Do you like to use color as a marketing weapon? Colors play a key role in motivating people, and you are most likely using it in more areas than just your landing pages. Your signature colors have most likely spread into all aspects of your business from your website to your business cards. But did you know that color does more than motivate people, for some it can also send an unintentional, non-verbal message. How you might say? Well, just think about it. Color stimulates emotions such as excitement, anger, peacefulness, confidence, etc. So, we have compiled a list of the main colors and what they mean on a more emotional level.

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Blue: Authority, dignity, security, faithfulness

Positives: implies fiscal responsibility and security. Blue is universally popular.

Negatives: because it is popular it is also over used.

Blue is a great color, and not surprisingly you see it everywhere. For instance Microsoft has perfected different shades of blue to use throughout their entire business from their logo to the Window’s background on your computer. What about credit card companies? I can think of two credit card companies that use blue right off the bat as their signature color: Visa and Chase. So, as you can see blue is very popular and often associated with success. But, it runs the risk of making you appear boring, so if you commit to that color, be sure to switch it up a bit by using a different tone or shade.

Red: Aggression, passion, strength, vitality

Positives: great for accents and boldness, stimulates appetites

Negatives: is associated with debt.

When I was little I wanted to paint my room red. Not just one wall, mind you. The whole room! My mom of course wouldn’t let me, she said that red meant anger and wouldn?

Yellow: Positivness, optimizism and sunshine.

Positives: appeals to intellectuals and is excellent as an accent color.

Negatives: Too much is unnerving and is associated with cowardice. ?He’s ?yellow?.?

Orange: Fun, cheeriness, warm exuberance.

Positives: use orange to highlight information in graphs and on charts.

Negatives: too much causes nausea.

Green: Tranquility, health, freshness.

Positives: its deep tones convey status and wealth; its pale tones are soothing.

Negatives: you must pick a good complementary color as green does not stand on its own well. For example, our color scheme is green with a secondary color of black. Black brings distinction, which complements green’s tones well.

Brown: Utility, earthliness, woodsy, and subtle richness.

Positives: UPS has helped this color be recognized as one of ?dependability?.

Negatives: it signifies less important items in documents.

White: purity, truthfulness, contemporary and refined.

Positives: it enlivens dark colors and can be refreshing.

Negatives: it can be looked at as sterile or boring.

Gray: somberness, authority, practicality, and a corporate mentality.

Positives: it is always right for conservative audiences.

Negatives: for liberal and younger audiences it is not a good color choice ? you risk losing their attention.

Black: seriousness, distinctiveness, boldness, and classic.

Positives: it creates drama and is often a fine background color.

Negatives: some cultures equate ?black? with evil.

Pink: femininity, innocence, softness, health.

Positives: majority of women connect. Best with flowers, weddings, clothing, intimate apparel, etc.

Negatives: be sure you’re aware of its feminine implications and associations. Majority of men disconnect.

Purple: sophistication, spirituality, costliness, royalty and mystery.

Positives: right for upscale and artistic audiences.

Negatives: the majority of people are neither upscale nor artistic so be careful where you use this color.

If your bounce rate or conversions need a jump start, you should look at the colors you are using. Write down the emotions you are aiming for and see if the colors you are using match the same emotion. If they don’t match, consider creating a test landing page with a new color scheme and test to see if it converts better.

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