Earlier this month Amazon launched an replace to Alexa that enables the service to entry and browse your emails. With that, we simply acquired one step nearer to electronic mail evolving and giving entrepreneurs the flexibility to offer auditory calls-to-action (ACTAs) of their electronic mail campaigns.
With this preliminary replace, you’ll solely be capable of entry electronic mail via Gmail and Outlook.com. Provided that that is the preliminary launch, we count on extra electronic mail shoppers will change into obtainable quickly.
Linking Alexa to Your Inbox
If you wish to have Alexa learn your electronic mail, step one is to obtain the newest Alexa app in your cell phone or pill. After you have the newest app put in:
- Click on the hamburger menu within the prime left nook
- Choose “Settings”
- Choose “E mail & Calendar”
- On the next display screen, click on the “+” by “Add Account”.
- Select a Gmail or Outlook.com inbox and supply your login credentials.
There doesn’t seem like a restrict within the variety of mailboxes you possibly can hyperlink via Alexa.
Alexa additionally permits you to set a four-digit voice code to entry the e-mail. This is useful when you have a number of shared units round your own home or workplace.
Find out how to Get Alexa to Learn Your E mail
Now that you’ve got your account linked with Alexa, you possibly can say, “Alexa, learn my emails” or “Alexa, test my electronic mail.”
When Alexa responds, it’ll let you know what number of new emails you’ve obtained throughout the previous 24 hours and what number of of these have an necessary label. It’s shocking that it solely goes again 24 hours no matter what number of unread emails you’ve got. I perceive the logic –on condition that inboxes are over-crowed—however  I wish to see the choice to return additional or an choice to learn all unread electronic mail.
Alexa will prioritize emails labeled as necessary after which learn the remaining emails, no matter order obtained. If there are not any “necessary” emails, it’ll learn via the emails latest to oldest. If you happen to hyperlink a number of accounts to Alexa, it’ll contemplate all of the inboxes as one and observe the identical learn precedence as I simply described.
Under is how Alexa reads via your inbox:
For John, from the final 24 hours you’ve got X unread emails, X marked necessary. The primary [important] electronic mail is from [sender], [subject].
As soon as Alexa reads the e-mail topic line and sender, it’ll ask you:
Do you need to [read, reply, delete, archive or next]?
What Alexa Reads
By default, Alexa will learn the HTML model of the e-mail. If no HTML model is out there, it’ll learn the text-only model.
How Alexa parses the HTML is similar to how electronic mail shoppers parse and show the preheader textual content within the inbox. It should strip all of the HTML from the e-mail and browse no matter textual content is left. It’s necessary to notice that Alexa will take away all HTML feedback however will learn any hidden HTML (akin to show: none). So, when you have any hidden content material, or your HTML reveals or hides blocks of content material for desktop or cellular variations, Alexa will learn all of the content material. This in all probability received’t create an excellent expertise for the subscriber.
Emoji Help
Given the recognition of emojis, I needed to check how Alexa would interpret emojis in both the topic line or physique of the e-mail. When Alexa encounters an emoji, it’ll learn the identify of the emoji. Alexa helps emojis as much as Unicode Model 10. If Alexa encounters an emoji it doesn’t assist, it’ll skip over it, as if it doesn’t exist within the copy.
Lengthy Emails
If Alexa is studying an extended electronic mail, it’ll learn a portion of the content material, cease, and supply an estimate for the way lengthy it’ll take to learn the remainder of the e-mail. Alexa will say:
The remainder of the physique takes about X minutes to complete. Would you prefer to proceed?
At that time, you inform Alexa both “sure” or “no.” If you happen to say “no,” Alexa will ask you, “What would you love to do?” and ask whether or not you need to learn, reply, delete, archive, or transfer to the following message.
I discovered one irritating expertise with this characteristic: If you happen to say “sure” to proceed studying the remainder of the message, Alexa is caught studying the message till it finishes. I attempted telling Alexa “cease” and closed the Alexa app. After I opened the app once more and requested it to learn my electronic mail, Alexa picked up the place it left off and I needed to wait till it completed. Hopefully, Amazon will be capable of repair this person expertise in a future launch.
Monitoring Emails Alexa Reads
Sadly, when Alexa reads an electronic mail, it doesn’t set off an electronic mail open inside your electronic mail analytics. It is because it doesn’t open an electronic mail in a browser that may set off the picture pixel to load.
Alexa and E mail Accessibility
If you happen to’re not creating accessible emails, I extremely encourage to you be taught extra about it and begin incorporating electronic mail accessibility greatest practices into your subsequent marketing campaign. Nonetheless, on the subject of Alexa studying electronic mail, there is no such thing as a accessibility assist.
As I discussed earlier, Alexa strips all of the HTML from the e-mail and reads the remaining textual content. This implies it additionally removes all ARIA HTML attributes (roles, states and properties), picture alt textual content and semantic components.
It’s necessary to notice that correct punctuation is extremely necessary given how display screen readers and voice assistants interpret the e-mail copy.
Find out how to Put together Your Subsequent E mail Marketing campaign for Alexa
Given the rise in reputation of voice assistants like Alexa and Siri, electronic mail entrepreneurs should now depend on textual content to convey their message, somewhat than textual content with the assist of photos. It’s nearly as if we’re going again in time when electronic mail didn’t assist HTML and we might solely ship emails with ASCII textual content.
