Getting started with AMP emails the right way
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Puneet Mahajan
Puneet Mahajan
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Getting started with AMP emails the right way

Published : December 16, 2022

As an email marketer, you have done your research thoroughly. You have studied industry trends, campaign outcomes, and benchmark metrics. And you feel that AMP emails are the obvious choice to accelerate results from email campaigns.

You’re spot on.

AMP emails have proved that they:

  • Increase user engagement with appealing visuals – images and GIFs
  • Reduce cart abandonment through ticking timers to complete purchases
  • Enhance user experience with search bar, reviews, payment, etc. 
  • Lower user drop-offs by eliminating website redirections from inbox
  • Increase time spent on the email, improve chances of conversion
  • Drive deeper user interaction through hyper-personalization of content

Once you decide to take the plunge, the next question to pop up would be, “What exactly do I need to do to start sending AMP emails?”

Getting this part right would be critical to pulling off a highly successful AMP email marketing campaign.

You don’t have to do another round of extensive research on getting started with AMP emails. We have sent more than a billion AMP emails across 200+ highly successful campaigns. We know what we are talking about.

What are AMP emails?

AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) refers to an open-source technology created to accelerate the performance of all web content. When applied to emails, you’ll see regular emails becoming dynamic, interactive, and capable of replicating many functions of websites and apps.

A few things users can do inside their AMP emails:

  • Search for products and services
  • Scroll through image carousels
  • Submit or read reviews and ratings
  • Add products to their shopping cart
  • Make payments and buy products
  • Track product delivery in real time
  • Book/schedule appointments
  • Play games and win rewards
  • Fill up forms or answer questionnaires
  • Answer surveys or polls
  • Reply to comments or leave feedback

To implement AMP for email, you don’t need a brand-new delivery tool, your mailbox service provider (like Gmail or Yahoo) should support AMP content. In other words, it should support the elements that allow AMP content to energize regular emails with a new look and advanced functionalities. Currently, Gmail (including in mobile apps for Android and iOS), Yahoo Mail, Mail.ru, and FairEmail support AMP emails.

There’s one more consideration that’s equally important to sending AMP emails. You need to choose an email service provider (like Netcore Cloud) that is able to handle the creation and delivery of AMP emails to the mailbox service provider.

How to get started with AMP emails

To leverage AMP’s creative possibilities, start with getting access from Google. Follow a few guidelines and requirements established by Google as below:

  • Build an AMP email
  • Start with selecting and combining the AMP components that are a good-fit for your specific use case. For example, you would need an amp-form component if you need users to send feedback or comments. Or amp-img to showcase good product images. 

    There are four types of AMP components – dynamic, media, layout, and presentation. 

    If you plan to use dynamic components in your AMP email that send a data request, you need to create and include access tokens. These must be encrypted and included in the URL of the request. The tokens’ validity should be limited in terms of period and function.

  • Test the AMP email 
  • Gmail requires that you test the AMP email before sending it. Testing verifies the email’s content and behavior.

    There are two steps to testing your AMP emails:

    1. Go to Gmail Settings > General > Dynamic email > Developer settings. A dialog box opens. Whitelist the email address: [email protected].
    2. Use Gmail’s AMP for Email Playground. Create your AMP email, preview, and send it to your own Gmail ID. Open the mail from [email protected] to view your AMP email.

    Now to send the AMP email from your email ID, you need to meet certain requirements:

    1. Security requirements
    • Sender authentication
    • DKIM alignment
    • TLS encryption
    • HTTP proxy
    • CORS headers
    • URL restrictions
    1. Delivery requirements
    • A fallback HTML version or plain text version along with the AMP content part. 
    • A valid AMP document in the AMP MIME part
    • The AMP MIME part before the HTML MIME part.
    • Different email addresses for the From and To header fields
  • Register with Google
  • Once you’ve tested your email, register the sender email ID with Google – this is a one-time process. However, any additional sender email ID will have to go through the entire registration process.

    Here are the guidelines for the registration process:

    – Send a production-quality email.
    – Create a fallback HTML version of the AMP email.
    – Ensure that there are no bugs in the emails.
    – Have SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentications in place.
    – Review and ensure that your email complies with the AMP for Email best practices.
    – Do not allow third parties – users or people in general, to write and send emails directly.
    – Follow the “Prevent mail to Gmail users from being blocked or sent to spam”  guidelines.
    – Maintain a low rate of spam complaints from your email recipients.

    Once you’ve reviewed your email to check its compliance as above, send a production-ready email from your production servers to [email protected]. Google will check your email to validate that you’ve complied with all guidelines and requirements. 

    When sending the email for registration, keep these points in mind:

    • The AMP email version functions the way it was meant to. Test it in Gmail.
    • Send the email directly. Don’t forward it, since Gmail removes the AMP MIME section in forwarded mails. 
    • Google usually responds to registration requests in 2 weeks.

    Note: You’ll only be able to keep sending dynamic emails as long as they comply with the “Prevent mail to Gmail users from being blocked or sent to spam” guidelines (linked earlier). These guidelines can be changed without notice.

    It is your responsibility to stay aligned with current guidelines at any point. Google can revoke your participation anytime if abuse or policy violations occur. Google can also request more information during or after the registration process to validate compliance.

    Lastly, AMP emails can only be successfully sent when the browser supports certain features. In case the email is viewed on an incompatible browser, it will end up showing the HTML version.

    Desktop Browser Compatibility Table

    Browser
    Minimum version
    Chrome
    69
    Edge
    Not supported
    Firefox
    58
    Internet Explorer
    Not supported
    Opera
    48
    Safari
    10

    Ensure the success of your AMP emails with Netcore Cloud

    Netcore Cloud empowers you to create AMP interactive emails coupled with the world’s most advanced AI-powered email delivery. We offer an enterprise-ready AMP editor, which makes AMP email creation quick and easy. Use our no-code, drag-and-drop editor to build engaging AMP emails on the go. To customize emails further, connect with our in-house team of AMP experts.

    We’ll help you set up and integrate AMP for email, extend support for domain whitelisting, assist with custom AMP design creation, and guide email delivery optimization – everything required to boost the ROI from your AMP email marketing campaigns.

    Success stories of AMP emails from Netcore Cloud

    Netcore Cloud has helped 50+ global brands roll out interactive emails powered by AMP and achieve their goals. Some of our success stories stand out.

    • YourStory leveraged AMP emails with Netcore Cloud and skyrocketed conversions by 5.5X
    • Axis Securities used AMP emails to engage with recipients, based on suggestions from the Netcore Cloud team. They increased the email open rate by 27% and the click rate by 24%.
    • CaratLane partnered with Netcore Cloud to utilize interactive AMP emails for their new product “Borla” and increased CTOR by 300%.
    • 99 Group leveraged AMP emails with Netcore Cloud and achieved a 5X lead generation, and 30% higher conversion.

    Industry leaders across different domains and geographies have partnered with Netcore Cloud’s AI-driven AMP email platform to maximize revenue and boost ROI.

    Let us help you move closer to achieving your KPIs and marketing goals. Connect with us to understand how you can benefit from our expertise and experience – we send over 20 billion emails a month on behalf of businesses across 18 countries.

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    Puneet Mahajan, Senior Product Specialist
    Written By: Puneet Mahajan
    Puneet Mahajan, Senior Product Specialist Puneet Mahajan
    Senior Product Specialist