The dark mode in email marketing and its effects

 The dark mode in email marketing and its effects-Overview

The  dark mode or night mode  is the latest in the world of  email marketing . Since Apple first applied it last year, several vendors have started using it, and its popularity with users has also been on the rise.

For brands, dark mode presents many unknowns, since we cannot know how our emails will be displayed. Let's see what these changes consist of and what we can do about it.

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What is dark mode and why is it used?

The  dark mode  is a way of displaying emails that uses an  inverted color palette , that is, light-colored fonts, icons and interface elements are used on dark backgrounds.

Today there are many mail clients and applications that use dark mode, such as 

• Gmail, 
• Apple, 
• Twitter, 
• Slack 
• Facebook Messenger. 

Many users prefer night mode because:

Less eye strain . 

Light text on a dark background helps reduce eye strain, especially in low light.

Save battery . 

Since the screen is much dimmer, the battery life is lengthened.

It reads better . 

Many users emphasize that with the dark mode the contents are easier to read.

It is a change from the usual . 

In the end, we like what's new and some users just prefer a darker interface because they find it aesthetically pleasing.

How are my emails displayed in dark mode ?

This is where the mess begins:  not all email providers display emails in the same way in dark mode . Let's see the three great options:

No changes . 

Some email clients allow you to change the user interface to dark mode, but emails are displayed exactly the same as before. The exception is plain text emails, which are shown in inverted colors (light text on a dark background). This is the case with iOS Mail and Apple Mail.

Partial color inversion . 

The email client detects areas with light backgrounds and reverses them so that they are displayed with a dark background and light text. Areas that already have a dark background remain the same as before. This is the option of choice in the Gmail app for Android, Outlook for Android and iOS, Outlook 2019 for MacOS, and Outlook.com.

Full color inversion . 

Here both the dark and light areas are reversed. Paradoxically, this means that if you have designed your email in dark mode, it will be converted to normal mode. The Gmail app for iOS and Outlook 2019 for Windows apply this option.

The conclusion is clear: 

If we cannot control whether our email is going to be displayed as is or with total or partial color inversion, we have to guarantee that  all the elements look good both in the original version and with the inverted colors . A trick that can help us is to place logos and icons on images with a light background. And as always, do tests before sending your email to the database!