Using the psychology of color for successful business growth! – Friendly Organics

When it comes to business growth, i is a case of looking at many aspects of your marketing communications. Have you considered how your customers subconsciously perceive you through your choice of colors in your marketing communications?

Through the process of semiotics, people are influenced by colours, especially in content marketing.

It is important that the subconscious message is the same as the conscious message to ensure maximum effect with your marketing messages.

Used correctly it will make you stand out from the competition.

However, at this point, it needs to be said that the colour palette needs to be unique to your business and not a one colour fits all. How do you hope to stand out if you are just copying others without matching the colours to your brand message and values?

Colour can send a very powerful message and help you stand out from the crowd. It’s a powerful marketing tool once you understand how it triggers psychological reactions, influences mood, and prompts people to take action.

You need to find a starting point if you do not already have brand colours for your business.

Colour psychology:

When it comes to marketing communication especially on social media, we all know attention spans are getting shorter and shorter.

Your customers are constantly bombarded with marketing communication and can get bored in seconds. With this in mind, standing out with great content is difficult. You have to gain and then keep their attention very quickly, varies reports claim anything from 1-4 seconds.

A powerful message via an eye-catching visual will be the difference between your marketing being noticed and actioned and being missed as part of marketing blindness. The correct use of colour plays a massive part of this.

Why? Studies have shown that in many people colours trigger different emotional responses in the subconscious brain.

Now I hear you say if we all follow the psychology of colour we are all going to create the same and add to marketing blindness.

This is where you combine your brand values, marketing communication, the problem you are solving for your audience with the following colour suggestions. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, that’s what makes the rule, and of course, you need to consider the country of your business as minor changes might apply. But as a great rule of thumb, the following is a proven theory:

Choose RED on social media posts

Red is considered a powerful, dynamic colour, ideal of you want to grab attention fast and stop people in their tracks. Red is said to portray,

· energy & speed

· youth

· warmth

· love

· strong emotions

However, depending on the combined message red can have a darket aggressive side, due to its semiotics of being associated with blood, stop traffic lights and danger in general. Therefor be aware of the combined message when using this colour in any marketing materials.

Consider when you see a sale or discount sign. Traditionally it is red for a reason. However, ensure your image associated with red is amazing as red can cheapen your brand with its bargain-basement image.

Consider the shade of red you will use for your messages. Try softening its impact by adding a complementary colour. Add green for Christmas holiday promotion posts or blush pink for a romantic Valentine marketing campaign.

Be BLUE with your imagery

To evoke feelings of:

· trust & professionalism

· respectability

· a safe pair of hands

· reliable & dependable

· healing

· calm

It’s these emotions that make it the most popular colour with medispas, aesthetic clinics and holistic practitioners for branding.

Research shows that blue is the top choice (43%) for reliability, followed by black (24%)Make these emotions work for your business when creating content marketing such as social media imagery.

Trust is represented by research as follows, most chose the colour blue (34%), followed by white (21%) and green (11%).

Embrace YELLOW on social media

Yellow evokes the following in the subconsious mind:

· happy and joyful

· positive & optimistic

· lift their spirits

· cheerful & warm

· friendly & youthful

If you are looking to make your social media content go viral, Harvard Business research have found those with positive tones are more likely to go viral. What thoughts come to mind when you think of daffodils waving in a spring breeze, fluffy chicks or the blazing summer sun. Are you smiling already?

However with most aspects to life, there is a negative side, too yellow can make people feel anxious, self-critical and depress our self-esteem.

How do we feel about green?

Would you agree with the following:

· harmony & balance

· restfulness & peace

· growth & renewal

· stress busting

· nature

· tranquillity

· positive environment

Green is the colour of the moment evoking our planet, and organic values. If you’re talking about a natural, organic well-being product or service, then choose green as your hero colour for your image. Combine it with a palette of earthy brown tones if you want your social posts to inspire balance and harmony.

An extremely popular colour on social media is pink when you consider the emotions it evokes you can see why numerous businesses adopt a pink theme to their content marketing. It inspires emotions of:

· love & romance

· caring & nurturing

· empathy & sensitivity

· gentleness & innocence

· femininity

Although pink is a shade of red, it doesn’t demand attention in the same manner. You could consider using vintage pastel sorbet hues to create a vintage or retro vibe, throwback Thursday

Again two tales to every colour. Too much can err on being too girly and immature, so if you love pink introduce a contrasting or complementary colour to some of your communications.

Now is Black a colour? Yes!

If you want your images to look and feel:

· sophisticated

· contemporary yet elegant

· luxurious· powerful & authoritative

· glamorous & high end

· manly

High Quality Black makes a bold statement, especially on social media and websites.

A black and white image can stand out from the crowd on Instagram or Facebook, just be careful what you mix it with.

If you stick to just black & white, you may project a little negativity because of the emotions of sadness black can create.

And not including any colour photos or imagery is very restrictive when you’re marketing your business and want to showcase your services.

Orange emits thoughts of:

· fun & extrovert

· energy & vitality

· warmth

· positive & optimistic

· freedom

· good value

Personally, you may not be a fan of orange, but it is a colour you should consider. On the colour wheel, orange is created by mixing red and yellow. So psychologically it combines the best of both colours: the happy, fun associations of yellow with the power and excitement of red.

However, as with red, use orange sparingly. Too much can cheapen your brand and make your marketing communications look desperate.

Are your brand and business with values of spirituality? Then consider our next colour Purple.

Along with:

· luxury & sophistication

· creativity· individual

· intuitive

You will see many holistic or well-being businesses embracing the purple due to its associations with spirituality, energy and creativity. Purple is also associated with royalty and luxury goods so it’s a popular colour with high-end businesses.

Last but not least we have white, which like black may not seem to be a colour. It speaks volumes on:

· purity & innocence

· simplicity

· luxury

· cleanliness & calm

· sophistication & exclusivity

White is probably the most important ‘colour’ you can use on your social media.White is clean, calm and ordered (which is perhaps why doctors wear white coats – as being blunt it’s not the most practical of colours).

White is excellent at creating contrast. A plain white background with a distinctive font stands out from the crowd for its simplicity. And it speaks volumes.Use white in your content marketing when you want to evoke luxury, exclusivity, and purity whether for organic pure products or top end retail.

Don’t get carried away with white as too much can cause feelings of isolation, loneliness, and emptiness.

Colour is powerful in marketing

Still, wondering whether the colour of your content and social media marketing needs careful thought when marketing your business? Have a look at some marketing strategies that work and apply your color knowledge

Take a look at the research:

Researchers asked which colour people associated with certain emotions:

· Safety: Blue came out on top (28%), followed by black (16%) and green (12%)·

Cheapness: Orange came first (26%), followed by yellow (22%) and brown (13%)·

Fear/Terror: Red came in first (41%) followed by black (38%)·

Trust: Blue (34%), followed by white (21%) and green (11%) when looking for trust·

Fun: Orange was the top choice (28%), followed closely by yellow (26%) and then purple (17%)

This is why understanding colour psychology then using it correctly on your social media and other marketing is crucial to the success of your business.

Get it wrong and you may send the wrong message out about your brand.

July 3rd, 2020