Does Color Matter in Marketing?

There are all sorts of colors out there. You have basic ones like red, green, and blue. You have fancier ones like cyan, burnt sienna and chartreuse. Do any of them really make a difference in your marketing? The simple answer is yes, color does matter. It affects our mood, our health and our willingness to open up our wallets. In fact, it should be one of the first things you think about when you plan out your marketing campaign.

There’s some science behind this phenomenon, too. In a 2006 study called Impact of Color in Marketing, researchers found that color can be responsible for up to 90% of snap judgments made about whether to purchase a particular product. That’s powerful stuff. What’s more,  research has also shown that there is a real connection between colors and how a customer perceives a particular brand's personality.

While different colors have different meanings and have been associated with varying things over the year, there seems to be some universal meaning and emotions attached to them. For an idea of what different colors mean, here is a blog post from Adobe about the meaning of colors.

Is it passion you want?

When you’re planning a marketing campaign, you’ll need to consider how you want people to feel when they see your advertising. What do you want them to do? Do you want them feeling reassured or excited? Red is the color of passion and it certainly grabs our attention and suggests action. You might want to use red if you’re having a flash sale, for instance. It might also be the perfect color to use if you want your product to stand out, which is why so many car commercials have a red car in them.

Or calm serenity?

You can use color to soothe as well. Green and blue suggest solidity and serenity. You might use blue if you’re selling financial services in a troubled market, while green or even brown might be the best choice if you’re aiming for a more natural or environmental theme.

Test, test, test

Now should you go out and change your entire business color scheme just because you’ve read this article? Of course not. If you want to take advantage of the power of color, do some tests first. For instance, try changing your banner color or your “Buy Now” link from green to red and see how it works. Watch your analytics and see if it’s made a difference.

Color may be an afterthought for many marketing campaigns, but it shouldn’t be. If you have any doubts about this, simply walk outside and look up into the sky. Would you prefer to gaze upon a brilliant sapphire blue or to be presented with a bland, depressing gray? Which one puts you in a better mood? You can probably figure out the answer pretty quickly, and that’s just one small example of the power of color. Take advantage of it to build a brighter, more cheerful future for your business.