{"id":3851,"date":"2020-04-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-future-of-the-inbox-webinar-recording-qa\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T08:46:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T13:46:33","slug":"the-future-of-the-inbox-webinar-recording-qa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-future-of-the-inbox-webinar-recording-qa","title":{"rendered":"The Future of the Inbox: Webinar Recording + Q&A"},"content":{"rendered":"

A person\u2019s email inbox is where life happens: promotions, invites, work collaboration, and password resets. Over the course of the decade, our relationship to email has changed\u2014and the inbox is changing as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with Mark Robbins from Salesforce, Marcel Becker from Verizon Media, and Jon Harmer from Google, we shared how the inbox is adapting to changing customer expectations and moving towards a more dynamic experience. We covered how topics like AMP, interactive email<\/a>, privacy requirements, design trends, and more are changing the inbox experience today and in the years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t have a chance to watch the webinar live? Don\u2019t worry. You can <\/span>access the full recording<\/span><\/a> and read the Q&A below.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Q&A<\/span><\/h2>\n

A big thank you to everyone who chimed in during the webinar with a question! Here\u2019s a recap of our expert’s answers to the most popular questions. Have any additional questions? Please leave them in the comments.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A large portion of our audience uses email clients that do not support interactivity. What would they see if we sent them an interactive email?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Mark Robbins, Salesforce:<\/strong> When building interactive email as with any email enhancements, you need to consider the fallbacks. With interactive email it\u2019s possible to detect if the email client supports the enhancement\u2014and if it doesn\u2019t, you can hide it and show fallback content. This fallback can be anything you like, for example a link to an online version where the user can interact or a different experience altogether. But it\u2019s important to remember you only have <\/span>one<\/span><\/em> subject line, so this needs to make sense for users who see the interactive version <\/span>and<\/span><\/em> users who see the fallback version.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Bettina Specht, Litmus:<\/strong> If you\u2019re looking for more details on how to implement fallbacks for interactivity, our Principal Email Engineer Alice Li wrote this fantastic post: <\/span>Fallbacks for Interactive Email: How to Combat Limited Support For Interactivity.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Is interactive email accessible?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Mark:<\/strong> It can be and it should be. The way we\u2019ve built our new <\/span>interactive email forms at Salesforce<\/span><\/a> means they can be used by a wide variety of assistive technologies. We test the functionality thoroughly with non-mouse inputs and different screen readers.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to think about the design and content when creating interactive email. Does the copy make it clear what you are asking? Does the design and layout make it intuitive to use?<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the difference between \u201cregular\u201d email interactivity and AMP for Email?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Mark:<\/strong> There are three main areas where they differ:<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. How the code is written<\/strong>
    \n<\/span>HTML email interactivity is written in HTML and CSS and included in the HTML MIME type. AMP for Email interactivity is written in AMP (a web component framework) and included in a <\/span>completely separate<\/span><\/em> MIME type.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Where (and how) the interactivity is supported in email clients<\/strong>
    \n<\/span>For interactive HTML support, we look to see if the email client has <\/span>removed<\/span><\/em> support for the HTML or CSS needed to make it work. For AMP for Email we look to see if the email client has <\/span>added<\/span><\/em> support to include AMP rendering and if that particular user hasn\u2019t turned this feature off.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>    CanIemail.com<\/span><\/a> has some stats on the different support for <\/span>interactive HTML forms<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>interactive click actions<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>AMP for Email<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Different functionality<\/strong>
    \n<\/span>One of the main differences in functionality is form submits. In interactive HTML email, the user will always be redirected to a landing page when the form is submitted. With AMP for Email, the user will always remain in the email client. However, using AMP you could pull in additional content after submit.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What are the requirements for being able to send AMP emails?<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Jon Harmer, Google:<\/strong> For Gmail, you\u2019ll have to <\/span>register with us<\/span><\/a> to be able to send dynamic emails. You must meet the following guidelines in order to successfully register with Google:<\/span><\/p>\n