user experience keeps people on your website.

*AMP boosted conversion rates by 75% for this e-commerce site.

Impressive, but websites and email inboxes are two different things (jot that down😎). People checking their email also want speed though. And AMP emails can provide speed with several practical uses.

Interactive Email Uses

Surveys get ignored, cast aside like dumb questions. Your survey questions are wonderful, don’t take it personal. People are busy and in a hurry. 

But what if they could fly through your survey inside an email? One that takes just a few seconds then they can return to vital matters of TikTok lunacy? 

Well, interactive emails make that possible. I tried it with an email service (Mailmodo). They emailed me a survey, appointment scheduler, a spinning prize wheel, and, well, I Iost interest after that. 

But I blazed through the survey and didn’t have to click over to 6 calendars to book a call with them (testing only).

In my eyes, surveys and appointment setting are the best uses for AMP emails right now. Other interactive uses include:

  1. Quizzes
  2. Forms
  3. Recovering abandoned carts
  4. Discounts using interactive graphics (prize wheel etc.)
  5. Calculators
Source: Mailmodo

Speed thrills. So don’t underestimate how much people love taking a quiz without changing screens to a browser. Their inbox is ready to interact with, right under their fingertips.

*Mailmodo tested AMP emails →  saw a 257% increase in survey response

Quick Pros and Cons – AMP Emails

Pros:

  • Makes your emails stand out
  • Easier gathering of user data which helps with segmenting lists
  • Increase conversions 
  • Can prevent back-and-forth scheduling issues
  • Instant updating of evolving information right inside the email

Cons:

  • Could involve extra coding knowledge
  • Not all email service providers / email clients are optimized for AMP yet
  • Need for backup HTML version of AMP emails 
  • Can’t track click-through rates
  • Many security requirements

That last con may seem like extra hoops to jump through. But honestly, your clean sender reputation depends on you taking all the compliance steps available anyway.

Backup Hassles

What’s the biggest concern for any email marketer? $9 avocados? No. Emails not landing in the inbox or looking jacked up if they do.

That’s why Google stipulates emailers provide a backup to AMP emails:

  • An HTML version
  • And a plain text version

So at least your email arrives using a backup plan, right? Yeah, but with no interactivity! Which is the point of firing off an interactive AMP email. 

Any extra effort to use this technology is wasted if your subscribers can’t do the survey inside their email or book a demo without clicking a link.

With the plain text version – subscribers might think you’ve gone mad talking about an invisible prize wheel on a page full of basic ABCs.

The help you need…

AMP Email Platforms

Since smart people understand the rest of us are not going anywhere near code, services will set up AMP emails for us. These folks aren’t nerds, they’re humanitarians.

These services can help you if you decide to experiment with interactive emails:

  • Mailmodo (their test emails to me went smoothly)
  • Dyspatch (Canva likes em)
  • Ladago (focused on appointment scheduling)
  • AMP.dev (list of email tools & other applications)

And experimenting is worthwhile if you get close to the success e-commerce giant Ecwid had with interactive abandoned cart emails (increased sales by 82 percent). 💵

Questions about AMP Emails

Once your brain gets amped up about interactive emails, you start asking questions (they’re not dumb, remember): 

Can purchases be made inside emails?

Afraid not. But AMP can make checkouts speedier.

Which clients support AMP email?

  • Gmail 
  • Yahoo Mail
  • Mail.ru
  • FairEmail

What’s the best way to test AMP?

You can play around with these templates. Send test emails to your team, then small segments of your audience once kinks are ironed out.

Will videos load in AMP campaigns?

Don’t make me go there again. 🤐

 Wrap Up

Interactive emails could be the future of email marketing. For now, don’t dive in headfirst.

Investigate more case studies to see if AMP would benefit your type of organization. Do test runs and track additional time costs. Then compare those costs to any positive results such as better data, more engagement, and higher subscriber satisfaction.

Look, your email subscribers love a speedy and friendly user experience. They get it on apps and websites. So why wouldn’t they expect it in their inbox?

*Critics say Google created AMP technology to hoard more data and lock peeps into their platforms. You know I’d love to pile on Big-G but I’m outta space.

The Knowledge Base 

Knowledge without motivation is lacking so get pumped with Grandpa Jack.

Growing your email list with Instagram isn’t the worst idea ever.

The end is near (year-end and non-profits need a plan for the last days of 2022).

Why people don’t take your surveys (ouch🤕).

How a big-brained gentleman with blocks explains AMP technology.

Self  Help 

Wanna help an out-of-work AI bot?

And relieve your back-breaking workload?

Give a couple of these 32 AI assistants a try.

Everything from research to writing to marketing (23 categories).

*Shout-out to Inbox Hacking Subscriber → Happiness Concierge

Facts & Stats  

  • 81% of buyers notice personal touches post-purchase, such as thank-you notes
  • 65% of holiday shoppers plan to give shoes, clothing, and apparel
  • Gift cards rank #2 in gift categories for 2022 holidays

*Pre Inbox Mailers Quote Circa 1983… “The perfect time to ditch a girlfriend is before Christmas. Wife too I’d imagine.” ~ Bert ‘Long Cold Winter‘ Spencer

Marketing Musings

What people (customers) say they want and what they buy are two different things.

Doubt that? Check out the top headlines on any news site. They don’t put headlines at the top unless they get gobs of clicks.

But everybody says they dislike all the drummed-up drama and conflict. 

The lesson? Don’t change your entire product line based solely on surveys.

Today’s Hack

Rev up your emails with an AMP test run. Try it on your team like I suggested at the top. Then test one or two interactive emails on a few of your loyal readers and ask them what they think. Get their thoughts in the same email since it’s interactive – duh.

If you’re scared AMP will get a pink slip stapled to your forehead or crash your business, I hear ya. There are other ways to spike your email interactivity. Readers will interact if you compel them to by being more engaging. The easiest engagement tactic? Offer a real incentive to give feedback.

(*Hit reply on the email that sent you here – tell me your favorite book and I’ll hook the first replier up with a free Kindle book)

📝Please click on the quick survey below. My pups get extra treats if you do. Addie & Chase thank you.

email marketing survey