Visuals are an essential component to business success in social media platforms and in brand development. Whether it’s photos, shapes, or written text, your business should be presented and promoted in a way that catches the attention of consumers and entices them to respond!
But this visual media is not all that comes into play. Colours have an important role when it comes to the success of your marketing strategy. Colours are the first thing a consumer will notice about your brand logo! When developing your marketing strategy, you should consider what colours will best represent your business.
It can be hard to determine what colours are right for your social media and brand development. Certain colours may be more effective than others, depending on consumer location, age, gender, etc. Below are some tips you can use to choose your colours and appropriately incorporate them into your business strategy!
1. Understand the basics of colour
Sometimes the simplest concepts are the most helpful. The colour wheel is an effective tool to use when deciding on colour choices! By learning about each colour and their role in the colour wheel, you can better understand what combination of colours will be most beneficial to your strategy. Make sure that the colours you choose are visually harmonious!
Here are some tips when combining colours:
- Complementary colours are eye-catching and bold
- When matching complementary colours, ensure the hues allow for a balanced contrast
- Ie. Using a dark background? Choose a light text.
- Ie. Using a light background? Choose a dark text.
2. Communicate using colour
Colours are another way to communicate your content to consumers. Make sure that the colours you choose are representative of the message you want to send from your brand!
Different colours mean different things. For instance, warm colours like red tend to be associated with energy, while cold colours like blue tend to be associated with calmness and security.
Although the interpretation of colour will vary from person to person, there is a general guideline as to what each colour says:
Warm colours:
- Red – strong, dominant, powerful, motivated, passionate, loving
- Orange – positive, successful, energetic, creative, confident, playful
- Yellow – optimistic, happy, friendly, bright, promising, warmth
- Pink – feminine, compassionate, romantic, intuitive, nurturing, kind
- Black – classy, safe, serious, sophisticated, in control, dynamic
- Grey – sleek, modern, professional, intelligent, secure, tech
Cold colours:
- Green – harmonious, healing, earthy, restful, balanced, wealth
- Blue – intelligent, calm, cool, peaceful, trustworthy, responsible
- Purple – ambitious, authentic, mystical, purposeful, luxurious, visionary
- Brown – grounded, honest, organised, friendly, stable, conservative
- White – clean, fresh, innocent, simple, illuminating, sophisticated
3. Consider your consumers
Depending on the location, gender, age, etc. of your consumers, certain colours may be more beneficial than others for your brand. Knowing who your consumers are and their demographics will allow you to make effective decisions on incorporating colour into your content!
Here are some interesting facts and patterns of colour:
Location:
- 40% of people worldwide chose blue as their favourite colour.
Gender:
- Men tend to prefer blue, green, and black.
- Women tend to prefer blue, purple, and green.
Age:
- Those under 18 tend to favour green and purple
- Those between 19-24 tend to favour green and blue
- Those between 25-69 tend to favour blue
- Those over 70 tend to favour blue and red
Research what colours are popular in your target regions, and learn about those who are buying or receiving services from you! Spending time understanding who your consumers are and where they fall on these patterns and trends can help you make a confident decision on what colours will resonate with them.
4. Incorporate colour
It’s clear that there are many things to consider when choosing the right colour for your brand and social media platform. But actually incorporating the colour into your spaces is the most important step of this process!
To reach the highest impact, incorporate your colour scheme into:
- Business logo
- Website landing page
- Products or merchandise
- Social media platforms
It is also important that you maintain a level of consistency when integrating colours into these areas of your brand. Consumers are aware of whether or not these components work together visually, and colour plays an important role in this synergy!
Take home message
Brand development and social media are key components of business promotion and success. In order to effectively reach consumer interest and connection, the visuals you choose must be supported by a harmonious colour scheme that works well with the message of your brand.
This article outlined the importance of colour in business success and promotion! Hopefully, you found these tips helpful and can use them to successfully choose and integrate colour into your marketing strategy.
Thanks for reading!
References
http://kerrielegend.com/how-to-develop-a-color-scheme-for-your-social-media-strategy-in-15-minutes/
https://www.columnfivemedia.com/work-items/infographic-true-colors-what-your-brand-colors-say-about-your-business
https://spark.adobe.com/blog/2017/02/07/what-every-brand-needs-to-know-to-use-color-effectively/
http://socialmarketingwriting.com/use-colours-visual-social-media-strategy-infographic/
