Email2: Energising Engagement (Part 3)

AMP and Ems

I have written separately about each of these 3 innovations that comprise Email2.

AMP

AMP was introduced by Google a few years ago to make emails interactive. Think of web pages in the late 1990s, and you will get the idea! Actions can be taken within emails without having to click through to a web page or an app. From a previous essay: “AMP gives email marketers the opportunity to transform the user experience. Emails can do so much more – forms, image galleries, product cards, games, dynamic data, and of course, quizzes.” AMP only works on Gmail and Yahoo Mail, and that too in their native apps or the browser. A Gmail account viewed on an Apple device through its native mail app will not support AMP. In India, Android and Gmail dominate – which means AMP emails should get wide acceptability. The challenge in AMP is the cost of design and coding; the solution is to create templates which can be used by marketers with limited friction.

Ems

Ems are informative emails. They are short (mobile screen length) and thus can be read in 15-30 seconds. They are part of a series and tell a story. Ems thus can become a utility in our lives – coming into the inbox at the same time, like emails from media sites. Most emails today are hard sells – buy this, see that. Ems, on the other hand, focus on attention and habit creation rather than the immediacy of pushing for a transaction. Ems can be the way brands build hotlines to their customers. They can be a great asset for reinforcing branding for existing customers. Ems create “email moments”.