color-psych-final

The real life effects of Colour Psychology

by with No Comment BlogBusinessColour PsychologyConsumerBehaviour

Colour surrounds us, shaping our experiences, influencing our emotions, and even affecting our decisions in ways we might not consciously recognise. This fascinating topic, known as colour psychology, explores how different shades of colour impact our mental state and behaviour. The following blog will dive into some real-life effects of colour psychology and see how it manifests in various aspects of our daily lives.

Colour Psychology on Workplace Productivity & Mood

In corporate environments, the choice of wall colours can significantly influence employees’ productivity and mood. Studies have shown that blue, often associated with calmness and focus, can improve concentration and efficiency. Green, linked to tranquillity and balance, can reduce anxiety and improve overall well-being. Conversely, vibrant colours like red are associated with danger and might increase stress levels in high-pressure environments, despite their ability to boost energy and excitement in other contexts.

Marketing and Consumer Behaviour

Marketers harness the power of colour to evoke specific responses from consumers. It is widely known that red is commonly used in sales and for clearance signs as it creates a sense of urgency. Blue is often used in the branding of tech companies and financial institutions as it conveys trust and reliability.

Fast-food restaurants often choose red because it encourages impulsive decisions prompting customers to visit quickly. McDonald’s success can be attributed to its primary use of red, leading the business to become a great worldwide success since its inception. Additionally, McDonald’s uses yellow, a colour that is synonymous with positive emotions such as happiness. This further enhanced their brand’s success.

 

Colour Psychology on Education & Learning

Educational environments also benefit from thoughtful colour application. In school, classrooms painted in cool tones such as blue and green can help students stay calm and focused. In contrast, warm colours such as yellow and orange can stimulate creativity and enthusiasm. This makes them suitable for art rooms and collaborative spaces. Teaching people using colour association can greatly improve memory retention, whilst also enhancing their concentration and aiding them through visual learning.

 

Cultural and Psychological context

Each colour has a different cultural and psychological context in different cultures. It is important that businesses understand what their chosen colours represent and connote when marketing in their chosen culture(s).

Take the colour white for example, in western society it is associated with purity, cleanliness and weddings. However, in many Asian cultures white represents death, mourning, and humility. It is important to understand colour context in each culture, especially when you plan to market to multiple cultures simultaneously.

If you are heavily using the colour black whilst marketing in the US, it is likely to work as black evokes sophistication and power, but it might not have the same success in other cultures as black is associated with death and mourning in various other cultures.

 

Website and Interface Design

The colours used in websites and digital interfaces can influence user experience and conversion rates. Call to Action (CTA) buttons that are bright colours, such as red, orange, and green can draw attention and encourage users to click.

Likewise, websites with security and trust indicators frequently use blue as it is associated with security and safety. For instance, Twitter’s use of the blue verification tick underscores this association. A well-designed colour scheme is crucial because colour psychology can improve navigation, emphasise key information, and create an attractive experience that motivates users to interact.

 

Final Thoughts on Colour Psychology

Colour psychology is such a powerful tool that affects our daily lives whether we are conscious of it or not. From boosting workplace productivity to influencing consumer behaviour, and from designing comforting spaces to crafting educational environments. The strategic use of colour can optimise many facets of our lives. By understanding and applying the principles of colour psychology, we can create settings that enhance our emotional well-being, improve our performance, and enrich our overall experiences.

Next time you choose a colour, whether for your home, wardrobe, or workspace, consider the psychological impact it might have. The right colour choice could make all the difference in your mood, productivity, and overall quality of life.

 

 

 

SEO service and google analytics

What is Google Analytics?

by BusinessDigital MarketingGoogle AnalyticsTechnology

Google Analytics is an interesting tool to use and can be very beneficial when keeping track of statistics that can be used for marketing strategies for your website.

Behavioural Patterns in Customers

By understanding and looking into the behavioural patterns of your customers you can tailor your marketing and context to match this alongside testing which strategies are working better than others. 

So, by giving you information regarding your customer’s behaviours like what device they use or whether your audience has an age/gender/demographic pattern it can show what will work in terms of making the right impression. This data is also presented in an easy manner through charts and graphs, by segregating each demographic it will make the analysis easier to interpret.  

