What Role Does Color Play in Email Marketing and Subscriber Engagement?

Can the colors that you use in your email design have an impact on email performance metrics, such as clicks and conversions? Here are some things to consider as you use color in your email marketing to help create a mood, spark interest, and drive subscribers to take action.

In marketing, colors have been shown not only to help consumers differentiate your brand from the competition, but also to affect feelings and moods. Color increases recognition of brands, for example, by 80%, and brand recognition is directly linked with consumer confidence. How much of an impact can color have on your marketing success? A good indication comes from a study titled “Impact of Color on Marketing” that found that up to 90% of consumers’ snap judgments about products are based on color alone.

So, Which Colors Should You Use in Your Email Marketing?

As you set out to choose the colors to use in your emails, keep in mind that colors are emotive and can trigger certain feelings in people. For example, one study showed that red caused people to act with greater speed and force. In another study, a drug’s color affected its perceived effect (e.g., pills that were red, orange, and yellow were more likely perceived to have a stimulant effect, whereas blue and green pills were more likely perceived to have a tranquilizing effect).

The following are some feelings and effects associated with colors when used for branding and marketing. Of course, an individual’s preferences, experiences, upbringing, and culture all have an influence on the way he or she responds to different colors.

Studies have shown that gender also plays a role in color preference. For example, blue is a favorite color of both women (35%) and men (57%). And 14% of both the women and men surveyed chose “soothing” green as their favorite color. Similarly, 13% of both genders surveyed chose yellow as their least favorite color. On the other hand, purple is women’s second favorite color, whereas it ranks among men’s least favorite colors.

Click here for a comprehensive infographic on color psychology in marketing that not only shows how color influences consumer behaviors, but also why some companies have chosen specific colors for their logos.

What Is the Best Color to Use for the Call-to-Action Buttons in Your Emails?

Can the colors you use for the call-to-action buttons in your emails increase the number of prospects and customers converting? As testing of the psychology of color has shown, different colors can influence a person’s mood. And marketers have used these studies to choose logo and brand colors.

What about the colors used for call-to-action buttons? In this example of a HubSpot optimization test, simply changing the call-to-action button color from green to red increased conversions by 21%. So, is red the best color for your call-to-action buttons? Maybe. But if you look at the design HubSpot was testing, green was the dominant color on the page; thus, a red button stood out.

As you set out to optimize the call-to-action buttons in your email campaigns, you may want to test red along with other colors to see which one will “pop” in your email design and which color combination will work best in getting the click from your specific target audience. Click here for information on how to set up effective A/B splits tests to optimize your email-marketing campaigns.

3 Tips for Choosing the Colors to Use in Your Emails to Optimize Subscriber Engagement

As you set out to design your email campaigns, driving conversions is a top goal. And the colors and color combinations you choose can have a significant impact on your performance metrics. Here are some tips for using colors in your emails to increase engagement and performance:

1. Start by considering your company’s branding when determining which colors to use in your email marketing. If your company’s logo is blue and gray, for example, be sure to incorporate those colors into your emails. This is an important way to promote consistent branding and helps prospects and customers quickly realize that the email is from your company.
2. When it comes to choosing colors for your call-to-action buttons, go with a color that is a contrast from the rest of the color scheme in your email copy and design. You want the call-to-action button to stand out in the email design and grab attention so that your recipients know immediately how to take action when they open your email. For some great call-to-action design tips, be sure to check out this previous NewsLever article: “8 Best Practices to Design Powerful Calls to Action that Convert.”
3. Test and optimize the colors used in your email-marketing campaigns. There are a lot of studies on the use of color in email marketing, especially when it comes to using specific colors for call-to-action buttons in emails and on websites. What color converts best? Although color may play a significant role in increasing subscriber engagement, there’s no “best” color for driving conversions. But testing and optimizing to find what colors and color combinations work best for your emails and website landing pages and resonate most with your customers is paramount to success.

Ready to take your email marketing to the next level in 2018? Contact the email-marketing experts at FulcrumTech and we’ll show you how to get the most out of all your email campaigns. From colors, copy, and email design to implementing an ideal email send frequency and cadence, we can help you optimize your email campaigns to drive incredible results!

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