Colour palette is an important element in branding as it is used to grab the attention of a customer and communicate the correct emotions to them therefore it is key for any customer engagement for a brand.
A Colour scheme is a combination of colours that create different effects and reflect the different emblems of a brand. A good colour scheme is one that is consistent with the brand and reflects the brand’s beliefs and values.
The colours are used to determine people’s perception of the brand and its products and services. Therefore, choosing the correct colours that communicate the intended emotions is important in determining how people interact with the brand.
It is important to understand the psychology of colours in branding to predict customers’ natural responses to the different brand elements. Furthermore, understanding the audience is important in choosing the right colours i.e. knowing their gender, age, types of products they desire and the emotions they desire. This helps communicate the correct message and possibly leads to conversion.
Correct colour combination requires skills and tests because it is not an easy decision to make. Therefore, being wise when choosing and carefully planning colour usage is crucial. Good colours help users make purchase decisions and the overall colour scheme helps increase the brand’s recognition.
In choosing desired colour schemes for a website to increase in engagement the following can be considered to make the best decision and have optimum results
Why Colour Schemes?
Colour schemes visually represent the brand both online and offline. This makes them appealing elements of branding to the customers. People are first attracted to a brand because of what they see even before reading the content. Therefore, sending the correct visual information is important to have them stay on the website and continue engaging with the brand.
A great colour scheme leads to better engagement with the customers when the correct user emotions are provoked. It is important to know how to trigger and convert customers and influence their purchasing decision through messages of calmness, safety, provocation, excitement or creating an urgency of purchase through the colours.
Website Colour Schemes
Website colour schemes are colour combinations used on the brand’s website. The website is a crucial element and platform of engagement for the brand and therefore it calls for making the right decision when choosing colours to be used.
These colours should represent the brand, its values and the products/services given to its customers. Usually, three main colours are used and their variations when choosing website colours. Oftentimes, the colours used on the logo or those representing the brand should be added to the website colour palette.
Have colours that convert the most i.e. evoke emotions of the users. The designer should conduct research before choosing colours. This is so as to pay attention to users’ preferences as well as cross-check what competitors have in the market. For better engagement, understand where to use the colours and which content elements to grab the attention of the user.
Categories of Website Colours
There are different categories of colours when creating colour schemes for a website.
Primary Colours
These are also known as parent colours and are central to the brand’s identity. They grab the users’ attention and lead them to areas they shouldn’t miss on the website. They should be consistent and the designer should minimize their usage to avoid losing focus.
Primary colours should be used on logos titles and headlines, call-to-action (CTA) buttons, headers, icons, graphs and hyperlinks. They should be applied to specific website elements that are crucial and users should not miss i.e. CTA buttons.
Secondary Colours
These contain a blend of primary colours and complement them. They highlight secondary information on the website and emphasize the importance of supporting content i.e. testimonials. Secondary colours should be used on subtitles or subheadings, secondary CTA buttons icons, footers or graphs.
When choosing CTA buttons, select colours that trigger purchase decisions. These colours should contrast with the background and should stand out from the rest of the website page. This will increase their visibility and leads but will provoke customers into acting.
Accent Colours
These are used to highlight information that is not crucial but it is important for the users. These colours are intended to complement and enhance the existing colour palettes and not dominate the existing design.
Conclusion
Use colours associated with a brand industry to communicate with the users and relay the correct information. Therefore, understand the psychology of colours and how they are used in branding so as to convey the correct message.
Choose colours based on the target audience’s preferences. This will mainly be based on gender and age. Therefore, knowing who your target audience is and what best suits them will help you engage and possibly lead them to make purchases and convert.
Choosing the correct background colour is also important to increase engagement. Select colours that contrast with the primary colours and match what the brand is communicating.
The contrast should highlight key information and ensure the target audience understands it. It should also create harmony between the primary and accent colours. Apply the 60,30 and 10 colour combination rule when selecting colours for the website whereby, 60 indicates primary colours, 30 secondary colours, and 10 accent colours.
The designer can use colour palette tools such as Adobe Colour, Coolors.co, Colormind, ColorSpace, Site Palette, Paletton and HTML Color Codes to help choose the correct colours for the website.
Finally , play around with the different colour schemes, test how colours appear, and work on different scenarios and backgrounds.
Determine how the audience will perceive the colours and whether the impact that the colours will make will increase engagement. Remember to be simple, creative and unique for better engagement with the users.
