Using Color to Reinforce Your Real Estate Brand
Color psychology plays an essential role in marketing. The colors you use on your website, business cards, logo, and listings have the potential to affect your customers’ actions. After all, color is a cornerstone of branding — and branding can help your customers immediately recognize your company even without your name. This is crucial because real estate businesses are extremely competitive and need to stand out to be successful, especially when a smaller business is competing against a national business.
Here are some tips on how you can use color psychology to your advantage.
Know your brand personality
Jennifer Aaker, a psychologist and professor, wrote a paper titled “Dimensions of Brand Personality” discussing the five dimensions that determine brand personality. These include:
- Sincerity
- Excitement
- Competence
- Sophistication
- Ruggedness
A brand has one dominant dimension, though it can also be a cross between two traits. Certain colors align with specific traits, such as red for excitement and purple for sophistication.
However, academic studies on color and branding suggest that it’s far more important to use color to project the personality you want instead of aligning the brand with stereotypical colors. Your choice of real estate branding should reflect you or your energy.
As you develop your real estate business, it can be very helpful to have a guide along the way.
Think context
When you are looking at branding for your real estate business, look at the context – the place and culture you are attempting to fit into. The best marketing colors for real estate depend on what you are trying to convey.
Some experts claim that purple, brown, and black represent luxury real estate, while the color red — including the orange family — may appeal to a more impulsive buyer (e.g. more affordable housing).
Top Real Estate Logo Colors
The real estate industry has five top colors that they use to send a message. These are blue, red, black, green and orange. Color can add a unique value to your logo.
Obviously, real estate professionals do not have to choose all or any of these colors, but the reasoning behind each color choice is explained below. Be sure to use a color that makes sense for your market.
Blue
The leading logo color for real estate agents is blue. Blue is in the cool and calming spectrum. Blue is associated with dependability, honesty, trustworthiness, security, and strength. It can also denote power.
Blue is good as a background, text, logo, or accent color. Different shades of blue have different connotations; for instance, a teal blue or pale blue evokes the ocean.
Blue against white is a very readable and elegant design for a real estate logo. For example, look at the Coldwell Banker white-on-blue logo or the Prudential blue-on-white logo.
Red
The second most popular real estate logo color is red. Red is used to symbolize strength, bravery, and excitement. If your real estate goal is to turn risks into returns, consider a logo with this color as red appears strong and confident.
Mixing red with blue or black creates a very powerful image and an equally powerful logo. Keller Williams uses red and grey in a very eye-catching combination and the strong typography makes its branding immediately memorable.
Black
As noted above, black is considered the logo color of elegance and sophistication – the little black dress of the real estate color palette.
Many real estate companies like the Habibi Group and Aaron Kirman Properties, which specialize in exclusive luxury homes, choose black, gold, and grey for their logos.
Black is also a good choice to highlight other colors in your logo and gives a sense of power to your branding.
Green
The color green is generally perceived to have a calming effect. Green also means fertility, growth, and stability — and in the U.S. is the color of money. Green is a great choice for real estate logos, and real estate professionals specializing in family homes may like green.
Green has been used for environmentally-conscious brands like Seventh Generation, as well as pharmaceuticals companies like Merck, which is associated with healing and wellness. Katerina Sayles, an agent whose website uses the color green abundantly, has a section just for eco-friendly “green” listings.
Green can be hard to read in a logo, however, so using another color to differentiate it from the background is a good idea.
Orange
Orange is popular logo color in communities that feature beaches or oceans. Real estate agents use orange to convey sunshine and enthusiasm. Orange is a cousin to red in terms of energy and excitement.
Orange is a great highlight color as well and can make a logo pop. Blue and orange can look very good together or be very hard to read – it depends on the shades used.
Other Colors
There is no rule that says you cannot choose different colors for your logo. The best colors are those that are easy to read and convey the message you want to send. You may want to talk with a marketing professional to choose your best colors.
Brown
Brown, for example, can be used to convey a rugged and earthy appeal, as with Saddleback Leather Co. However, when used in a different context, brown creates feelings of warmth and comfort – it is the dominant hue for family celebrations like Thanksgiving, and it is widely used by chocolate brands like Hershey’s and M&M’s.
Brown and green immediately suggest nature to most viewers. Using this combination in rural property logos or to suggest that you specialize in “green” housing is an effective use of color.
Greens and browns can blend together, though, so use another color to differentiate them in logos.
Pink
Pink as a real estate logo color could be problematic. It is a warm color and can suggest youth, fun, or edginess. It can also be seen as childish and “soft.” Choose pink as an accent color in regions like Florida, where pink is often seen in nature.
Purple
Depending on the shade of purple you chose for a logo, the color can have a slightly different meaning. A classic rich purple suggests royalty and is often used in real estate industry logos for high-end properties. Other purples evoke nostalgia, fearlessness, and fun.
While there are many purple logos, using it as an accent color in the right context — such as to denote the trendiness of San Francisco — is important.
Yellow
Yellow is like orange in terms of making people slow down and focus their attention. It evokes warmth, cheerfulness, and a youthful attitude. It is a great accent color and can be used to highlight text.
Pairing yellow with the correct color is very important. For instance, the wrong shade of blue or yellow might invoke Wal-Mart — a very mass-market brand.
