By now, you might be familiar with AMP as it pertains to search engine results.
That instance of AMP refers to Accelerated Mobile Pages, which operate at an optimal speed for mobile browsing in particular.
Google launched the AMP open-source framework in 2016, and since then, more than 1.5 billion AMP web pages have been created. You’ll see them marked in Google search results with a lightning-bolt icon.
But what is AMP for email? It’s actually an extension of AMP from speeding up landing pages, blog posts and full websites to improving email as well.
The goal of AMP for email is to create more engaging and interactive email experiences.
Features of AMP for email
Dynamic content: In a traditional email, the content is relatively static, limiting the recipient to reading, watching or clicking on a link. With AMP, recipients can engage with more versatility. Examples include form submissions within the email, potential online ordering and checkout inside the email and even the email content updating automatically (such as weather reports or webinar dates).
Layout: With AMP for email, you don’t have to be as static in your email layout design. You can use a carousel for media, accordions for showing and/or hiding different sections and more.
Media: Media is typically the biggest contributor to slower load times, but AMP for email helps ensure efficiency and speed while using images and GIF embeds.
Should you use AMP for email?
It’s undeniable that AMP for email allows for enhanced personalization of the emails you send out. It also delivers a more web-page-like experience for recipients. Of course, the current low utilization of AMP for email could help you stand out from your competitors as well.
But while a dynamic option for email marketers and business owners, AMP for email does have some drawbacks that you should consider before going all in.
Not a lot of support yet: Emails using AMP can’t be built the traditional way, so if your email service provider isn’t yet supporting the technology to create them, you likely won’t be able to do so. AMP email is a typical HTML email, but it has a limited JavaScript markup where you can add AMP elements. Many don’t support the full range of JavaScript capabilities in an HTML email. They carefully control and limit the JavaScript library.
Mostly exclusive to Gmail: At the moment, the proper rendering for AMP emails is limited to Gmail. Therefore, if your contact list is not primarily Gmail users, you’ll have to create a non-AMP version anyway. Of course, if only a small portion of your list are Gmail accounts, it might not be worthwhile.
It could confuse users: This refers to a case of potentially too much too soon. Change for users in general tends to be more effective with incremental steps. Features like dynamic content changes can lead to not only confusion but also mistrust. You have to ask yourself if your targeted audience is ready.
New language to learn: While AMP for email is an open-source technology, it can be intimidating to jump into a new technique-sensitive technology. It does have exclusive pre-requisites that have to be fulfilled as well. This can take more time than you might have available.
Tracking can get complicated: Email marketers traditionally measure opens and clicks to gauge successful campaigns. With AMP for email, a whole new set of metrics can open up. But the question is: Are you able to track them? Hover-based events or clicking through a range of different deals, for example, cannot be measured with conventional email metrics.
Conclusion
AMP for email is a newer and very exciting technology that can definitely take your emails to the next level. Make sure that if you decide to start experimenting, you have the time, resources and the right audience for it.
Not ready for AMP emails but interested in leveling up your email marketing game? Check out these eight online courses. Or better yet, schedule your free DailyStory demo with one of our experts.