When you see the color red, what do you think of? Love? Anger? Blood? Ketchup? When you see the color yellow? What about the color green? Color is all around us, in everything we see - and the world would be quite different if the grass was blue, and the sky was green, wouldn't it?
Using the wrong color in your marketing material can backfire in subtle ways. Let's take a look at what each of the colors evoke, and how you can use this information to get your audience to take the desired action.
According to an infographic on color and marketing, 93% of buyers focus on the visual appearance - or the branding of your products and services. Nearly 85% of buyers claim color is the primary reason they look at a product, and 80% of clients believe it is is color that is responsible for brand recognition.
Colors and emotion
Every color has an emotional connotation, as well as an associated meaning. The trick with color theory is to be mindful of the emotion, but also what the colors mean from culture to culture.
This is a powerful color - because it is energizing, and associated with everything from affection and love to fear and survival.
When used in the right manner, it can show strength and friendliness, but can also be seen as aggressive. It's a great way to catch attention quickly, but should be used sparingly to avoid bringing up its negative aspects.
The color red is known to increase your pulse, blood pressure, appetite, and metabolism.
As a combination of red and yellow, this color pulls attributes from both - the power and energy of red, along with the fun and friendly aspects of yellow. It's good for showing comfort, stimulating the appetite, and promoting motivation with a positive attitude.
This color is associated with joy, happiness, and optimism. It's associated with confidence, and inspiration. But, if you use it too much, it can cause issues with self-esteem, anxiety, and fear.
This is associated with balance and harmony, bringing in the qualities of blue and yellow. It's a common color because it's seen so often throughout nature, but it is associated with life, peace, growth, income, and wealth. Green is a great color for stress relief, but there are some minor negative connotations like materialism and over-possession.
This is an excellent color for business branding, because it's soothing, and connotes trust, responsibility, reliability, and dependability. Blue provides more of a mental reaction compared to the physical reaction of red, but because it is one of the last colors to be seen, if you use it too much, it can be seen as cold, distant, and unfriendly.
With purple, you get the energy and power of red, alongside the reliability and stability of blue, creating a perfect balance of spirituality and the physical world. It is commonly associated with luxury, courage, magic, and mystery. Use purple sparingly because it can create distraction and introspection when used too much.
If red feels a bit too intense for your message, you may want to consider pink because it offers a softer feel, soothing rather than stimulating. It creates a sense of unconditional love, compassion, empathy, and romance. But, using it too much can signal a lack of power, immaturity, and can be draining on the audience.
Though not incredibly visually stimulating, brown is associated with structure, protection, and security. It's down to earth, yet serious, so it's great for situations for when black could be too much. But, when used too often, it can come across as reserved and boring.
This color is associated with independence, control, seriousness, and sophistication. All of these things sound great, but when you consider it also has close associations with death, mystery, and depression, it is best to use it more heavily in your text to make it easier to read, and avoid the negativity in larger designs.
Like pink is to red, gray is to black - a softer version, thanks to the inclusion of white to tone it down.
This is associate with purity, innocence, new beginnings, simplicity, cleanliness. Using it too much, however, can cause feelings of loneliness and isolation.
The meaning varies depending on culture, but it is often associated with wealth, abundance, luxury, and confidence. Using it sparingly is best, because if you use too much, you risk coming of as righteous and egotistical.
Bear in mind, there are cultural differences associated with the meanings and emotions of color. This isn't necessarily important if you're focused on a national audience, but for businesses with a global focus, these kind of considerations must come into play for all branding and marketing related tasks.
Another thing to consider is color preference by gender. Data from Hallock shows:
- Both men and women favor the color blue - though men favor it more.
- Women dislike orange the most; men dislike brown the most. The colors they dislike are seen as "cheap". (Want your brand to be associated with luxury? Skip those colors.)
- The majority of both men and women prefer cool colors to warm ones.
- The older both genders get, the more they dislike orange and yellow. This is something to consider if you have an audience of older people.
- Woman like tints of color (white added), while men liked shaded (colors with black added), or more pure colors. Tones are created when gray is added.
What do you want people to do?
Further research from Hallock takes a look at colors and word associations. Understanding the words that come to mind when people think of certain colors can help you choose the colors you want to use to convey the intended action.
- Trust you: Use blue, white, or green, as all these colors showed up in the results for trust connotation. Blue, black, and green were associated with security.
- See you as high quality: Black is the color of choice here, with blue being a close second.
- See you as a fun brand: Use orange, yellow, or purple - as these where the top color choices.
- See You as Reliable: Blue was the top choice, while black was a close second.
People must trust your brand, see you as reliable, and see you as high quality if they're going to spend their money with you, so using blue is a surefire bet in your marketing materials. Use the copy to show the benefits of your product and how it solves their problem, and use the colors to reinforce the message you are a solid, trustworthy brand, better than the competition. Use contrast to avoid eye strain.
What colors are you using in your branding?
The colors you use in your branding should reflect your business. After all, you shouldn't stray too far from that basic color palette you established in the beginning, or else your marketing materials won't help foster brand awareness.
Your brand colors should be selected based on a number of factors, including:
- Your industry - certain colors work better depending on the market you're in. For instance, red and orange work well in restaurants because they stimulate appetite; green works well in natural, healthy, or financial industries because of the association with nature and money.
- Your image - do you want to be seen as a fun, laid back company? Or do you need to be seen as a trustworthy, sophisticated, solution? The image you want to send to prospective customers has a lot to do with the colors you associate with your branding.
- Your audience - is it primarily men? Women? A mix of both? An older or younger demographic? Based on the data above, if you're dealing with an older audience, it's wise to avoid using orange or yellow. If it's all women, use tinted colors. If it's all men, use shaded or pure colors. If it's a mix of men and women, try to find a happy medium between the two.
Is it all in your color choices?
While you color scheme will affect your marketing, it represents only a small portion of the design that goes into getting conversions. Everything from layout, to copy, call of action text and placement, including the color of the button (make it stand out against the rest of the page), and even the offer itself will play a role in whether or not your audience converts.
Want more?
Curious about what color can do for you? Check out these articles:
50 Beautiful Riveting Red Logos
15 Inspiring Square Logos Designs
The Power of Color - 15 Outstanding Blue Logo Designs
Written by Eric Sachs on Monday, January 30, 2017
Eric is an SEO virtuoso and the CEO at Sachs Marketing Group. He's focused on being of service to business owners - helping to better position them in the eyes of their audiences. Follow Eric on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram
