Using Color in Your Website and Marketing

Understanding the Psychology of Color as It Applies to Your Marketing

Color has a tremendous effect on the actions of your webpage visitors, and we need to take a look at how we can better use this in our marketing. Rather than think of it as some sort of NLP, or mumbo-jumbo, we need to take a good look at the data available and then begin to test what this means for our particular audience.

The psychology of color gives us a wealth of data to digest. This data shows us specific choices we can make regarding colors for your web pages, marketing pieces, buy buttons and more. Even though this information is valuable, it is still incumbent upon us to test what works best for our particular audience.

The basics of color psychology

Basically, the psychology of color is the study of what colors evoke response in people, and what those responses are typically. There are differences in each and every sex, age group and other demographic you can identify. For instance, women love purple, while men detest it. Brown often means a rugged, outdoorsy feeling, while for others it denotes warmth. Red is found on stop signs, but also suggests a level of excitement. Green means money to some, and calm to others. One interesting fact: the favorite color of both men and women is blue.

How to use this information to your benefit

So how best to take this information and apply it to our businesses? Step one is to realize that testing is mandatory, and that the colors you see work well on one site might not apply to yours.

• The starting point is knowing who your audience is. Is your audience mostly male, female, young or old? The colors are different, and speak different things to each set of people.
• Know which parts of your pages are the most important. For example, any calls to action on your pages should be made to stand out with a bolder, while at the same time complimentary, color.
• Think of the overall feeling you are trying to convey, and test accordingly. Color evokes mood, and you’ll need to consider this when deciding exactly what you’re trying to say with color.
• Make your colors consistent, so as to keep your message consistant as well. Also, try to keep any hyperlinks blue whenever possible, as this has been the link color since the Web began, and there’s a case for familiarity.

Above all, take the time to test colors that work best for your distinct audience, as it will be vastly different, even from your competitors.