Grey
Grey is a classic color that is cool and balanced. Its meanings range from dull and dirty to formal and conservative. Using grey as a highlight or background color can create a strong message. Light grey is hard to read but can be used effectively against a white background.
Choose Colors that Differentiate Your Brand
Since the real estate industry is so competitive, standing out is important. Studies have shown that consumers prefer easily recognizable name brands, making color an important component when forging a brand’s identity.
The choice of color can have a profound effect on the viewer. Some experts go as far as to say that marketers should use color to differentiate their brand from major competitors.
Your real estate brand’s color scheme must represent your target audience’s desires and emotional associations, as well as the value proposition or marketing promise that your brand offers in response to those desires.
Choosing a color that differentiates your brand should be based on several criteria, some of which include:
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Your target audience
Who are they, what do they care about, and what mood should they be in to be able to engage with your brand? Consumers are affected by colors in different ways, and cultural trends affecting this are constantly in transition.
Which color conveys the meaning of your brand’s value and unique selling proposition to the audience? That’s why realtors need to understand their target audience when designing a logo.
Real estate companies that specialize in trendy places like San Francisco can probably use more colors; if they focus on more traditional and suburban areas, however, too many colors may seem garish.
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Brand archetype
Archetypes originate from the work of psychiatrist Carl Jung, who delved into the role myths and symbols played in human thinking.
Although each individual is unique, people have shared traits that enable us to classify and make sense of ourselves. As such, realtors can use colors to show solidarity with the community they serve.
The same goes for brands as consumers personify brands, giving them meaning and establishing relationships with them based on what they stand for, and what kind of emotions they inspire.
Your brand’s personality affects the way consumers connect to it and influences the meaning they assign to it. Hence, your brand’s personality can be classified as an archetype.
Once you’ve determined the archetype that corresponds with your brand, you’ll have to decide which color best represents its attributes.
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Culture
Colors mean different things to individuals in different parts of the world. In the United States, white stands for purity. But in Asian countries like China and Korea, it is the color of death and mourning.
The real estate industry is becoming more aware of subcultures within the greater U.S. and has started using branding accordingly.
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Perceptions
Color meanings and perceptions also vary with age, gender, race, social class, and religion. The psychographics and demographics of the market your brand serves should be a major consideration when selecting a color.
Pick an appropriate color
When choosing the right color, research suggests that predicting consumers’ reaction to the appropriateness of the color is more important than the color itself. A study has also found that the relationship between color and brands is anchored on consumers’ perception of how appropriate the color is for the product being sold. In short, branding can make or break a company.
Consumers know intuitively whether a brand and a color connect. If they don’t connect, consumers get turned off. This means that the color used to represent the brand should be a good fit for the product or service that is being sold.
However, experts warn against simply using popular colors that customers might like. Instead, they encourage brands to focus on authenticity.
For example, when Volkswagen introduced a neon green car to the market, buyers were immediately receptive. Not only was the color unique, but it also tied back to the ideas that the brand was trying to communicate – renewal, rebirth, and bringing back an old iconic brand while at the same time giving it a modern twist.
The perceived appropriateness of color use can bring immediate and inherent value to the brand. For example, American Airlines incorporates the colors of the flag in its logo, which echoes its status as a major airline in the United States.
Apple uses white, silver, and black – a color scheme that conveys futurism and elegance, and which ties back to the brand’s messaging and positioning of “Think Different.”
Other Real Estate Logo Best Practices
Real estate logos are also very important. What do you want to portray with the logo design? Using the roofline of a house does not convey that your real estate company specializes in commercial properties. A key is another popular real estate logo. Can you use a key more effectively or differently than a competitor in your region?
As we’ve discussed above, real estate logos need to reflect you or your business. Now that color printing is far less expensive, using a colored logo across your advertising venues has never been more affordable. Another consideration for logo color is that the colors do not clash or blend.
Since you will hopefully be getting drive-by advertising, an easy-to-read real estate logo is very important.
Don’t forget that a good logo and signage can inspire new clients to call you. You are not just advertising the property, you are advertising yourself.
If you market mainly to an older clientele, you may want to avoid small, non-contrasting, and frilly logo design as it is harder for aging eyes to pick out details.
Take a look at the most recognizable logo in the world: the McDonald’s logo. It uses a simple font, is bright yellow to symbolize happiness (and french fries), and is simple to read, see and process. And since it is plastered on everything, it is immediately effective. As you design your real estate logo, keep these principles in mind.
Consider, too, the predominant color palettes in your area. If you are creating a real estate logo in Alabama, you may be tempted to use the colors of your favorite team (maroon and white or black and orange). By doing so, you immediately alienate half of your clientele.
As you think about the various real estate logos you’ve seen before, what stands out to you as memorable? What makes you think about calling that particular agent? What makes it easier to remember the real estate company when you’ve forgotten the name and are doing an internet search at home?
Real estate logos and logo colors can make it much easier to attract business.
Need Help With Your Brand Color And Logo?
Choosing a color for your brand is more than just a creative decision. It’s a marketing move that can differentiate you from competitors, as well as make clients more responsive to your brand. Since you will use your brand colors across all your marketing channels (including collateral like signages), you may want to work with designers to build the best possible company image so you can create interest and motivate buyers and sellers.
Let Agent Image assist you as you build your real estate brand. We have an entire team of design professionals ready to give you the in-depth consultation you need for your next successful branding project.
Here are just few examples of how color can spell a dramatic difference for your real estate website:
