Improve Your Visuals: Proven Cheat Codes With Color

Why does color matter in marketing?

It's no secret that story-telling is one of the most impactful aspects of a business and its success. As someone who studied English and writing extensively, I'm biased. Everyone loves to hear a good story, even if they don't like to read or write. Look at a show like SharkTank. A major part of the show is hearing the unique stories of each contestant that led them to where they're at today. We all love to be entertained, and we all love to hear about other people. Communicating is human nature, and when we feel like we can connect or understand something, we're tied to it. We're invested. Every business owner knows this - even if they've never explicitly identified it. Entrepreneurs identify with their passions, and customers identify as supporters. This is the basic way of understanding business development.

But before a customer even knows what your story is or why your business is different, they have already begun forming an impression based on what they see.

The unspoken rule

Businesses don’t tell their stories exclusively through words. While verbal and written story telling are important, I would argue that branding is just as important - and a major aspect of branding has to do with color. Above I mentioned that many people don't enjoy reading or writing. Whether we like it or not, in some capacity we all take part in watching, though. Especially in the digital focused age that we live in, appearance is more important than ever. Whether people are scrolling through social media, watching TV, or even just working - we're constantly judging how things look. This is an important realization because people gravitate towards comfort, and on a base level we feel comfortable when we like how something looks. According to Colorcom, 85% of consumers cite color as the primary reason that they make a purchase. When businesses are thinking about what to sell, how to present themselves, or trying to make any decision involving how they'll show up - if color isn't part of the equation, they'll be selling themselves short.

Putting color into practice

In anarticle published in May 2025 on the Journal of Marketing & Social Research detailing the importance of color when it comes to marketing and brand recognition, Dr. Jayati Gupta, Dr. C. Sharmila Rao, Dr. Rakhi M R, and Ms. Padmashree . P noted some significant findings. When it came to gender based color choices, the following ratings were determined:

Female preferences (highest → lowest):

1. Purple — 5.8
2. Red — 5.4
3. Blue — 5.2
4. Green / White — 5.1
5. Yellow — 4.8
6. Orange — 4.6
7. Black — 4.3

Male preferences (highest → lowest):

1. Blue — 5.7
2. Green — 5.3
3. Orange — 4.8
4. Black — 4.7
5. Red — 4.6
6. White — 4.5
7. Yellow — 4.3
8. Purple — 4.2

Ultimately, the study showed that blue and purple are the most well performing colors, for men and women respectively. Why does this matter? The data clearly shows that color preferences can vary between audiences, which is crucial to know when developing visual messaging. Whether your business is working on messaging, packaging, posting, or promotions, these color statistics are helpful to keep in mind.

Should every business change its colors to match the study?

The short answer is absolutely not - in fact, my branding was based solely off of the aesthetic I wanted to put out. Every business needs to find its distinct voice, its distinct message, and its unique way of reaching a reliable customer base. The advice I would give though, is to pay attention. There is a true method to the madness when it comes to making decisions about the best way to reach customers visually. Different colors and branding are an integral part of what makes every business unique. The key though is to find the right combination of creating something special that will also resonate when it's time for your target audience to make a decision.