Get to Know AMP for Email
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Define AMP for Email.
- Identify use cases to use AMP for Email.
- Plan in advance for your email content.
Introducing AMP for Email
Wish your emails could be more like websites—where subscribers interact right in the inbox? What if you could provide up-to-date content in your marketing messages—like shipping status, inventory counts, or day of the week? Now you can, with Accelerate Mobile Pages, known as AMP. AMP is a markup language created by Google. According to the AMP developer website, AMP for Email is a subset of AMP HTML components that allow for interactive and real-time content within an email.
Check out more examples of AMP for Email demos.
What’s the Difference Between AMP for Email and AMPscript?
AMPscript is Marketing Cloud Engagement’s proprietary scripting language. AMP for Email is an open-source web component framework originally developed for use with Google. But don’t worry, AMP for Email doesn’t replace AMPscript. It allows you to enhance your current emails and create dynamic versions of them.
Using AMP for Email
So, what can you do with an email that functions like a website and provides content in real time? Here are some use cases to get the ideas flowing.
| Industry | How to Use AMP for Email |
|---|---|
|
Retail |
Challenge: Northern Trail Outfitters (NTO) uses Marketing Cloud Engagement to send transactional messages to provide customers with information about shipping status. NTO currently uses three separate emails for processing, shipping, and then tracking information. Solution: With AMP for Email, NTO creates one email that provides real-time order status updates. |
|
Hospitality |
Challenge: Gallagher Resorts wants to encourage customers to finalize room selections when viewing its most popular properties. Solution: Prospective guests of Gallagher now receive an email using AMP for Email that includes room inventory information. This creates urgency and increases sales, since oceanfront views go fast in the winter! |
|
Financial Services |
Challenge: Cumulus bank reps spend a lot of time on calls, encouraging guests to schedule follow-up appointments for mortgage applications. Solution: Using AMP for Email, Cumulus sends all prospective customers an email with appointment booking functionality directly embedded into the email. Customers can fill out the form right from their inbox, saving the reps from having to make follow-up calls for booking. |
|
Automotive |
Challenge: A large auto dealer wants customers to go to a dealership for auto service after they have purchased a vehicle. Solution: The technical marketer adds a new AMP email to their welcome email. The interactive email includes a dealership search function directly in the email, along with updated weather information. Customers get details about how to take care of their new car based on weather conditions, and it’s super easy for a customer to find an auto service center near them. |
|
Healthcare |
Challenge: The Bloomington Caregivers website has a great search function for finding service providers based on location and insurance acceptance. Unfortunately, not everyone visits the website. Customer service calls are up, and website visits are down. Solution: The Bloomington Caregivers marketing team wants to try a new approach to help customers connect with a caregiver. Using AMP, they create search functionality directly in their email with specialty and contact information. |
What Platforms Support AMP for Email?
Since the scripting language was originally designed for Google, it’s no surprise that Gmail supports emails using AMP. In addition to Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Mail.ru also support AMP emails. Subscribers using other email platforms see the HTML version that you create as fallback content. This HTML version is as important as your AMP version, so be sure all customers have a great experience with your email.
Support is growing! Check out the AMP site to see the latest list of supported email platforms, clients, and providers.
AMP-Approved Senders
To send AMP emails, your company’s sending email (for example, retail@email.nto.com) needs to be approved and verified by Google. To register your email, follow Google’s registration steps, which include sending a production-ready email from your account. If registration isn’t completed, your emails are sent using the fallback HTML.
Plan in Advance
In addition to registering your company email, there are other considerations as you plan for your first AMP email.
Content: AMP emails need to include three MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) types: plaintext, HTML, and AMP. Before you begin building an AMP version, it’s helpful to gather the assets you need for your fallback email. It’s a good idea to have your default HTML email ready before you begin creating your AMP version.
Data: Forms can be filled out directly in the email using AMP. This means you need to have a plan in place for the data you want to collect. Plan ahead for the data you want, including the types of data, and any requirements. This is a more complex use case that we cover later in the module.
Testing: AMP emails allow some subscribers to have an enhanced experience. So how can you test the effectiveness of the AMP email version? One way is to conduct a Path Optimizer test that uses the fallback email in one path and the interactive AMP version in another. (The AMP version still needs to include plaintext and HTML versions.) This allows you to compare engagement rates between the two emails.
Learn how to set up a test in the module Path Optimizer in Journey Builder.
Now that you have a good understanding of AMP for Email and have a plan in place, in the next unit we shift our focus to AMP for Email fundamentals.
