While developing a brand philosophy, business owners need to concentrate on color as the main factor. Every color that we see directly or indirectly implies something, and it helps to influence the perception of a particular brand.
Some colors go beyond individual brands to represent entire industries, such as blue for traveling, green for healthy eating, red for fast food.
There are no clear rules for choosing a color scheme when developing a corporate identity. Some designers use the color shades familiar to the industry, while others, on the contrary, prefer to go against tradition, believing that it helps to attract attention more effectively.
1. Red
In 2005, scientists at the University of Durham published a study showing that athletes wearing red uniforms win more often. Red is associated with urgency, danger, and, also strength. It seems like this shade should be avoided, but if you use red sparingly, it can increase sales efficiency.
Where can you see red calls to action?
At any sale in shopping malls, discount signs are usually red. This works especially well, for example, during Black Friday, when people already know that they can buy goods at a big discount and they only need one last “push” to make a purchase. Therefore, posters announcing sales are usually bright red, they convey a sense of urgency.
Where should you use red?
Red works best when it comes to impulse buying. Therefore, it is often used in online stores. However, red is also effective for other sites, such as online booking and flight bookings.
2. Blue
Blue indirectly contributes to increased sales. It is usually associated with reliability, peace of mind, and stability, which is why this shade is so popular among software developers and financial products. Some companies create icon for their brand with a blue color.
How does blue affect sales?
Blue helps people cope with feelings of anxiety. It will be a good option for decorating the background of a landing page or its elements. This color is best suited for the fields of finance, medicine, and insurance.
Where should you use blue?
Light blue creates a sense of freedom and security, while dark blue is associated with tradition, seriousness, and intelligence. Blue is a great choice if your company’s sales volume depends on how trustworthy and serious you are perceived to be. Blue elements stand out well against a white background, while yellow text on a blue background is considered the most readable.
3. Green
The green color is traditionally associated in our minds with health, the environment, as well as with everything natural and organic. If your business is closely related to these concepts, then you should pay special attention to this shade.
How does green affect sales?
Research shows that green, unlike other colors, encourages people to be creative. In addition, everyone is well aware that this color is used as a traffic signal allowing traffic. Therefore, using green for conversion elements looks more like a recommendation rather than a call for urgent action.
Where should you use green?
Green can be used to highlight the elements of the landing page，they will look most effective against a white background and surrounded by contrasting colors. This shade should prevail in the visual hierarchy, attract attention, but at the same time not be too catchy. If you feel like your customers are looking for a green light rather than an impulse buy boost, then green is an excellent choice. This color works great on landing pages and websites of medical centers, laboratories.
4. Purple
Purple is commonly associated with nobility, prosperity, and strength. In ancient times, it was forbidden by law to wear clothes of this color for ordinary people. In modern society, purple often takes on the added value of spirituality and creativity.
How does purple affect sales?
Purple is a vibrant color. It contrasts well with yellow and green and pairs well with pink and blue. If your business site has a lot of white and black colors, then by decorating the menu or CTA elements in purple tones, you can noticeably make them stand out from the general background.
Where should purple be used?
As a practical matter, purple stands out well on landing pages where the target audience is mostly women. This is a standard color scheme for online stores of clothing, cosmetics, and baby products.
5. Black
You are probably convinced that black cannot form the basis of a landing page’s color scheme. This is partly true because most designers prefer white as a background and a few bright accents. However, black can also make a very strong impression.The use of black has a good effect when it comes to high-value products with a male or mixed target audience.
How does black affect sales?
Don’t use black for conversion elements, as it usually doesn’t stand out well against the background. However, black and white colors automatically create contrast.
Where should black be used?
This shade will look good in the colors of a landing page offering a premium subscription or luxury product. Unless you sell luxury cars, you should be more discreet when using black. However, it can be quite effective when applied to individual elements.
Conclusion
Brand colors should evoke the right emotional associations in users and customers, while simultaneously emphasizing your unique style. First of all, you need to choose an emotion that your target audience should feel. Then choose the color associated in the mass consciousness with the emotion you have chosen.
Finally, once you’ve determined what emotion you want to convey with color, you must decide whether you will be branding your business with the visual dominance of one color or complementing it with others. The most important thing is that the colors you choose match the message, your brand image.
That is why all the recommendations for the selection of colors presented in this article are only approximate. There are many examples where changing the color to a custom color for a particular niche has a positive impact on conversion rates. The only way to find out exactly how a color will affect your sales is through a split test.
