The holiday season is upon us. We’ve blogged before about how incorporating color in business can motivate customers to pay. So, it begs the question: During the holidays, should your invoices mirror the typical holiday colors? Would color promote payment or seem too unprofessional?
Red, green and blue are often the colors most associated with the holidays. When you consider the psychology of color there are mostly positive attributes to utilizing these colors.
Red
While red is psychologically perceived as positive color, the color does give the sense of urgency. This can be ideal if the invoice is past-due or you are sending a second notice. If you decide to use the color red consider incorporating it as an accent color to highlight important due dates. If utilized too much, the color could be perceived as a negative red flag.
Green
Who doesn’t love the color green? It is the color of money. If you are planning to play up the holidays, consider incorporating more green than red. Studies show that it will encourage people to pay quicker.
Blue
Blue is typically not a color you find on an invoice, but we wonder, why not? Psychologically-speaking, blue can provoke feelings of calmness, order, trust and efficiency, which are positive attributes for an invoice.
While there is no clear-cut answer, we believe there are a few stipulations that should be discussed before incorporating holiday colors within an invoice.
- Does it compliment your company logo? Never add color that will ultimately result in a mess of color on the page. You want it to benefit you; not complicate the invoice.
- Everything in moderation. Remember the goal of using color is not only to show your holiday spirit, but to promote payment. Make sure the invoice still looks clean after color is added.
- Always be politically correct. The holiday season is religiously driven for a good percentage of the population. Never, ever use your invoice as a religious or political statement. You want to get paid!