Although black and white has its appeal, especially in arts and photography, there’s no denying that today’s modern society is all about color. And science backs it up. Research found the undeniable link between color and consumer behavior: colors affect their buying decisions.
This survey from Kissmetrics says that only 7% of consumers don’t prioritize color and visual appearance during shopping. The remaining 93% puts these two on the top of their list! Furthermore, 85% says that it’s the product’s color that prompted them to pay for it.
All this should have a bearing on your next trade show displays. The numbers and statistics above should be enough to make you realize how important color is to your marketing strategies’ success.
So, for your upcoming trade show event, it’s time you reassess your brand’s color use. Let’s show you how to choose the right colors to make the event successful.
Know the Meaning Behind Those Colors
Your goal in participating in trade show displays is to boast of your brand’s offers. You want your booth to showcase your products to catch the attention of your target market. But, to do this, the items you have on display should have the ability to appeal to the consumers’ buying side.
And there are certain colors that do just exactly this. As such, knowing the psychological aspect of each color and the situations they’re best used for can help you achieve your show participation’s goals.
The Hot and the Not
Let’s first take a look at popularity rankings, as discussed more in-depth by designer community 99designs:
- Blue: 53%
- Black, Gray, and Green: 28%
- White: 27%
- Red: 17%
- Orange: 15%
According to the design experts, purple and yellow in their logo-making services make up 8% of the requests they get. Brown and pink are the least-requested, at only 2%.
For Which is Which?
As you can see from the list above, blue wins by a landslide. And this is why you’ll find some of the biggest names in various industries featuring this color in the branding techniques. Just think Bank of America, Citibank, Chase, and all other financial institutions – their logos are predominantly blue.
Again, this is all science’s (specifically, psychology’s) doing. Blue gives off a vibe of trustworthiness, security, and dependability; characteristics that all people want from services handling their hard-earned money. This said you’ll find this color mostly used by financial institutions, healthcare facilities, real estate firms, technology, and business among many others.
Here’s what the rest of the popular colors stand for and when you should use them:
- Formality, luxury, power, strength, and tradition. Used mostly in fashion, skilled technical services (car repair, for instance), and religion.
- Balance and neutrality. Popular amongst counseling, financial sectors, and legal services.
- Eco-consciousness, nature, and sustainability. Often associated with agriculture and environment, as well as education.
- Cleanliness and purity. A long-standing choice of the healthcare and medical, as well as technology industries.
- Excitement, passion, power, and strength. The retail and travel sectors love this!
- Energy, sincerity, and value. Mostly found in agriculture, construction, as well as landscaping and lawn services.
As you can see, there’s more to each color than just how your own eyes and brain react to them. Although your personal tastes and responses also play an important role in your trade show displays’ color selection, this list can better guide you on which will best suit your target market.
Remember, your target market is more important, as it’s the group of people you’re doing all these showcasing for.
Gender Has a Say in All This
Society’s perception on what’s appropriate and what’s not is a likely reason behind the most popular colors (all in neutrals!) in the car industry – black, gray, silver, and white. However, there’s a far deeper reasoning behind this, and that’s gender preference.
Some colors are better suited to the female gender, while there are others best left for products marketed for men. For example, pink is appropriate for feminine products and items marketed towards young girls, but it’s most definitely a bad idea for mostly-male products like power tools and other equipment.
This said you should think about the gender of your target market when deciding on which colors to use for your trade show displays.
Don’t Forget to Include a Call-to-Action Color!
That call-to-action link or button you have on your online blog posts? That’s as applicable and critical to your trade show displays! It basically prompts the people who pass by and visit your booth to do something in response to your marketing tactics.
This said it’s important to choose a color that stands out. However, it should also complement your primary brand hues and the rest of the theme you have going on during the event. A good idea is to use a color that contrasts with the main color – such as one on the color wheel’s opposite side.
For instance, bright orange works well with a blue, green, or blue-green primary color scheme. If you mostly have reds or oranges, then you should stick with blues and/or greens for your call-to-action color.
What’s important is to make sure the CTA complements and doesn’t clash. And again, base your color selection on your target market and color psychology, not your personal preference.
Final Color-Related Reminders for Your Upcoming Trade Show Displays
With all these meanings behind colors and their most appropriate uses, it can be easy to find yourself confused and forgetting your primary goal. Remember: Your trade show displays are for showcasing your products, which symbolize the personality, values, mission, and vision of your brand.
So, take as much time as you need reviewing your color choices and finding the best combinations of them. This way, you’ll have an easier time ensuring that your chosen colors appeal to the buying instincts of your customers, while they still reflect what your brand is all about.
Once you’ve finalized your decision, it’s time to start preparing for your trade show participation. We can help you with all your event needs, even give you more color-related advice! Just give us a call now to find out more about our services.
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