Community, Company, Product

Coming Soon: SendGrid Supported AMP for Email!

Len Shneyder

Email is arguably the workhorse of all digital communication channels. However, as grandiose as email’s scale and reach has become, the experience in the inbox has been mostly static. The graphics and rendering of content have flourished and taken on the modality and style of today’s slimmed down simple design. This lightweight design is due mostly to the advent of mobile phones which required a mobile-first design featuring a single column, bigger “buttons” rather than small links, and a focused call to action.

However, a truly interactive inbox has eluded marketers until now.

In February of last year, the AMP Project announced AMP for email, bringing the safety and speed of the AMP format to make email dynamic.

Starting today, AMP for email is now generally available. In particular, Google has implemented this technology to bring a dynamic and interactive experience to Gmail. The inbox is no longer static.

What can you do with AMP for Email?

According to Google, AMP for Email enables all-new email experiences like being able to submit RSVPs to events, fill out questionnaires, browse catalogs, or respond to comments right within the email. Emails also have the ability to stay up to date by displaying the freshest content from comment threads or the latest recommendations.

These features, in addition to the ubiquity of email, makes for a potent mix of utility and delight in the inbox. Senders can be confident that recipients will always see the most recent content when they open a message by dynamically updating it in the inbox. AMP for email allows a user’s Gmail inbox to behave more like a micro mobile site directly in the message body.

Coming soon to an inbox near you!

Over the coming weeks, SendGrid Email API customers on the V3 platform will be able to send AMP enabled emails once they’ve undergone the process to verify their content with Gmail. Senders wishing to send AMP emails will require a positive Gmail sending reputation in addition to coding a third MIME part, the AMP MIME part.

Recipients using Gmail via a browser or through the Gmail app on mobile devices will be treated to new experiences that seek to cut the friction from delivery to reading, to interacting, and–ultimately to conversion. For example, recipients can respond to calendar invites directly in an email and schedule appointments or events.

Building the future of email communications

SendGrid is proud to be among a handful of email ecosystem companies that have taken the forward-thinking step to enable our sending community to take advantage of this new technology.

Interactivity has long been touted as the next frontier for email communications. Companies have struggled to make their content as evergreen as possible while seeking to diminish the number of “taps” it takes on a mobile phone to actually follow through with an email’s call to action. Google AMP allows recipients to engage with email without having to open apps, load webpages, or leave the inbox.

Be on the lookout for more information about SendGrid & AMP for email. Additionally, AMP Conference 2019 will be taking place in Tokyo from April 17-18. More information about AMP for email and the myriad uses of AMP for the mobile web will be discussed at this developer-centric event. For more background on interactivity in email, check out Google AMP In Email: Where We are Now And a Brief History of Interactive Email.

Author
Len Shneyder is a 15+ year email and digital messaging veteran and the VP of Industry Relations at Twilio SendGrid. Len serves as an evangelist and proponent of best practices and he drives thought leadership and data-driven insights on industry trends based on the massive volume of email SendGrid delivers on behalf of their customers. Len is a longtime member of M3AAWG (the Messaging, Malware, Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group) and served on its board in addition to Co-Chairing the Program Committee. He’s also part of the MAC (Member Advisory Committee) of the EEC (Email Experience Council) where he serves as the organization's MAC Chair. The EEC is a professional trade organization focused on promoting email marketing best practices. The EEC is owned by the ANA (Association of National Advertisers), a nearly 100-year-old organization where he also sits on the Ethics Committee. In addition, Len has worked closely with the ESPC (Email Sender & Provider Coalition) on issues surrounding data privacy and email deliverability.