At All American Painting Plus, Reston’s award winning commercial and residential painting contractors, we think that using color to attract customers can be a tricky business. The effect of color on human behavior has been the subject of hundreds of studies and experiments. While some generalities appear in all the study results, it looks like the only thing that all the studies agree on is that “white is boring.”
Bright colors, of all shades, are the eye-catchers in nature. Birds have brightly colored plumage. Sunsets with their oranges, reds, purples, and occasional green flash mesmerize humans worldwide. Rainbows against a blue sky are always crowd stoppers.
Bright colors get noticed. They may elicit different emotions in humans, but they will most definitely grab a person’s attention.
That’s where it gets tricky. One person’s red could inspire action (like buy this thing now) while it may bring thoughts of rage in another. So how can a merchant use color to increase traffic and sales?
The Secret to Successfully Using Color to Draw In Customers and Increase Sales
At All American Painting Plus, we are a commercial painting company, not marketing or branding specialists. However, we know from our experience providing painting services for storefronts and retail customers across Northern Virginia that the key to color marketing is testing.
You come up with a color scheme that is based on your best information and try it. If it doesn’t work, you try something else. You go through this process until you get the results you want and then you keep it…until it stops working.
That may sound like an expensive and time-consuming approach, but the good news is, paint is the fastest and most cost-effective method to change the appearance (and behavioral effect) of a space. Interior painting in particular can create a dramatic change in environment.
Using Color to Sell – Some Basics
You can work with a color consultant, or you can ask us (for free) for advice on the color scheme that might work best for you. With that in mind, there are a few basics you want to follow:
Tell a Story: Use colors that describe your products or services. For example, if you are a garden supply shop, you may want to use shades of green and a clay pot red as your theme. It doesn’t have to be literal. An antique shop in Oregon used the same colors mentioned above because the owner wanted the “theme” of her store to be that of an antique garden.
Use Color to Draw Attention: Products that you want to promote and distinguish from others will do well if you use a shade of a bright color like red or yellow in the display. Bright colors, on your exterior or used inside, get attention. Don’t overdo it, though. You can easily overload a customer with too much bright color.
Build on Your Brand: Use the colors in your logo inside the shop. This will encourage customers to think of your products when they see “your colors” wherever they go.
Don’t Overwhelm the Product: Too much color detracts and distracts from the product you are trying to sell. That’s particularly true of smaller, finer items like jewelry or lingerie. Use muted tints to set the mood, not eye-blasters that might be more appropriate for sports cars or speedboats.
Contact All American
If you are a business in Northern Virginia that is considering changing out your color scheme and you would like the advice of a professional commercial painting service, give us a call now. We are happy to share our experience, and if we can be of assistance in your painting project, we think you will be pleasantly pleased with our affordable painting estimate.
