Color trends do not randomly emerge and invade diverse industries. They do so because there is strong psychology behind how these trends emerge. Most colors become popular because of a recent political or cultural event. That’s why most people are able to instantly grab this association. And thus they easily embrace these trends when brands around the world start using them. 

So, if you want to keep trying what’s trending in your regular content like marketing emails, use trending colors to grab attention. But then you also need your brand colors to be present in your emails. And you also know that too many colors can cause a lot of confusion. So, in this blog, we’ll tell you how to use trending colors in your emails. Without leaving out your brand colors. And without losing out on the message your email should convey. 

But First, Why Are Colors Important in Marketing Emails?

• Colors convey the message before the words do. If you want your customers to know that you are announcing a Christmas sale, what’s the easiest way to do it? Use a red and green color palette to create a festive mood in your email. 
• Colors make it easier to evoke emotions. A lot happens when people feel your email rather than just see it. An emotional response is the most effective tool to get better conversions. 
• Colors help define your brand personality. Nearly 89% of marketers rely on emails as the primary channel of communication. Therefore, you have a lot of competition to face. So, use colors to set a visual style for your brand. This way your brand will be easier to remember. For example, your brand will be known as one that is known to send pop-art-styled emails with vibrant colors. Or one that is known for its soothing palettes with pastels and earthy neutrals. 
• Sometimes, colors can be that one extra detail that makes your email easier to understand. Because with colors you can define a hierarchy in your email or even create different sections or focal points. (more on this a little later in this blog)

So, you know that colors are important in marketing email design. But then what colors should you use? This depends on your brand colors and the kind of message your email carries. In addition to this, one other aspect to consider will be the running color trend. These are colors that brands from different industries are using on a large scale. So, people see them everywhere and they know that it is worth their attention. Want to incorporate color trends in your marketing emails but don’t know where to start? Let’s find out! 

6 Tips to Use Color Trends to Enhance Your Marketing Emails 

Remember that your customers do not have to go out of their way to learn about color trends. These trends will somehow meet them where they are. Through social media posts from brands and celebrities, ads from popular brands, and other ways. So, they will be well aware of what colors are popular during a particular period, even without making an effort. Therefore, all the effort you put in to incorporate these colors into your email design will not go waste. 

Every year Pantone announces a color of the year. And in interior design and fashion, you see many new colors popping up. And these are what customers see everywhere. By using these colors in your marketing designs like emails, you help your customers feel connected with the trends. So, are you ready to use the trending colors of the year in your emails? Here are some ideas to help you take the plunge. 

1. A simple color palette makes a huge difference 

First things first, when you have a whole list of trending colors to try, do not use all of them in one email. Understand the psychology behind each of the trending colors. And then do some research on why that color has been popular. See if you can combine this idea with the core idea of your email. 

For example, you know that muted neutrals have been trending this year. And you want to create an email for Mother’s Day. Then soft neutrals will definitely play their part in your email. As you can see in the below design. 

Since the logo color in the above design is green, a majority of other design elements including the action buttons are in green. This helps in creating a design that retains the brand identity too. 

Kimp Tip: As a rule of thumb, it is better to stick with a simple color palette of two or three colors for your emails. You can always play with the tints and shades of these main colors you choose. But too many colors can send out confusing signals and bring down the effectiveness of the email. 

Finding it tough to decide the color palette for your emails? The Kimp team is here to help. 

2. Understand color combinations 

The one thing that matters as much as choosing the right colors is choosing the right color combinations. We told you that two or three colors are more than enough for a good email design. And we also told you that adding your brand’s flavor is essential. So, when you scroll through the trending colors, find those that will go well with your brand colors. Where you use what color comes a little later but before that the colors in your email should look harmonious when combined. 

Deciphering color combinations becomes easier when you understand the color wheel and how color harmonies work. Designs that look aesthetically appealing mostly use complementary, triadic, split complementary, or analogous color schemes. 

