Optimize your campaign for Dark Mode

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Optimize Your Campaign for Dark Mode

Introduction

The increase in users opting for Dark Mode across various applications has made it essential for marketers to optimize their emails accordingly. Dark Mode is a feature that many email clients offer, changing the visual presentation of emails to offer a darker background with light-colored text and elements. This setting not only caters to users' preferences for darker interfaces but also alleviates eye strain in low-light settings and conservatively saves battery life on devices.

In this article, we will explore the importance of optimizing your email campaigns for Dark Mode, how to access relevant features within ActiveCampaign, and best practices to ensure seamless visibility of your content across various email clients.

How to Access This Feature

To optimize your campaign for Dark Mode, you will utilize ActiveCampaign's new email designer. This intuitive tool allows marketers to adjust settings and styles to accommodate both Light and Dark Modes. Ensure that you are on an applicable plan such as Starter, Plus, Pro, or Enterprise to access these features.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. **Log into your ActiveCampaign account.** 2. **Create a new campaign** or edit an existing one using the email designer. 3. **Navigate to the Section - Content area** of your email layout. 4. **Set a background color** for your email content. Click on the Content background option in the right pane and choose the desired color. This setting ensures consistency in the appearance of your email, regardless of whether it is viewed in Light or Dark Mode. 5. It is important to **set the Section background to transparent**. This ensures that your selected content background color is applied correctly while avoiding unwanted background colors for the entire email area. 6. **Optimize your logos and images for both Light and Dark Modes**. Ensure that images have transparent backgrounds, or that image backgrounds are the same size to maintain visual appeal. If your logo is dark, consider adding a light shadow or stroke for better visibility when rendered in Dark Mode. 7. **Test your campaigns** in both modes by sending test emails to see how they render in different clients.

Configuration Options and Settings

When optimizing campaign content for Dark Mode, understanding and utilizing the following configuration options is crucial:

• Content background: Sets the background of your email's content area. Choose a color that will maintain a consistent appearance across viewing environments.
• Section background: Should be set to transparent to avoid conflicts with the chosen content background color.
• Testing tools: Use the email testing features to ensure your campaigns render as expected in both Light and Dark Mode.

Best Practices and Tips

To ensure optimal readability and aesthetic appeal across email clients, adhere to these best practices:

• **Utilize transparent images** or ensure sizes are uniform to avoid rendering issues when the background shifts.
• **Avoid dark logos**; if necessary, enhance visibility with light shadows or outlines.
• **Select a consistent background color**; this prevents automatic adjustments by email clients that may not render your content as desired in Dark Mode.
• **Conduct thorough testing** before rolling out campaigns to ensure compatibility across diverse email clients and operating systems.

Common Use Cases with Examples

1. **Branding Consistency**: For brands heavily reliant on logos, optimizing logos with light strokes can ensure visibility. For example, a brand using a dark navy logo may have trouble if clients change the background, hence the light shadow would maintain its presence. 2. **Subscriber Engagement**: Tailoring email campaigns for better readability during low-light conditions improves user experience and engagement. For subscribers who prefer Dark Mode, ensuring emails are visually appealing can result in higher click-through rates. 3. **A/B Testing Campaigns**: Send out A/B tests using images and logos formatted for Light and Dark Modes to gauge subscriber preferences, providing valuable insights into audience behaviors.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues while optimizing your campaign for Dark Mode:

• Ensure you have set the Section background to transparent; failing to do so may cause unintentional background color displays.
• Verify that the Content background color is correctly chosen and appears as intended in tests.
• Check if your logos and images are optimized for visibility in both modes; logos that are too dark may render poorly.

If there are further concerns regarding custom code usage, please note that the Customer Experience Team cannot provide support for CSS or HTML customization related to Dark Mode.

Related Features

For further optimization strategies and to learn more about different functionalities related to email campaigns, consider exploring:

• Campaigns
• Email Design
• Testing and Analytics for Campaigns

FAQ

Q1: What is Dark Mode? A1: Dark Mode is a setting that alters the color scheme of email content, displaying light text on a dark background to improve visibility, reduce eye strain, and extend battery life.

Q2: How do I ensure my logos are visible in Dark Mode? A2: Use transparent backgrounds for images and logos. If likely to render poorly, enhance visibility with a light shadow or stroke.

Q3: What should I do if my email still appears incorrectly in Dark Mode? A3: Double-check the background settings, and ensure that both your Content background and Section background are configured correctly. Run fresh tests to observe the changes.

Q4: Can I customize my emails with HTML for Dark Mode optimization? A4: Yes, if you are familiar with CSS and HTML, you can edit your email code using the new email designer. However, assistance from the Customer Experience Team regarding custom code is limited.

Q5: Are there specific email clients that support Dark Mode? A5: Yes, a variety of email clients support Dark Mode. For an extensive list, refer to external resources such as "The Ultimate Guide to Dark Mode for Email Marketers."

Q6: Is the Dark Mode feature available for all ActiveCampaign plans? A6: Dark Mode optimization features are available for Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise plan types.

Q7: Do I need to test my emails for both Light and Dark Modes? A7: Yes, it is highly recommended to test your emails in both modes to ensure they appear correctly for all subscribers.

By implementing these strategies and practices, you can ensure that your campaigns resonate well across various user settings, ultimately maximizing engagement and effectiveness.