Specifically, it can help with SEO strategies. By having access to specific data such as the demographics, interests, and behaviour patterns of your traffic you can use that to tailor your keyword generation for example. So, by using keywords that clearly resonate with the traffic being brought to your site, it will highly optimize your digital appearance on google as well as improve your ranking… This information can further be used to build your content up on your website and socials again tailoring it to any data provided by google analytics. This provides an opportunity for trial and experimentation to see whether your SEO strategies will reflect on your build-up of traffic to the website.

One issue we find when offering SEO and access to google analytics to show a client’s performance is that it won’t happen overnight. Strategies need time to show activity. Especially as this source of data shows google traffic brought to the site it can be frustrating when these numbers aren’t always converted into leads so this needs time and patience to show some really valuable data!

Understanding your website’s data and performance will put you ahead of your competition!

retail and customer

How Brand Strategy affects Customer Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty

by with No Comment BrandStrategy

Brand strategy is significant in any business type, it ensures your brand is seen and heard by customers – it has its own perception by the public and awareness. The main way of doing this effectively is through marketing strategies, now these need to be focused on certain aspects of the business and may differ between products if it means it reaches the intended audience (and depending on your price range). It’s imperative that a loyal customer base is established, in a Forbes article stated that the Pareto Principle, which is a phenomenon around how the distribution of 80/20 occurs frequently, revealed that 20% of a company’s current customer base will be responsible for 80% of said companies future revenue. Evidently shows how important it is to retain customers.

By having the right strategies in place it should cover all bases to ensure your customers are happy, a blogger Macy Storm, stated that 79% of people were less likely to repurchase if they had a negative experience from a company website. Therefore, it is important that even little aspects like a website should give a good impression and fulfill the needs and expectations the customer will have. For example, having a chat engine where a customer can in real life time sort an issue out or answer a query, customers love to know information asap and have that information accessed easily so they don’t have to waste their time searching for it, even if it might not mean they will purchase, it gives them a good impression of the company. Little aspects can create big impacts, it could even boil down to how a customer may perceive an attitude to sound like over the phone.

Most factors that influence or encourage satisfaction, retention, loyalty, etc, result from how your business is marketed. Websites were briefly mentioned but the entire perception of a business can be determined by this, that’s why having the right marketing techniques in place is important and so making sure the right marketing agency is chosen for the business is also important.

Once your marketing techniques are organised it’s important that the entire purchasing process is taken into consideration as each stage is just as important as the next. Post-purchase is very important when increasing the chances of customer retention, by having a positive finish to their purchase will make them want to purchase again, a study by Bain and Company found that when customer retention rates were at 5% it increased profits by 60% showing how important it is in the long term.

TikTok on phone

How and why you should be using a platform like TikTok to market your business

by Business

As Social Media marketing is such an important part of advertising, it’s important that all potential platforms are covered including platforms that may not seem suitable for a professional outlook. However, the growth in the platform TikTok has shown to greatly benefit businesses and has made thousands of users successful in marketing their brand on TikTok as well as well-known brands ranging from hospitality like Nando’s to commercial flight companies like Ryanair and to fashion brands such as Zara. Making this app the breeding ground for growing customer bases. However, this does mean that there is very high competition and so it is difficult to compete with these high-end brands that have an existing following base. But no fear, here are some tips and tricks you can use to be resourceful and use this app to your advantage.

  • Firstly, ensure you’re fully aware of how to operate the platform, similar to Instagram and Facebook there are hidden accessories that can make managing your account easier and more effective. For example, it might be as simple as making it a business account so you are able to see analytics of who is attracted to your page. Once you have this information you can assess whether you need to alter your content to get these customer groups or whether you want to diversify.
  • Also, it’s important to note that this app is for all types of content and users so the use of hashtags will be essential. This is because your videos could pop on certain timelines and algorithms and ensure you end up on the right one so you’re targeting the right audience, this can then be closely managed. Once you do it right the first time and fall into the right category all you have to worry about is your actual content.
  • Content is so imperative when it comes to marketing online as it puts across an image of your business to your followers and audience, so you have to make sure your content is creating the right image you want to have. For example, professionalism should be considered but being on an app like TikTok where your videos need to go viral to be successful can make it difficult, so you need to find the right balance. 
  • The best way to find out how to do this is simply through good old competitive stalking, seeing what your competitors are doing that is working. So, even though there is high competition, it also gives you a chance to adapt to their content and make it your own to give you an upper hand in bringing awareness to your brand.
  • Alongside finding customers it’s also a business opportunity to find business partners or potential influencers to market your products. By using this you are able to bring awareness to your products and profile to hopefully grow your following. If you want to find out any more information regarding influencer marketing or the use of word of mouth then check out our other blog ‘The impact of word of mouth and influencer marketing on a business and customer perspective’.

Once you have mastered the ins and outs of a platform like this one, these same skills can be used on other Social media platforms, making marketing on social easier and more effective. It’s good to note that this will take a lot of time and effort, but this will pay off in the future. 

Satisfied customer

How significant is customer behaviors: The factors of Purchase Intention

by with No Comment Business

We are all customers or have been at least once before and we all have different behaviors that put us in certain target markets, from a business point of view it’s essential this is done effectively. In essence, this looks into a customer’s buying habits/patterns and influences what encourages purchases, and social trends so a business can better market their products and services, this also takes into account how natural tendency and inclination can impact the decision to purchase.

All of these factors correspond with each other but need to be looked into separately. Customer buying patterns are usually influenced by an external factor some of the time this can be social media however, these social media trends need to be categorised and adapted to marketing strategies for example, with the summer months coming soon, this means hotter weather, therefore, summer clothes are in demand and so customers may buy now during sale periods so they have summer clothes for the occasional hot weather that’s occurring now and for when it’s at its peak. So, for a fashion brand, you could market a sale of summer clothing going on, attracting customers and increasing sales. An article created by Forbes magazine found that 80% of consumers were more likely to purchase a product if a friend highlighted it on social media, stating that “the era of virtual word-of-mouth recommendations is in full effect”. Therefore, showing the significance social media has on purchasing behaviors.

Consumer behavior can be dependent on several factors, one proven is the color emotion association theory, this means that an individual may be more drawn or more likely to purchase a product depending on what colors are on the packaging, the brand, the product, etc. Color is a key element in any business brand/package process as you want the color to be associated with your brand. For example, in supermarkets green would be ASDA, blue would be Tesco, red for Sainsbury’s, etc. This also goes hand in hand with the actual brand logo and association with that but having the initial color trigger the familiarity with your brand creates awareness and customer loyalty. If customers are reminded of your brand by seeing certain colors they will most likely purchase again, creating retention. A study conducted by the student, Satyendra Singh found that 90% of consumers make purchases dependent on their color by making ‘snap judgments’- the initial thought of the product. This also took into account the perception of the brand and also associations/traits that came with that certain color, this study was called ‘Impact of Colour Marketing’.

It’s also important to take into consideration the key differences between old and new customer behaviors and how they differ. Although your targeted audience may stay the same it’s also important to understand what has influenced your target audience to change their purchasing habits. This can be highlighted by measuring purchase intention, this can show what is encouraging purchasing and how retention is formed (and upheld). The main way to do this is through customer feedback via surveys, by asking them scaled questions where they are able to provide a rough estimate as to when they may purchase a certain product again can provide information on which demographic should be targeted when that time comes. This can be done through tailored and directed marketing strategies like a personalized email during the post-purchase stage.

Overall, understanding consumer behavior can be very difficult without extensive research into the targeted audience and has elements of psychology, chemistry, and economics that need to be taken into consideration but when the understanding part is achieved it’ll make marketing and selling goods easier, more effective and efficient for the business and customers will feel more satisfied when their needs are met.

Internet Marketing

The Impact of Word of Mouth & Influencer Marketing

by with No Comment Business

Both of these strategies of marketing are very effective and work for hand in hand; an influencer complimenting a product and showing how desired it is, makes customers want it (especially if said influencer had a large following of the intended targeted audience). If this type of marketing is done correctly then it can be greatly beneficial in creating sales and creating a large awareness of the brand, product, or service. 

However, like many marketing strategies, this needs to adhere to your business and its needs. By being a small local business you may not have the funds to pay for sponsorship for example and so positive word of mouth would need to be taken advantage of. Word of mouth can be spread through social media and so having a presence across certain platforms would greatly help this, as the public will be able to comment/review your product or service on your platforms. It’ll be the first place a potential customer will look to see if it’s worth investing in. The issue with word of mouth is that unfortunately negative reviews spread quicker and are seen by more compared to positive reviews which can’t be helped, customers may purposely search for negative reviews to make a decision as to whether it’s worth their visit. It may sound obvious but it’s important to realize how customers behave especially when they choose where to take their business, M. Nick Hajili stated in the International Journal of Market Research that:

 

“Trust, encouraged by social media, significantly affects intention to buy. Therefore, trust has a significant role in eCommerce by directly influencing intention to buy and indirectly to influence perceived usefulness.”

