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Tip # 1: Texas Two-Step Like The Big Dogs!
Choose a tool manufacturer.... what color is your favorite brand?
Milwaukee? Red/White.
Hilti? Red/White.
Choose a heavy equipment manufacturer.... what color is your favorite brand?
Caterpillar? Black/Yellow.
John Deere? Green/Yellow.
Now.... choose a General Construction company.... what color is your favorite brand?
Turner Construction? Blue/White.
McCarthy? Red/White
These "Big Dogs" use 2 colors for their brand colors … and so should you.
Did you know? The "Big Dogs" spend HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS and sometimes MILLIONS OF DOLLARS on their branding!?!
Tip #2: Pick What You Like (or do some research)
Don't stress about choosing the "right" color. Pick a color you like (and add another one!). You can never go wrong with a Primary Color (Red/Yellow/Blue) and adding White or Black.
PSA: There is no such thing as "copying" someone's brand colors... if you like red/white - do it!
If you would like to do some research to choose your colors -- google "brand color psychology chart" you'll find out that that certain colors emit different emotional reactions.
But seriously.... construction clients aren't choosing you for your brand colors.
However, potential clients for your construction company may judge you on their perception of your "professionalism" - especially when you're getting into larger projects, or dealing with a new client.
Did you know? Many bonding companies will NOT bond a construction company that doesn't have a website?
* = For the rest of this blog, we're going to be using Milwaukee Brand Colors so you can follow along)
You should only use 2 colors as your PRIMARY BRAND COLORS. *Red/White
One of the colors is your BOLD MAIN COLOR (*Red)
One of the colors is your COMPLIMENTARY BRAND COLOR. (*White)
You should use your bold main color and complimentary brand color when creating:
Logo
Business cards
Letterhead templates
Invoices/estimate templates
Tip #3: Actually.... you need more colors.
Remember when I said that "Big Dogs" use 2 colors for their brand colors …
Well, that's only partially true.
You'll need a "palette" of colors to create:
Website
Social posts & videos
Printed marketing material (including T-Shirts!)
WHY?
Staying true to only 2 colors limits your design options.
Imagine a 2-color website... pretty boring, right?
Adding an ACCENT color to your palette immediately gives you more options!
The accent color should be a neutral shade that pairs well with the bold and complimentary color. This will help ground the Primary Brand Colors. *Red/White/BLACK
In addition to your ACCENT color - you should add 2 NEUTRAL colors.
One DARK neutral color (used for background/supporting elements)
One LIGHT neutral color (used mostly for paragraph text and dark backgrounds)
PRIMARY Colors *Red/White
ACCENT Color *Red/White/BLACK
DARK Neutral Color (*Dark Grey) *Red/White/Black/DARK GREY
LIGHT Neutral Color (*Medium Grey) *Red/White/Black/LIGHT GREY
Tip #4: Use what you've got!
Even with this palette, you'll still need some wiggle room. You can barely tell the difference between the black/dark grey - right? Right.
Changing the colors TRANSPARENCY allows you to be even more creative in your designs. You can also utilize patterns to create depth.
If you would like to see what this looks like in "real-life" - watch the video below!
Tip #5: When in doubt, SUB IT OUT!
If you just don't want to mess with all this.. you can hire a company to help you create 1-off items such as:
Creating a Logo
Choosing Brand Colors
Designing a Website
PRO TIP: I would suggest to start with a branding STRATEGY before you start piece-mailing all these things.
When considering hiring a third party to handle any part of your branding:
Ask for referrals from people you trust. (I'm personally against utilizing big-name companies who will treat you like a number.)
Ask for a portfolio (examples of previous work).
Work with someone you LIKE (you'll want to keep going back to this person when you need new marketing items!)
If you're considering on hiring a person in-house to handle these types of things:
If you can, hire someone with Experience (i.e. a portfolio) . If thats not in the budget, hire someone with a GROWTH mindset. You want someone scrappy, resourceful and who is always wanting to improve/grow themselves.
CONTACT BROVEN CONSULTING TODAY - if we can't help you, we'll find someone who can.