For example, look at the below email design. 

The design brilliantly uses three different colors and somehow they all look so well put together. That’s because green, pink, and orange are split-complementary colors. Naturally, they create a sense of balance in the design. Similarly, when you have to choose from the trending colors list, look for colors that are complementary, analogous, or triadic with your brand color. 

3. Know where to use the chosen colors 

If you want to use trending colors but want your brand colors to be the primary colors in the design, then remember that there are many design elements in your email where you can add a pop of color. Here are a few: 

• Background – of course, this is often the important detail in an email design. A solid background will be a bold move. Because it influences the mood of your email. So choose the right background color. 
• Section dividers – in case you want to divide your email copy into sections revolving around particular topics or products, you can use different colors to distinguish sections. 
• Actionable buttons – these are CTAs within the email. In most cases, there is just one CTA. But when your email talks about multiple products or multiple offers during a sale, you have different CTA buttons each leading to a different page. 
• Text banners – when you have a tricky background image or textured backgrounds, you can use banners behind the text in order to keep them legible. 
• Font colors – again, within fonts you have the hero text or the title text of the email and the body text, and finally, disclaimers and other information on the email footer. 
• Icons and symbols – when you have different blocks of text to display, and you do not want to use color blocks to separate them, you can use icons or symbols to mark the sections. 

Kimp Tip: When you want to use different colors for each of these elements, don’t miss out on the visual consistency in the design. For this, define a particular color for each element and stick with it. 

Want to create trendy email designs for your brand? Book a call with the Kimp team today. 

4. Use colors to create a clutter-free design 

If the below email makes your eyes tired, we get you! That’s what visual clutter can do to your customers. And you surely do not want that! Good email design aims at delivering a good experience. Even if the customer does not click the CTA button, you know that the customer did not leave with a bad memory of your brand. 

An email with a lot of information might end up looking chaotic if you do not pay attention to the colors and other aspects of the design. This also happens when you have to include images of multiple products in one email. Each product might be in a different color. And you know well that too many colors within one small space can create a distracting design. So, how do you avoid this? We’ll explain with an example. 

Here is an email designed by Kimp. 

The above email design is information-rich and has several products displayed. But the design still appears clean and easy to read. This is because of two things:

• The items are positioned in uniform-looking grid spaces. And the alignment complements this. 
• The subheads and section titles are all in the same color. In this case, it is the same color that appears in the brand logo. But if you are creating an informative email with a trending color as the primary color in the design, you can use it in these focal points. This way, you create a more segmentalized layout and also ensure that your customers remember the color in focus. 

5. Emphasize the actionable items with the chosen colors 

In the above email design, the brand color from the logo is blue. And blue is also a relevant color for most B2B businesses. Therefore, the design predominantly uses blue and its variations. But to add a pop of color and to create focal points for customers, there are yellow buttons and a yellow strip indicating the closure of the main section. This shows how you can use a color other than your brand color without affecting your brand’s visual identity. 

You can use this idea when you want to try a trending color in your email but do not want to deviate from your brand colors too much. 

6. While using background colors, prioritize contrast 

The below email design shows how you can use solid colors as the background and still create a clear and crisp design. 

As you can see, the chosen blue contrasts with the primary brand color, pink. So, when the title text has to be in pink, it stands out from the background. And to keep things simple, the rest of the fonts are either in black or white. 

Adopt Color Trends in Your Marketing Emails With Kimp 

As you can see, it is not that difficult to adopt color trends to revamp your email marketing strategy. All it takes is a little planning and some understanding of how and where to use these colors. Keeping up with the trends and understanding how they affect your email design can be a bit overwhelming. That’s why working with an unlimited design service like Kimp gives you the advantage of always having a dependable team that can take care of these tasks for you. One Kimp Graphics subscription is all you need to create email designs, social media designs and so much more. 

Start your free trial today.