The Possibilities
Now that we have understood both sides of the AMP story and seen the possibilities, it is time to look at how microns and AMP can enable some very interesting new use cases and why I believe that microns and AMP are made for each other.
Content Microns
- The News micron can have just the headlines and choosing a headline can show more details in-place rather than having to click through to a website.
- It could have a daily quiz to test one’s knowledge about events. This can be linked with a leaderboard.
- The Word micron can have a “fill in the banks” test to ensure that the meaning and usage has been correctly understood.
- The Markets micron can offer real-time updates on the stock market – in the same micron.
- The Cricket micron can provide live scores without having to open the app or visit a website.
- For students, a micron can have an interactive Q&A AMPlet with immediate feedback on whether one got it right or wrong. Imagine using this for exam preparation. (Of course, this can also be via apps but the push format of scheduled emails makes it especially powerful.)
- Game microns can offer many interesting timepass moments: word jumbles, hangman, crossword, chess, housie (tambola/bingo) are some examples.
Marketing Microns
- The content ideas above can be used by marketers to use microns for branding: offer a daily short email which has more than just static content, making it more inviting for consumers to open and interact – thus reinforcing the mental availability of the brand
- AMP-enabled microns can also be used for reactivation. Since customers don’t seem to be reacting to regular promotional mails, a different approach can be taken with microns which offer interactivity – using carousels, accordions or lists. These microns can be made to stand out in the inbox via the use of BIMI and µ.
- Brands can also send surveys and interactive forms via microns – they are more likely to generate a response because the hurdle of clicking through and moving to a different page is eliminated.
- AMP microns can also be used to profile users – every micron can ask them a question which they can answer within the email itself, thus helping brands do better personalisation with information shared voluntarily.
These are just a few ideas to get started. Email’s 4 billion users are ready for an experience upgrade – without having to download another app or leave the email inbox. The power of microns (short, informational) can be combined with AMP (dynamic and interactive) to create new innovations in the most powerful communication channel with the largest reach. A new world awaits – for content consumption and marketing communications. Welcome to the micron-verse – powered by AMP!
