If you’re still considering investing resources in gamification for email marketing, this case study from Yakaboo, the Yespo marketing agency, and Stripo, is a must-read. Discover how AMP games influence key email campaign metrics and boost sales. Enjoy examples and ideas for game-infused emails to implement in your business.
Case study authors
Yakaboo is a national book platform in Ukraine, offering over 300,000 books in 71 languages. One of its sales channels is email marketing, through which Yakaboo sends its subscribers information about new products, exciting collections, and promo codes.
Yakaboo collaborates with the Yespo marketing agency, which assists in preparing and sending out the newsletters through the omnichannel Yespo Customer Data Platform (CDP). In preparing the email campaigns with AMP games, the Stripo team played an active role. The Stripo editor functionality was used to develop the gamification element.
The challenge: How to implement gamification in email campaigns and start using AMP games
In communicating with customers, Yakaboo always focuses on their comfort and strives to improve its service. Therefore, even in promotional email newsletters, they dedicate significant effort to ensuring that the content is engaging and useful for their customers.
Several years ago, Yakaboo diversified its promotional emails to actively engage subscribers, elicit responses to their emails, and promote reading. Emails with gamification entertain subscribers, attract attention to the brand, and make promotional emails enjoyable.
Most importantly, game mechanics excite subscribers about receiving promo codes and increase the likelihood of them using them to purchasing products. Therefore, boosting sales is one of the primary business objectives.
The first email with gamification appeared as a small survey with multiple-choice answers. Upon clicking the button with the correct answer, the subscriber received another email with a prize.
After several successful campaigns, Yakaboo decided to try a more complex form of gamification — an AMP game — for which they turned to the Yespo agency team.
Solution: Involving Yespo experts and the Stripo editor functionality
A good game should be impeccably executed — from concept to technical details. The key challenge in creating AMP games in emails is the email coding, which must consider all settings.
How the work on AMP game emails is carried out
The preparation process takes about a month and includes seven main stages:
- First, Yakaboo brainstorms the idea for the email:
- what the mechanics will be;
- whether the newsletter will be thematic for a certain occasion;
- whether the email will be tied to a holiday;
- the seasonality and demand for certain types of products.
- The next stage is setting out a technical task for all process participants.
- All details are coordinated with the Yespo agency manager.
- Preparing creatives begins — Yakaboo handles the design and copywriting of AMP emails in-house and then passes them on to Yespo.
- Yespo performs the layout of the AMP block and the email itself, while the HTML version is done directly in the Stripo editor.
- The finished email is tested on various email services and devices, with checks for mobile adaptability and correct display in dark mode.
- Finally, the email is ready to be launched.
Examples of Yakaboo’s AMP game emails with different mechanics
It is essential to avoid repeating mechanics and to develop something new each time to keep subscribers interested. Here are a few examples of AMP game emails that have performed well in Yakaboo’s campaigns.
Halloween matching game
The subscriber’s task was to match the title of a well-known book with an image symbolizing it. The book themes were chosen to fit the holiday — mysticism and horror.
(Source: Email from Yakaboo)
Upon successful game completion, a promo code of 15% instantly appeared in the email to use for purchases. Traffic was not lost, since there was no need to wait for an additional email.
(Source: Email from Yakaboo)
St. Nicholas Day game with maze completion
In this game, the subscriber’s task was to click on parts of the path, paving the way for St. Nicholas to cross.
(Source: Email from Yakaboo)
Once the entire route was assembled and St. Nicholas crossed, a promo code of 21% (in honor of December 21) was instantly revealed.
(Source: Email from Yakaboo)
Quiz game for the Independence Day of Ukraine
In this quiz, subscribers needed to correctly answer questions about Ukraine’s history to receive a 20% discount.
(Source: Email from Yakaboo)
Book Appreciation Day game
In this game, subscribers had to quickly remove books from the shelves within a limited time. The number of books fetched determined the discount code received.
(Source: Email from Yakaboo)
Surprise wheel
This game was created for the store’s anniversary. Subscribers had to spin the wheel to receive a discount. The size of the discount and the corresponding promo code with an activation button appeared instantly in the email.
(Source: Email from Yakaboo)
Matching images of winter fairy-tale characters
This was another matching game with a 10-second time limit to instill a sense of excitement in subscribers. The number of attempts was unlimited, increasing the desire to use the subsequent 20% discount.
(Source: Email from Yakaboo)
Challenges of creating AMP games and how to solve them
The main issue with AMP emails arises with users whose email clients do not support AMP. Two versions of the email are created “inside” one email to prevent losing these subscribers and losing traffic:
- Version for users with AMP support.
- An identical email for users without AMP support. In such emails, subscribers receive a link to a similar game on the website that they can play.
Depending on the subscriber’s email service, they see the AMP game immediately or a link to it. In the initial stages of using AMP games, some email traffic was lost when transitioning to the website. This issue was resolved by manually adding tags to both emails.
Results: Impact of AMP games on sales and email newsletter responses
Undeniably, email marketing performance and results depend on the offer in the email and the company’s comprehensive strategy. However, the results of the AMP newsletters pleasantly surprised and satisfied Yakaboo.
Here are a few examples of such results:
- one newsletter helped increase channel revenue by 20%;
- the average open rate (OR) increased by 12%;
- the average order value (AOV) increased by 50%.
Overall, using these emails, Yakaboo anticipates a 10% increase in sales revenue, which is a powerful argument for their usage.
Yakaboo’s plans for AMP games
AMP games are an excellent way to engage subscribers and stand out from competitors. Yakaboo also plans to incorporate AMP into trigger emails and test their effectiveness.
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