In 2016, a new update for Windows 10 became a phenomenon in the tech industry. It was a dark theme that made the update so famous. In 2019, the dark mode came to Gmail, Apple Mail, and other major email platforms. Dark-mode email designs have been around for a while now. Naturally, digital marketers have been working on better ways of designing emails for dark mode so their emails look in dark mode.
Many people prefer dark mode because it makes reading easier by enhancing text visibility. Some other benefits of the dark mode include saving battery life, reducing eye strain, and others. In 2022, more than 30% of email users opened their emails in dark mode, according to a study from Litmus. This indicates a growing trend that email marketers should pay attention to in today’s business environment.
How Do Email Clients Apply Dark Mode For Emails?
Designing emails for dark mode ensures your emails fit perfectly in the recipient’s chosen reading environment. In dark mode, your emails may display in two different color schemes:
Partial Color Change:
- Some email clients switch emails between light and dark backgrounds.
- Light background emails turn dark, and dark text becomes light.
- Dark background emails with light text stay the same.
- This feature works with custom dark mode settings.
Complete Color Change:
- Certain types of email clients completely switch email colors.
- Light background emails turn dark, and dark text turns light.
- Dark background emails with light text turn light with dark text.
- Custom dark mode settings aren’t supported.
No color change:
While certain email clients offer the option to switch to Dark Mode within their user interface, this choice does not affect how your HTML email is displayed. Whether the application is configured for Light or Dark Mode or not, your email’s appearance remains consistent and unaffected by the interface settings.
Challenges You May Face While Designing Email for Dark Mode
Designing emails for dark mode can pose several challenges. Some email clients partially change email colors, keeping dark backgrounds with light text unchanged. Others may completely change colors, altering both the background and text.
There are various factors to consider while designing emails for dark mode. These designs can help ensure your emails remain visible and consistent across different platforms, avoiding issues like disappearing multimedia elements and branding inconsistencies.
Color Inversion
Adapting to dark mode isn’t always straightforward. It goes beyond a simple switch from light to dark backgrounds. Sometimes texts and background colors change to similar or opposite shades. Additionally, different email clients interpret dark mode differently. While some can perform full-color inversion, others only partially invert colors based on the background. This variability complicates the process of designing emails for dark mode.
Graphics and Logos Compatibility
Graphics designed with backgrounds matching the HTML background color may appear disorganized in dark mode email design. The stark contrast between the graphic background and dark mode email background can disrupt readability. Transparent PNGs can resolve this issue to some extent. However, the darker elements within graphics or logos may blend into the background and affect visibility.
Accessibility Challenges
Dark mode improves readability for some users. It can be very effective for those who have certain vision impairments. The color inversion characteristic of dark mode can introduce accessibility challenges. For instance, color contrast may diminish, impacting readability for users with specific visual needs. Balancing the aesthetics of dark mode with accessibility is crucial in email design.
Tracking Dark Mode Usage
Understanding the prevalence of dark mode usage among subscribers is essential. However, traditional email analytics often lack data on dark mode usage. Marketing teams face challenges in accurately measuring subscribers who view emails in dark mode. This information gap hinders the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of dark mode optimization efforts.
Seek Expert Assistance
If you have already tried designing email for dark mode, and are still not getting notable results, reach out to us. As experts in the domain, we can help you craft and design emails for dark mode that deliver quick and effective results.
How To Design Emails For Dark Mode?
When you’re designing emails for dark mode, it’s important to remember that your dark mode email design could appear different for different email clients.
For instance, if your contacts use Apple Mail, the appearance will remain consistent regardless of dark mode settings. However, for Gmail or an Outlook user, there can be more notable changes in your emails such as inverted background colors.
There are a few practices that you can follow while designing email for dark mode to tackle the challenges head-on. These are:
Convert and Optimize images
PNG is the savior. Converting your images to PNG files before you add them to your emails ensures they display well in dark mode settings. If there are texts in your image, adding a translucent outline around the text can make it stand out.
Choose web-accessible colors
Even if your customers are not using the dark mode, designing your email content for accessibility is important. You can adhere to the accessibility standards and ensure your emails appear correctly in dark mode. These standards include checking the color contrast of your text, testing progressive enhancements, optimizing visual content, etc.
Media query for dark mode styling
Email clients like Apple Mail and Outlook have limited support for custom styling using a media query. However, if you’re using the updated classic email editor and have developer resources to make CSS changes, you can add a media query with the “prefers-color-scheme” feature. This lets you control how images and text appear in dark mode.
A/B Test Preview –
If you’re already familiar with these practices, you can improve your dark mode email designs by testing their previews before sending them. A/B testing can help you figure out how well your emails appear in dark mode for different email clients. Testing is the best way to perfect your dark-mode email design.
Summing It Up
Email marketers had to cope with dark mode’s popularity by constantly refining their email designs. With a steady adoption rate, dark mode offers email marketers a chance to appeal to a larger audience. Crafting emails for dark mode may present challenges like color variability and accessibility issues. Adhering to best practices can ensure your emails appear spectacular in dark mode. Thorough testing ensures your emails are optimized for different reading environments on different devices.
Share Your Views:
What are your thoughts on designing emails for dark mode? Share your insights with us while we help you navigate the evolving landscape of email marketing.
What’s next?
If you haven’t yet made the most out of your emails, let us help you out. At Sootra Consulting, we can help you set up personalized B2B email campaigns that deliver quick results. Reach out to us at support@sutraconsulting.com