Just a glimpse in the dark
In our blog post “How widespread is dark mode?” We have shown that between 10 and 25% of users use dark mode. It is clear that email templates should be optimized to this effect, because many newsletters designed for the standard daylight view look ugly in dark mode — in the worst case, even texts or buttons become invisible.
However, during our analysis, we discovered something else that could cause professional email senders stomach ache: The engagement rates in terms of length of stay were significantly lower among Dark Mode users in our test than among recipients who open emails in daylight mode.
Are emails read at different intensities in night and daylight modes?
Evaluation: Opening time Dark Mode vs. Light Mode
- Almost half (43%) of Dark Mode openers only take a cursory look at the email and leave (delete) it within two seconds. Among light mode users, just under a quarter (24%) of emails are only opened very briefly (0-2 seconds).
- Almost two thirds of recipients with a “daylight view” spend more time reading the email and read it for more than 8 seconds (60%). Among dark mode users, less than half as many (24%) do so. You will scan the email in 3-8 seconds.
Total length of stay
Engagement with dark mode openings
The result surprised even us. Why is the engagement time significantly worse for Dark Mode users? Was this newsletter simply difficult to read in dark mode (even though the template was actually optimized for that)? Or do dark mode lovers simply receive their emails differently? We do not have an answer to this question for now, as we are not yet able to say to what extent the results are representative and reproducible. In addition, we cannot use any other KPIs in Email On Acid for comparison purposes. After all, the length of stay doesn't say anything about conversions.
The only thing that is clear is that in future, not only the presentation of emails, but also length of stay, click rates and conversions with regard to dark mode will be examined more closely.
In any case, this observation encourages us to take dark mode seriously — we recommend that everyone take a close look at the design and optimization options!
