One of the most common questions when first buying a billboard is which color to use. Seems like a simple enough thing that surely won’t make or break its ability. . . right?

The Best Colors for Billboard Advertising (And Why They Work

Not necessarily. Color is paramount when it comes to designing a billboard, and a given color can have varied effects on viewers. Visibility from far distances, emotions, and first impressions are all important factors that can be affected by a billboard’s main color scheme.

A shade determining pink from red can cause viewers to feel calmer or full of passion and more inclined to take action on a message. This is a taste of the power colors hold, and you can harness it too when designing your first billboard or your most recent to maximize your success.

Contrast & Visibility

Contrast is two opposing colors, typically one light and the other dark, giving the effect of a prominent appearance on a focal feature.

Billboards, displays, and messages that employ high contrast, such as dark text on a light background or vice versa, increase visibility, especially from great distances.

Whatever the chosen colors are for an advertisement, using contrast wisely will affect the readability of a message and if it is legible at all from any distance, near or far. To have a message stand out, blend light and dark hues to ensure maximum readability.

This will ensure readability, and according to research, high color contrast can even improve advertising recall by 38 percent.

Color Intensity & Brightness

The more intense the chosen colors for a billboard are, the more eye-catching they become to pedestrians and drivers passing by. There are a few that have the best results, according to research, and it’s time to claim them to create your next rockstar advertising campaign.

The Best Colors To Use:

• Red
• Orange
• Yellow
• Pink
• Bright Green

Bright colors such as these will grab the attention of passersby, which gets them in the door; the next part is to quickly and efficiently deliver your message.

Billboard ads that are attempting to create swift action from viewers would do best to amp up the red levels on a display as this color creates urgency and awareness, as proven by traffic lights, stop signs, and many other important features of our world that need us to pay attention.

Blend effective colors with powerful contrast to create ads that pop and allow your message to shine. You know and understand which colors are most potent in capturing attention, but did you know you can change and influence the associations viewers make about your ad?

How Do You Want To Be Seen?

Think about it: what colors are businesses and companies you see and interact with every day? What colors do certain industries employ and stay away from?

Colors are psychologically interlinked and create implicit associations of trust, prosperity, and even hunger. Healthcare services use blue to invoke trust and tranquility; financial companies install green all around to signal prosperous investments and finances; and fast food companies blare red to call in attraction and stir the hunger centers.

The next time you are designing an advertisement, don’t just put your favorite color at the forefront. Although it may be aesthetically pleasing, consider which color will be psychologically appealing and, therefore, visually effective and financially worthwhile.