Does Color Matter in Hospital Marketing?

Let us guess. Your organization’s logo is predominantly blue. Are we right? We can make that assumption because more than half of all company logos and a whopping 85% of hospital logos are blue. That’s according to a logo review by design marketplace 99designs.

And it makes sense. Blue is associated with calmness, trustworthiness, and steadfastness. What healthcare organization wouldn’t want to project those brand traits? The rest of your palette is probably a pleasing yet limited color selection that complements your main logo color. And you’ve been drilling those colors and their proper usage into the heads of content creators your organization over for years.

But are you using color strategically?

color plays a big role in the way that we see and perceive brands

More Than Just Pretty

Color isn’t just decoration. It can actually influence campaign effectiveness.

You’re constantly A/B testing subject lines, headlines and calls to action. But what about colors in your marketing materials? Some organizations have found sizeable differences in response, depending on which colors they use.

HubSpot A/B tested red and green call to action (CTA) boxes, hypothesizing that green would perform better, considering people associate green with “Go.” Green also fit better with the page design since the site’s brand was mainly green. But it was actually the red box that was more enticing to users, and not just by a little. Red was clicked 21% more than the green when all other factors stayed the same.

Does this mean you should make all your CTAs red? Maybe, maybe not. But what it does mean is you should not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone when considering color choice. Here’s how.

  • Make important information pop. Phone numbers, calls to action, and links should never blend in with the rest of a design. Sure, they can still be complimentary, but these elements need to jump off the page.
  • Dare to stand out. If your market is swimming in a sea of blue, make your brand stand out by putting your secondary brand colors to better use. Slowly increase the number of secondary colors you use in your campaigns until they ultimately become primary. Or…
  • Rethink your color palette. Branding is important. But there’s no reason you can’t add a color or two to your organization’s palette if it would increase engagement. Sometimes you just don’t know what you’ll need in your marketing toolbox until you start building. If a thoughtful addition would improve your effectiveness, we say go for it. But if you’re tempted to add or change more than two brand colors, you should instead be looking at a brand overhaul.
  • Test, test, test. It’s easy enough to run A/B tests with email marketing and webpages. But don’t stop there. Pay attention to the response you get from color variations of other materials, too, such as flyers, social post backgrounds, and direct mail.
  • Make an exception. Sports teams have been known to suit up in pink for Breast Cancer Month. Why not wash your organization in a particular color for a special campaign, promotion, or celebration? Anniversary years are a natural time to go gold or design a badge that travels along with your logo all year displaying your years of service.