Alongside using word of mouth online it’s also very effective face to face as 92% of consumers stated that they would trust a family or friend’s opinion on a product/ service compared to the advertisement, this was found in a report by Nielson. 

This is not to say however that a small business can’t use influencer marketing, if by chance an influencer stops by your store and posts about your product/service or if a said business decided to send an influencer or celebrity a package of their goods known as a PR package in hopes they may review your products to their followers without paying a large cost for a potential positive fake review. PR packages should be very specific and require research into who to send what, this could either be the make or break of your brand.

Even though this all looks pretty pessimistic regarding negative reviews or negative word of mouth but think of it as customer feedback, unfortunately, it is very public and could be detrimental but it also highlights how to better your business, which you can do for your future customers. This leads us to the fake reviews and some customers’ opinions on influencer marketing;

Fake reviews from paid promotions can be beneficial but not if they put your business in a position where they can’t offer it, for example, a spot cream that’s meant to reduce the look of spots might be marketed by the influencer as completely disappearing them… for future customers, it can cause confusion and may do more harm than good, so it’s important that the influencer won’t just say positive things just because you’re paying them to, you want them to be honest with your future customers. Alongside this, customers’ opinions on this type of promotion can be fairly negative as they feel that the influencers are only saying positive things because they are getting paid for it, providing a fake review. This would probably give the influencer more negative feedback than intended. Still, it will also reflect badly on your brand- you’re willing to pay someone just to say something good about your product- the fact that you need to go to those lengths for a positive review may do more harm than good on your brand image. This could be argued as 61% of consumers said they trusted influencer reviews and recommendations which is still over half of the intended audience showing it has some significance over opinions (source thesocialshephard.com) 

In general, if you wish to take your brand into these types of marketing strategies, it’s important it’s done properly and with extensive research to ensure it’s done correctly, picking certain influencers that correspond with your products (makeup influencers given makeup products to try) and encouraging customer feedback directly to the business can be worth it for your businesses future.

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The Key Differences Between Traditional & Digital Marketing

by with No Comment Business

The diversification from traditional to digital marketing has been very significant in recent years. External factors and environments have meant that businesses have needed to adapt to the growing demand to become online or e-commerce. The most recent being Covid-19  which led to physical customer interaction being limited and so being moved into becoming intangible for example, the use of the platform zoom for meetings.

This has also allowed businesses to integrate from physical marketing (most traditional types of marketing) materials like magazines and newspapers to a well-designed website and the use of video telephony to visibly communicate with customers directly over a screen.

Regardless of the pandemic’s aid in pushing businesses to become digital, it was always a  means to reach global relations. For most businesses global expansion is greatly beneficial which has been achieved through several digital marketing strategies, it allows a closer relationship to be formed with suppliers and customers, making them feel safe and trusted in relations with the company and providing a cost-effective way to expand (increasing their  ROI). ROI is Return on Investment, this is important to track as it shows how profitable the investment is showing to be and whether it was worth the initial cost, if this is high it means you will make back the money invested quicker. Through traditional marketing means, almost a fifth of marketers found that email campaigns provided excellent results for their ROI according to email marketing statistics on the podium showing the positive aspects of traditional marketing materials.

There are still several aspects however where traditional marketing is still very effective and reflects the image of a business well, especially if they are a local and small business. This means they won’t need to make large investments in some digital marketing services and can stick with a simplistic local image. It all depends on the business and how you want it to be perceived by your target audience, especially if the business operates in a niche market.

Overall, for most businesses it’s encouraged that a digital approach is taken, especially as it was found to have 50% higher interaction rates with customers compared to traditional marketing means (sourced from digitalthirdcoast.com) and also as we are growing in a fast-paced environment that’s becoming more digitally aware, it means businesses need to be up to date with how fast pace this is becoming. Being up to date with growing trends through the use of digital means, allows your content to be relevant and your data collection is accurate.

As Digital Marketing is such a key aspect in businesses it’s important you choose the right marketing agency for you, that fulfils your and your business’s needs. At Pixafusion we ensure that these needs are met and ensure the perception you want is shown to your customers. On our website you can see the range of services we offer that have both traditional and digital aspects, so we can do it all for you! That being said our expertise lies with digital marketing materials and so if you wish for this to be done by professionals then look no further.

All in all, it’s important to take into consideration recent times and how that can affect your business and as marketing is a key aspect of several business operations it’s important it’s done correctly.