COLOR: A Critical Marketing Choice
December 6th, 2011
Colors evoke feelings and represent ideas. In marketing your business, knowledgeable and appropriate use of color is critical! Astute use of color can be one of your most effective branding and messaging tools.
The psychological effect is instantaneous as color stimulates the senses and exerts its power of suggestion. Color is hard-wired into our psyches – we’ve been using it to identify objects as attractive and useful or dangerous or useless since our days as wooly mammoth hunters. Today color’s effect is seen at every level of communication: in corporate identification and logos, signage, advertising in all its many forms, at point-of-purchase, in packaging and, of course, on the web.
Often called the “silent salesperson,” color must immediately attract the consumer’s eye, convey the message of what the product is all about, create a brand identity and, most importantly, help make the sale. At the very least it must create enough interest or curiosity to induce the would-be buyer to find out more about your product or service.
But effective use of color is a tricky and subtle business. Much of the human reaction to color is subliminal and consumers are generally unaware of the pervasive and persuasive effects of color.
SO WHAT’S IN YOUR COLOR TOOLBOX?
You’vegot the three primary colors: Red, Yellow and Blue. These 3 colors are the base colors for every other color on the color wheel. That’s why they’re called “primary.” Primary colors are useful for designs or art that needs to have a sense of urgency. Primary colors are the most vivid colors when placed next to each other, which is why you’ll notice that most fast food joints use primary colors in their logos, as they evoke speed. Think McDonald’s – with that hot red type and those famous “golden arches.” In our culture we often make the following color associations: (more…)
Eyes on Website Credibility
November 15th, 2011
What factors do people use to evaluate a website’s credibility? Nope, it’s not what you might expect. Those more objective criteria such as the identity of the site or its operator, privacy policy, customer service policies, sponsorships or testimonials aren’t it. A recent Stanford study showed that 75% of web users admit making judgments about the credibility of a company based on the overall design of its website, with design look specifically being cited more often than any other website feature, with 46.1% of the study participant comments addressing the particular design look in some way.
A major factor in this has to do with typical web behavior. Today’s web is world that is rapidly interactive. The norm is for web users to spend small amounts of time on any given page. Site visitors spend much of their time clicking away, moving from page to page quickly. So it becomes important to analyze just what it is that that grabs their attention, how to hold it and what criteria are they using to evaluate the site?
It turns out that when a website is perceived as being credible and offering of high quality information, products or services the site visitors are basing their judgments on a series of key visual cues that can be grasped rapidly. These include (more…)
On the Sunny Side of the Web
November 9th, 2011
We all know that there are some pretty shady websites out there! College librarians and professors are constantly telling students not trust everything they read on the web and incidences of cyber crime and identity theft have become issues of concern to all of us.
So what can you do to make sure that your website complements the integrity of your business by creating feelings of credibility and trust, for both the information found on your site and the services your business offers?
Earlier studies suggested that having a privacy policy, or site ownership might be crucial factors in establishing credibility, but more recent research suggests that people rarely use technical criteria like this. So what is it that really gets evaluated? Identity of the site or its operator? Customer service or related policies? A site’s sponsorships? Nope.
In recent studies it is the “design look” and overall visual appeal of the site that get top honors. The key “visual cues” that comprise the overall visual design of a site include layout, typography, font size and color schemes are the most important factors. (more…)
Effective Web Content
September 4th, 2011
Your website is a reflection of you.
Now that you’ve invested all the time and money into making it pretty, make sure it says something.
Most business websites:
- Don’t say it clearly.
- Don’t say it creatively.
- Don’t say it well.
Which means your company and its message gets drowned in the Internet’s infinite chatter.
Gone are the days when you just slap up a quick sentence about what your company does.
Consumers want simple, clear, and easily accessible messages. (more…)
Over One Third Use Smartphones While Going to the Bathroom
June 21st, 2011
Everybody’s got a smartphone these days. And most use it to spend their money—about $300 each time. So make sure you don’t miss out on this highly tech-savvy market demographic to sell your good or service.
We’re talking the mobile smartphone advertising sector and that’s the advice from industry execs regarding its—get this—local efficiency.
Consumers in record numbers are using these handhelds to search for and act on (purchase) products and services and in their own neighborhoods. A Google study of more than 5,000 smartphone users found that three-quarters of them, or 74%, make an actual purchase either in-store, online, or on their phones.
The study, titled “The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Users,” found: (more…)
Social Media Summer School
June 11th, 2011
SCVNGR, A Google Venture funded gaming company in Cambridge is hosting educational workshops for small and local business owners. Dan Green, President of The Green Internet Group, will be facilitating two “hands on” workshops for businesspeople and marketing professionals.
Social Media 201 is geared towards those who have been actively engaging in social media and are looking to improve efficiency and performance.
Social Media 302 is geared toward experienced social media marketers, including businesspeople, marketing managers and marketing professionals looking to gain a better understanding of return on investment from social media. (more…)
Sure you can save money on web design
April 13th, 2011
But how much do these web design savings cost your business?
Great design pays for itself—over and over again. Some food for thought:
- 75% of web users admit making judgments about the credibility of a company based on the design of its website – Guidelines for web credibility persuasive technology lab, Stanford University
- 68% of shoppers will distrust a site that doesn’t have a professional appearance – emarketer.com study (more…)
Things Google Learned in 2010
February 23rd, 2011
Consumer Insights from Google
Interesting facts about online shopping and search engine use.
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