The impact color has on your Customer

Why do colors matter for your brand? 

Colors affect people. 

Different colors influence people in different ways. 

While color psychology and its influence might be debated. I can say with confidence, that YES, color influences your brand presence.  For more details on the relationship of color and branding, check out “Exciting red and competent blue: The importance of color in marketing” by Lauren Labrecque and George Milne.

 The colors chosen to represent a brand can and will influence your reach and how you are perceived. It can be the change from someone not wanting to interact with your brand to thinking ‘hell yes, this brand is for me!’

Color affects how a person interprets a brand. It can change how someone chooses to interact with your business. It can turn someone on to a new idea or concept. Or turn them off from finding out more.

Let’s take blue as an example. What do you think of when you read blue? Let me take a guess...the ocean, the sky. Blue evokes a sense of serenity. Maybe a little sadness? Blue is calm. And it has a quiet confidence. 

For this reason and other studies in color psychology, it’s no coincidence that many brands choose blue. It’s approachable and doesn’t evoke strong emotions. Light blue alone is seen in everything from Facebook and Twitter to American Express and Bank of America. 

Let’s use these examples above and go a step further. 

Facebook, Twitter, American Express, and Bank of America are four major players in two industries - social media and finance. Why would two of the largest players in an industry want their branding to be so similar to their direct competitor? Because color influences consumers. 

These businesses lean into lighter shades of  blue because their industries aren’t always comfortable for people. They need to evoke calm with their customers.

So, inevitably these businesses have chosen that they would rather keep the color and blend in with their industry than take a risk and stand out. 

Color can make a business stand out. 

Color choice is another way you can make your business stand out from the competition.

Let’s take the cannabis industry as an example, it is a relatively new commercial industry. How many cannabis brands have you seen that have relied heavily on the color green? Countless. Actually countless. Or in retail, how much of it is red to convey speed and efficiency? More than you probably realized. 

For your brand, take a look at your competition and assess if there is a color trend. If there is a color trend, is it working? You can follow the trend and reap the same benefits. That color is established in an industry for a reason, there are benefits like making your business itself look established and like it belongs. 

Or would picking a different color be the edge needed to make your brand stand out? Would a different color make your brand shine and invite your audience in?

What color will work for your business? 

For your business and brand color, look to your audience and goals.

First ask, what do I want my consumer to take away from this? Then, consider whether this works for your audience?

Now, take those ideas and translate it into a color. 

None of these are hard and fast rules. But color psychology is a discipline that has taken out some of the guess work on where your brand should go. 

The colors you choose to include in your brand messaging convey who you are as a business. The colors invite your audience in and they help your ideal customer find you.