I’ve outlined some ideas that will help you optimize emails for these auditory interactions.
Set a Reliable From Title
At all times use a reliable and recognizable from identify. If you’re sending a marketing campaign on behalf of your organization and you employ a person’s identify; make sure to observe it up with the corporate identify as effectively. For instance:
John Thies on behalf of E mail on Acid
Create an Participating Topic Line
The topic, together with the from identify, is the primary interplay the subscriber has with the e-mail via Alexa. Make it depend! Sadly, you shouldn’t have the luxurious of preheader textual content to offer extra context earlier than Alexa asks the subscriber whether or not she or he wish to proceed with the e-mail. Be sure the topic is related to the content material, offers context, and conjures up the subscriber to hearken to the e-mail.
Use Preheader Textual content
It’s crucial that you just use preheader textual content to offer sufficient context to have interaction the subscriber in order that they have Alexa learn the whole electronic mail or determine to answer. If you happen to don’t, they’ll solely hear a portion of the e-mail and transfer on to the following message.
Keep away from Picture-Solely Designs
Realizing that Alexa will strip all of the HTML from the e-mail and browse what’s remaining might imply dangerous information for image-only emails. In case your call-to-action is in a picture, the person received’t hear it when Alexa reads the e-mail. If you happen to should use an image-heavy design, make sure to present sufficient context within the preheader textual content.
Don’t Neglect Punctuation
Alexa will ignore most punctuation marks (like !,%,#,*, and so forth.) however durations and commas are essential to an excellent auditory expertise. Take the next HTML for instance:
<h1> <span>Alexa Roundup</span></h1> <br> Greetings! Welcome to E mail on Acid’s Alexa Roundup!<br> <br>
When Alexa strips the HTML from above, it will likely be learn the e-mail as:
Alexa Roundup Greetings! Welcome to E mail on Acid’s Alexa Spherical-up!
As a result of there is no such thing as a punctuation between “Roundup” and “Greetings!” Alexa will interpret that as one sentence, which will likely be obscure when listening to the e-mail. The one means I used to be in a position to get round this situation was so as to add a hidden <span> with a interval:
<h1> <span>Alexa Roundup</span><span fashion="show: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">.</span></h1> <br> Greetings! Welcome to E mail on Acid’s Alexa Roundup!<br> <br>
I used the identical CSS for the extra <span> as I might for preheader textual content. This implies the person received’t see the punctuation, however Alexa will acknowledge it when studying the e-mail.
Use Related Emojis
Provided that Alexa reads the identify of the emoji, it’s necessary that the emoji is contextually related. They should complement the message and might be a distraction in the event that they don’t match the e-mail copy.
Be Cautious with Abbreviations
Alexa doesn’t all the time interpret abbreviations appropriately because it reads textual content in lowercase. For instance, considered one of my electronic mail checks included:
Solely obtainable within the US
Alexa interpreted the “US” as “us” somewhat than “U.S.” Attempt to use durations in-between every letter of an abbreviation so voice assistants learn it correctly. If that isn’t visually interesting, you should utilize the punctuation hack above to cover the durations.
Use a Legitimate Reply-To Tackle
E mail must be a one-to-one interplay that provides your subscribers a possibility to have interaction along with your model. That is much more necessary now {that a} subscriber can reply to emails utilizing his/her voice. When replying to an electronic mail via auditory instructions (Alexa or Siri), subscribers don’t know what deal with to which they’re replying. It could be a horrible person expertise for a subscriber to obtain a bounced electronic mail notification or by no means get a response.
Remaining Ideas
Total, I’m impressed with Amazon’s preliminary launch of Alexa’s electronic mail studying perform. The workflow is intuitive and straightforward to know, they usually’ve supplied extra safety when you have an Alexa gadget in a shared setting.
I additionally like how Alexa reads a portion of an electronic mail after which asks if you need to proceed studying with an estimated time remaining, though Amazon might enhance the person expertise with that characteristic.
Whereas we’re nonetheless within the early phases of auditory electronic mail shoppers, I’m enthusiastic about what the longer term will maintain for electronic mail on this area as we get one step nearer to having auditory calls-to-action (ACTAs).
Writer: John Thies
John Thies is the CEO and Co-Founding father of E mail on Acid, a pre-deployment E mail QA platform that strives to take away the inherent worry of hitting the “Ship Button”. He’s a passionate and fascinating business chief who lives, breathes, and desires in electronic mail (critically). John additionally serves because the CEO of Trigger for Consciousness, a just lately shaped non-profit that empowers different non-profit organizations with digital advertising assets. He resides in Denver, Colorado along with his spouse and son.
Writer: John Thies
John Thies is the CEO and Co-Founding father of E mail on Acid, a pre-deployment E mail QA platform that strives to take away the inherent worry of hitting the “Ship Button”. He’s a passionate and fascinating business chief who lives, breathes, and desires in electronic mail (critically). John additionally serves because the CEO of Trigger for Consciousness, a just lately shaped non-profit that empowers different non-profit organizations with digital advertising assets. He resides in Denver, Colorado along with his spouse and son.
