Traffic lights, Zebra crossing, Eco-Friendly, Money... What does it truly mean when you pick a color for your brand? Colours tell a story, it communicates with your audience more than you think. Learn how you can use colours in your brand.
Colours are important to businesses, big and small. They are what make your brand unique and stand out from the competition. They can also be used to amplify your brand's voice and message. And, of course, colours can make or break an outfit. Just think about how you feel when you see someone wearing colours that clash. It's not a good look. The same goes for your brand. If you're mixing and matching colours indiscriminately, people will take notice – and not in a good way. So, it's time to learn about the power of colour and how it can impact your business for better or for worse.
We often think of psychology as relating to our mental health or emotions. However, psychology is actually a much broader field that encompasses our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It also helps us understand why we do the things we do.
You might not realize it, but psychology plays a big role in our everyday lives. For example, have you ever wondered why you're drawn to certain colours? Or why you tend to buy certain products when you see them in a store?
When you walk into a store, have you ever noticed that you're drawn to certain colours more than others? It's not just a coincidence - research shows that up to 85% of the time, the colours we're drawn to are connected to our psychological state.
For example, the color red is often associated with feelings of excitement and passion. If you're feeling low or stressed, you might be drawn to the calming effects of blue. And if you're feeling adventurous, you might find yourself attracted to the boldness of yellow.
It turns out that there's a lot of psychology behind these everyday decisions. In fact, research suggests that colour can influence our moods, emotions, and even our behavior. (Woooow, who knew?)
That's not why we ask our OkCupid date if they like blue. Apart from being an ideal ice breaker on online dating apps (I know... Keep going), our favourite colours often develop from emotional attachments, apart from having a meaning behind them, they carry people's memories. It's not really that important, because who really cares why strangers like yellow?
Marketing is all about linking facts and opinions together to create a story. I want you to think of me when you need something fast but it could also be your favourite colour. I'm not losing anything, am I? So, we know red has a lot of meanings but when it comes to branding, red is intense, fast and deep. That's why Coca-Cola's ad strategies talks about connecting people over a meal. You have to really like someone to have a meal together and share something you like with them (you can still have a decent brand story even though your product is under $10. Don't let dropshippers see this one).
Brands with unlimited budgets can afford to care about colours and who gets to wear the pink dress during launch day. Some of us? Not so much... We didn't know how colors paid a huge role in our business (you could tell by the way our website was set up when we first started). "What the hell do I care about blue and yellow, I'm not a freaking rainbow..."
We know Karen, we know. However, there's a thing about colour that changes the way people react to your presence. I am not saying you will never make money when you have a horrible color palette. We brought in over a quarter million dollars in less than a year and when you scroll down our page you'll be surprised to see me preaching about colours.
Don't stop reading yet, I am about to tell you how you can incorporate colours in your branding and marketing...
Speaking of unlimited, we have a bundle we just launched recently. We talk about colour psychology and a lot more goodies in it. We keep tweaking and adding more info, like we just added a few new ebooks today and because of that we have set the price to $65. We like the changes we have made so far and this is probably one of the best items we have released this year.
There are so many ways you can be creative about colours. (I just realized I've mentioned colours so many times on this article...)
1. Use colours that reflect your brand personality
Your choice of colours should reflect the personality of your brand. For example, if your brand is fun and youthful, you might want to use brighter, more vibrant colours. If your brand is more serious and professional, you might want to use darker, more subdued colours. Fast food restaurants like to use red because of the urgency behind the color. Like when you have to stop immediately after the traffic light turns red.
2. Use colours that will stand out
When it comes to marketing, you want your colours to stand out. This will help you grab attention and be remembered. Bright colours are often more eye-catching than muted colours, so they can be a good choice for marketing materials. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to go for bright colours because I said so. This is just confirmation for people who like using bright colours. As long as your target audience likes muted colours, go for it.
3. Use colours that are appropriate for your audience
You should also consider the colours that are most appropriate for your target audience. For example, if you're targeting a female audience, you might want to use colours that your target audience likes, if your ideal customer likes red, then you can always play around with the type of red they like. Colours have a wide spectrum, from pastels to different hues. I am not trying to be technical here, you sort of get the picture. If you're targeting a male audience, you might want to use darker colours, most men are still stuck in that masculine phase where a light pink bottle might scare him unless it's Harpic.
4. Use colours that match your products
If you sell products, you'll want to make sure that the colours you use in your branding and marketing match the colours of your products. This will create a cohesive look and help your customers easily identify your products.
5. Use colours that convey the right message
Some colours convey different messages and emotions. For example, red is often associated with energy, passion, and excitement, while blue is often associated with calm, serenity, and trustworthiness. When choosing colours for your branding and marketing, consider the emotions and messages that you want to communicate to your customers.
6. Use colours that work well together
Not all colours go well together. When choosing colours for your branding and marketing, you'll want to make sure that the colours you choose compliment each other. You can use a colour wheel to help you find colour combinations that work well together.
7. Use colours that are easy to read
When it comes to marketing materials, you'll want to make sure that the colours you use are easy to read. Dark colours on light backgrounds and light colours on dark backgrounds can be difficult to read. You'll also want to avoid using colours that are similar in hue, such as green and yellow, as this can make it difficult for people to distinguish between the two colours.
8. Use colours that are visually appealing
In addition to being easy to read, the colours you use should also be visually appealing. This will help to grab attention and keep people engaged.
9. Use colours that are compatible with your branding
If you already have a brand identity, you'll want to make sure that the colours you use in your branding and marketing are compatible with your existing branding. This will help to create a cohesive look and avoid confusion.
10. Experiment with different colours
Don't be afraid to experiment with different colours in your branding and marketing. You might be surprised by what colours work well together and which ones don't.
But what colour do you use for your business? I honestly do not know. I chose the newest palette for TPM, derived from our old one. I wanted something more calm and collected for our rebrand. Nothing too loud. After all, we are an educational platform but people cannot learn if they're not well-grounded and focused, that's why we opted for brown. From there, we added green, black, orange, red and a bit of yellow. We believe you learn from experience and what people don't tell you is that, the experience is outside, where the sun rises and sets over the ocean, where the flowers bloom during spring and when the leaves turn green right after winter has left the chat. We want to be more intentional moving forward and these colours speak to us. It's entirely up to us to create a great story for these colours so they don't resemble a clown, I would say a Christmas tree but them girlies know how to coordinate these days. We love a self-aware queen. So with all the colour talk...
It's no secret that hacking the psychology behind colours can truly make an impact however I feel like we need to be honest here. Let's be real, people buy whatever they want to buy. It could be colourless and people would add to cart. "There's no such thing-" we knooow.
I promise you, we know that great marketing overpowers the power of a great colour palette but, did you know that impact doesn't always have to include money? it makes your content more shareable, memorable and likeable. Your target audience can easily spot you and say, "that's my homie right there" and maybe, just they will give your product the push it needs 2 years down the line... (but 2 years though? Yeah, imagine when COVID happened two years ago...) It's been that long but we will see each other soon on the next post.