Color evokes emotion.

In a vast sea of content, color can help your brand stand out from the rest.

Color can make your potential clients feel what you want them to feel, see what you want them to see, and do what you want them to do.

It's an essential tool in marketing and branding because it impacts how we think and how we act.

Color psychology is the study of how our perceptions and behaviors are affected by color. It's focused on how colors impact your site visitor's impression of your brand.

Colors can show off your brand's personality

The colors you choose for your brand can influence how your potential clients view the "personality" of your brand.

While certain colors do align in a broader sense with specific traits, it's more important for your brand colors to support your brand's personality.

While over time color psychology has been studied and analyzed, the truth is that an individual's response to color is dependent on their past experiences rather than a universal response. Personal preferences, experiences, cultural differences, memories, and context all impact the effect a specific color has on someone.

However, there's still valuable information we can learn when we consider that precise answers aren't guaranteed.

There are three important questions to ask yourself when choosing your color palette.

What colors fit the services I offer in my private practice?

When it comes to choosing the "right" color for your brand, it's way more important to predict your potential client's reaction to the appropriateness of the color than the individual color itself.

When considering colors for your branding and marketing material, ask yourself: "Is this color appropriate for the services I'm offering?"

What colors suit my niche?

When building your color palette it's important to factor in who you're trying to attract. Consider whether the colors you want to choose for your palette are age appropriate for your ideal client.

Playing with the tint and shade of a color can evoke different feelings. For example, a soft pale pink may connect with your ideal clients but a bright, neon pink won’t.

"What colors are right for the personality of my private practice?"

There are so many factors that influence this answer, including the feeling you are hoping to evoke, the image you're hoping to convey, or the mood you're hoping to set.

Researchers have found that the relationship between color and brands relies on the perceived appropriateness of the color being used for the specific brand.

If you're unsure, the best people to ask are the people who you're hoping to attract. A great way to do this is to put a poll up on your Instagram story that asks your followers to choose which color evokes the feeling you want associated with your practice's branding. For example, if you want your branding to make your potential clients feel at peace, put a poll like this on your story →

While we don't all react the same way to specific colors, there are generalities that have been made:

A great color palette can be a powerful marketing tool for your private practice.

It can connect with your ideal client and help create a sense of belonging when they land on your website.

For color palette inspo, check out websites like Pinterest or palette generators like coolors.co.