Tips and Tricks for Selecting Colors

Color sells. It increases brand recognition, improves comprehension, and can motivate purchase decisions between products. Color also identifies. The United Parcel Service, IBM, and Home Depot are all synonymous with specific colors. Some companies even trademark colors as brand assets. Think Tiffany’s robin’s egg blue.

A study by G.A Wright Marketing found that the use of high-quality paper and color applications can increase response rates by nearly 50%. For example, the study showed that a four-color promotional mailer printed on heavy gloss paper stock had a more than 40% higher response rate than an identical three-color version printed on a lighter matte paper stock.

Colors summon emotions and create connections with the people surrounding your brand. Warm colors such as red, orange, and yellow are associated with a range of emotions, from optimism and excitement to violence. Cool colors like green, violet, and blue can be calming and nurturing, but they can also be impersonal and antiseptic.

Choose colors that will elicit a positive response from recipients, then balance them in a visually appealing way. Using variations of a single color will create a visual effect that is classic and easy on the eyes, but not as vibrant as it could be. Enrich the scheme by introducing analogous colors, selecting three colors next to each other on the color wheel. Examples include red/orange/yellow; green/blue/purple; and yellow/yellow-green/green. Consistently use one shade as the dominant color.

For higher contrast, select a complementary color scheme, choosing colors across the wheel from each other. This works best when you place a warm color against a cool color, such as red and green, blue and orange, or purple and yellow. Any tint can be used. Midnight blue/tangerine and royal purple/gold are effective combinations.

Most any color mix can work as long as you retain harmony and richness in your presentation and avoid the hues used by your competitors.

Test combinations until you find the scheme that sends the message you want associated with your business. Your customers make split-second decisions based on color, so use it to your advantage.

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5 Direct Mail Ideas You Might Not Have Thought Of

Looking for creative ways to dress up your direct mail efforts? Here are five ideas with proven effectiveness that you might not have thought about.

1. Make it look official.

Try making your mailer look like “official” mail. Use triangles around the outside edges or use red, white, and blue parallelograms to mimic Air Mail. Use a white envelope with colors similar to the FedEx purple and orange or the UPS brown and gold. At first glance, recipients will think they’ve gotten a Priority Mail or overnight package.

2. Use real hand addressing.

Many marketers try to increase response rates by using handwriting fonts. However, this technique has become so common that most consumers can spot a handwriting font a mile away. Try using a third-party hand-addressing service. Real, honest to goodness hand addressing will make your mail stand out, make recipients feel special, and get your mail opened.

3. Use a real stamp.

Just like hand addressing, using a real stamp helps to boost response rates. It tells people they aren’t getting a bulk mailing and that the marketer cared enough, and wanted the communication to be personal enough, to use a real, live stamp. That gets attention.

4. Try a translucent envelope.

Got something bright and colorful to mail? Don’t hide it! Put the printed piece into a translucent envelope so people can see what’s inside.  

5. Put something in it.

Dimensional mail increases response rates. So does putting something extra into the envelope. Try a teaser like, “Free gift inside!” then add a little something for them to find. You won’t be able to use bulk postal rates, but recipient won’t be able to resist opening the envelope to see what’s inside. 

Want more great direct mail ideas?

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
Or visit our website here for more information.