The psychology of colors in email marketing

Whitepaper

The psychology of colors in email marketing

You maybe don’t think about it much, but we experience the world around us with colors. A red stop sign gets a very specific reaction from you and when you see a green sign in the parking garage you know what to do. But how can you use this information for your advantage?

Imagine that you’re opening a new email message which immediately fills your screen with bright blue, orange and yellow colors. It would be hard for you to focus on specific elements and you would probably delete the message instantly. That’s a big contrast with a message like the ones that are sent by Apple, where you are welcomed by white, silver and grey, combines with beautiful and captivating images.

When prospects receive your email message, click on your ad, or visit your website, they already take a decision within a couple of seconds. Color combinations have a big influence on the subjective decision-making process. De next time that you start with a new design, you better go through the following list!

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Movement, energy, power, love, passion, speed, danger and life (blood)

Red is emotionally speaking the most intense color. It is energetic, young and bold, accelerates the heartbeat, gives a feeling of urgency, which is why we often see this color pop up with sales and discounts. Red also stirs up and stimulates the appetite, which is why it is often used by fastfood restaurants.

The color red is associated with action, thrill, excitement and passion. You can best use this color when you’re creating email campaigns that demand your contact and client to “immediately” take action. Coca-cola uses red to give consumers the feeling that they are drinking a very sensational soda. Companies that promote energy drinks, food or products that demand action will get good results with the color red.

Red

Credibility, peace, water, calming, clean, focus, medical, professional, legislation, power, business, loyalty, power.

The color blue is one of the most used colors in email campaigns. It can be seen as the opposite of red. Red asks contacts to take action immediately, whereas blue relaxes and lets contacts think more about their decision. Blue encourages your contacts to read thoroughly in order to take a deliberate decision. The color blue is therefor often used by companies who focus on loyalty, stability, fiscal responsibility and open communication. It is also the favourite color of man.

Blue gives a fealing of security, slows down appetite and stimulates productivity. It is the most used color by more conservative companies that are looking to create a feeling of trust when selling their products or services, like financial institutions for example.

Most common sectors: medical, science, government, healthcare, high tech, legislation, information, dental care, business.

Blue

Natural, organic, nutricious, power, nurturing, wealth, education, young, creative, adventurous, up-to-date, ecological, calming

The color green symbolizes freshness, growth and creativity and is also often associated with money and wealth. It’s the easiest color for your eyes to process. Green is also a relaxing color. That’s why it is often used in shops to let customers relax. That’s also the reason why Starbucks has chosen this color as most important element in its branding, from the logo to the mailings and even the interior of the shops.

Green

Pleasure, excitement, action, warmth, ambition, passion

Orange often stands for a new beginning, enthusiasm and creativity. That’s why orange is often used in email campaigns of companies that want to communicate energy and playfulness. Nickelodeon, Amazon, Fanta and Mozilla Firefox are greatly taking benefiting from this. It is also a more aggressive color: it demands action.

Orange

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Green also stimulates harmony in your brain and ensures that you can easily and calmly take decisions. Besides “green” companies also companies that specialize in Return On Investment (ROI) can benefit greatly from the color green.

A lot of financial institutes and organizations like Greenpeace or Animal Planet use green.Most common sectors: pharmacy, science, technology, government, recruitment and HR, ecological companies, tourism.

Happiness, optimism, kindness, friendliness, energy, warmth and pleasure

Yellow lets you think about sunshine and is therefore associated with warmth, happiness and joy. If you specialize in events, clubs, feel good products and social activities you’ll achieve the best results with email campaigns with yellow branding.

Yellow is also optimistic and youthful. It is often used in displays and display windows to attract the attention of passers-by. Being such a bright color it therefore attracts attention. Ikea, Chiquita Banana and McDonald's eagerly take advantage of it. Also Nikon likes yellow.

Geel

Royal, wisdom, spirituality, ambition, luxury and respect

Purple is most often associated with ambition, luxury and wisdom. Products and services that focus on finance, higher education, relaxation and prestige will get good results with purple in their email cam-paigns.

Purple stimulates your problem-solving capabilities and creativity. Purple is also associated with spiritual-ity, but because it’s a color that is very rare in nature, it can be seen as artificial.

Purple is also often used to relax. That’s why you often see that color for beauty or anti-aging products.

Purple

Strong, firm, rough, self-confident and environmentally conscious

Depending on its use brown can both be seen as conventional and sophisticated. Because the color brown is also associated with the Earth, it’s also a good color to promote ecological products and services, like Timberland for example. UPS uses this color also to promote stability, trust and safety

Brown

Love, romance, femininity and warmth

The color pink is most associated with youthfulness, playfulness, energy and fun. Pink is still seen as a gender-specific color. That’s why it is almost exclusively used in campaigns who target girls or women, like Barbie, Victoria’s Secret or Pink Ribbon.

Pink

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Practical, solidarity, aged, conservative, serious

Grey and silver represent both authority and creativity. This is probably the reason why Apple is such a fan of these colors. They work perfectly for companies in the sectors technology, consulting and production. They also stand for knowledge, seriousness and trust, which is why they also do wonders in campaigns for lawyers, advisors and companies which are active in the medical sector.

Shades of grey also work as a base to give more visibility to more adventurous color like red and orange. Too much grey however creates distance and causes your visitors or readers to not feel involved.

Grey/Silver

Trust, power, precision, authority, sofistication, mysterious, professional, direct, accurate

The color black usually stands for authority, boldness and elegance. But depending on the product it can also stand for power and strength. Jaguar for example will often use the color black in its campaigns to attract a specific audience. They target someone who is head of the family, has a higher income, and has a higher degree. Black gives a feeling of exclusiveness and luxury.

Black is powerful and stylish. Is it therefor often used to promote luxury products. It gives a feeling of elegance with a mysterious touch.

Black is also associated with intelligence, but it can be a little overwhelming when used to much.

Most common sectors: construction, corporate, oil, financial, fashion, cosmetics, production, mining, marketing.

Black

So what do you have to do? Think about who you’re targeting for your next email campaign (or website, landing page, invitation, stationary, …). What feelings do you want get from your reader when they see your message for the very first time, and when they use your product or service? Colors can be very powerful tools when you want to entice and engage your audience. When you’re doing it right, it can be an important element for the success of your email campaign!

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Purity, beauty, security, neutrality, order, creativity, innovative, calming, perfection

White is most often used for products and services like charities, wellness, hair dressers, and even technologies like Apple. That’s because white has a calming effect. That way they can reassure potential customers during the decision-making process. It also works well for alternative medicine or beauty because it stands for purity and perfection.

White is also used to show neutrality and order. Whitespace also stimulates creativity because it is seen as new and unchanged.

White