Marketing rests heavily on visual communication. Task for small Main Street merchants is to create attention-grabbing visual displays that will beckon passersby to come into a store.

Illustration of a young woman with shopping bags against pink backgroundA rich, vibrant color scheme is a great place to start. If you already have a branding color, that’s great. If you don’t, give some thought to how you will use color to lure shoppers into your store.

Color can be thought of as a language, because it can be used to evoke moods and feelings. As with all forms of communication, the message a specific color will carry can be different from culture to culture. Those meanings can be used to draw attention to your business.

Also think about the impact of positioning store merchandise in a way that uses one powerful color to grab attention, or even to facilitate navigation through a large clothing shop or showroom. Do remember that navigation aids won’t stick out like a sore thumb when you use color as a interior way-finding device.

Colorful signs hanging from the ceiling with decorative chains can be one way to direct shoppers to particular in-store displays. Be creative and extend that color branding to artwork, posters and even in-store furnishings like in-store seating.

Color is truly a language that evokes emotions, sends subliminal signals and inspires shoppers to linger – and that means higher sales!