Not only do colors make things look great, they have a psychological effect on people. For instance, red is a color that makes people feel excited, while pink, which is in the red group, has a calming effect. If you aren’t getting the sales you want, it may be because you are not getting noticed. You may need to think about making some changes to your color scheme.

People tend to associate certain colors with certain situations. For instance, blue often makes people think of warm waters and calm blue skies. Blue is also considered a masculine color, and is associated with boys. Pink on the other hand is feminine, and is associated with girls. Not only can color affect peoples’ moods, it can also have an influence on their buying choices. This is why you will see so many major brands using bright colors for their logos and advertising.

Improve Your Marketing with Color

Think of some of the most recognizable brands. They all have logos with bright colors. For instance, McDonald’s has the “golden arches” that is immediately recognizable. According to the

University of Loyola

, brand recognition is increased by as much as 80% when color is used. Gone are the days when advertising was colorless and bland. Today, if you want to get noticed, you need to know how to use color.

The colors you use for your logos should stand out from those of your competitors. If they use blue, then you should use red or purple. Also, you need to think about your

target audience

. If you are targeting females, try to incorporate pinks, purples, and greens. If men are your target audience, blue, green, and black are best. Use a combination of these colors if you are targeting both men and women.

Choosing Your Color Palette

Before you can choose the best color palette for your brand, you need to know about colors and how they affect people. Here are some of the most common colors used for branding, and their characteristics:

• 
  Black
  
  – This is a color that is versatile. It goes with everything, and it really stands out. It can be used for modern or traditional advertising, and is often a sign of luxury and high class. Some of the biggest brands use black, including Mercedes-Benz and Chanel.

• 
  Blue
  
  – This is considered to be a professional color, and as previously mentioned, it has a calming effect. When people see blue, they have a feeling of security, and trust the company. This is a color that is associated with larger corporations, including Twitter and Samsung. “McDonald’s also did a lot of research on color and the effects it had on people and came up with a science of color. In the 1980’s McDonald’s painted their buildings blue since blue was a color of trust to see if it would increase sales. The experiment worked but it was such a marginal increase that it wasn’t worth the money it would take to paint all the old McDonald’s blue. But it did prove that blue was a trustworthy color”, says James Pillow, CEO of
  
  Alabama Apparel
  
  .

• 
  Yellow
  
  – This is as much of an attention-grabber as red. It gives off a sense of confidence, happiness, and positivity. It is a color used in storefronts to attract customers, and is used by many famous businesses, including Nikon and Kodak.

• 
  Red
  
  – This is a powerful color that gets noticed. It is the most effective advertising color. In Asia, red is a symbol of good luck, and is used by many Asian corporations. Some of the most famous companies that use red include Virgin and Coca Cola.

• 
  Green
  
  – This is a pleasing color, and the easiest for the human eye to process. It is a warm color, and is associated with grass, trees, health, and good will. Companies like Land Rover and Starbucks use green in their branding.