Color matters!

If you plan on opening an online brokerage, or any other online business for that matter, you must first understand that everything about your marketing efforts and product presentation revolves around acquiring and retaining your traders’ attention. This constant effort involves the delicate application of psychological techniques and elements to ensure that your traders aren’t distracted or bored at any given moment.

One of the services Leverate offers its clients is website development. This service includes the technical website set up and also web design. In order to better understand the creative process which takes place behind-the-scenes, we asked the head of our creative team to share a few insights from her experience.

What is the main thing to consider when designing a web page?

The idea is to create a visual environment that caters to, and fulfills, your clients’ emotional needs that drove them to express an interest in the first place. Remember: clients that join a brokerage are looking for something beyond money. They’re looking for financial security, a sense of accomplishment, excitement, thrill, fun and more.

You told me earlier that you wanted to talk about the importance of colors. So how does color fit into this?

The answer is simple: it has been proven by many researchers (primarily psychologists, but not exclusively) that different colors, patterns and color combinations evoke different emotions – excitement, relaxation etc. For instance, the colors red, black, yellow and orange usually tend to evoke an energized and alert sensation; while colors such as turquoise and green are usually associated with a more mellow, serene and relaxed feeling.

Are these insights actually applied in marketing?

Of course! You can see it across the board – not only in online marketing, but also when considering branding, logo designs, booth designs in trade shows. Even when you look at Hollywood ads and posters you can see that there’s a clear difference between action and comedy films in terms of colors.

In what ways do marketers tend to use different colors?

Generally speaking, “hot colors” – black, red, orange, yellow – convey a sense of urgency, action, adrenaline and excitement. They evoke a feeling of something fast-paced and dynamic. On the other hand, “cold colors” – light blue, blue, turquoise, green, pink and mellow shades of yellow – usually convey a sense of relaxation and serenity.

Can you give us a practical example?

Sure. When we design a client’s web page, we always take into consideration the tone in which he wants to address his traders and the emotions he wants to trigger in them. It even comes down to the design of the “Buy” and “Sell” buttons in the user interface. Just like in a traffic light, Buy will always be green – a color which conveys harmony and agreement, and Sell would be red – a color which communicates danger and fear.

Interesting! Do you have other rules of thumb related to colors?

As I mentioned earlier, you should always be aware of the emotions that your website triggers. At the end of the day, what we want in our business is to make people feel something, and then act on that feeling. We want the traders to come, deposit, and then stay on our platform. The main thing to keep in mind in my opinion, is hot and cold colors. Remember that they evoke emotions and you can use them to “play” with the minds of your clients and make them associate a desired feeling with your brand.

Do you have other tips for our readers?

Another piece of advice is to try and be aware of how other businesses design their ads, websites, platforms etc. Try to “get into their heads” and find out what they’re doing to get you to favor their product. If you do this enough, you’ll become more and more aware of different techniques, how to apply them and which to combine.

Thanks for your time, we’ll leave you to your work.

Don’t mention it. You’re welcome anytime.

So these were a few words from our expert about client-oriented marketing and “color-conscious” web design. Stay tuned to our blog for more insights which are relevant to you as a broker, businessman and marketer.

Good luck!