Why demographic marketing falls flat
If your marketing strategy is based solely on demographic targeting, you are probably not getting the results you deserve.
There’s a reason that just 7% of marketing professionals use terms like “millennial”, “gen x” or “baby boomers” in their marketing strategies: they aren’t good predictors of consumer behavior.
Segmenting based on mostly-arbitrary demographic information is actually approaching the problem backwards. Rather than thinking about your customers based on their birthdate or race, first consider their behavior. After all, past behavior is the best predictor of future purchase decisions.
For example, consider the following scenario. Pretend you are a small clothing retail brand selling high-end swimsuits and accessories in Nashville that wants to grow their online purchases.
What not to do: Start marketing to millennial women because you assume they are most likely to buy your products. After all, your brand is geared towards hip young women so they must be the best target for your ecommerce marketing.
What to do instead: Investigate consumer behavior!
- Who are your current customers?
- How do they buy your products?
- Where do they live?
- Are they buying for themselves or someone else?
- Why do they buy from you rather than another brand?
- What other brands are they buying from?
- What are those brands’ messages?
- Is your proposed target market buying products online?
- Where is your proposed target market active online?
Answering these questions will help you develop a marketing strategy based on data and behavior, rather than simple demographic categorizations. These segmentation strategies will probably align with certain demographic groups, but they will be deeper and more targeted than simple demographic segments. For example:
| Women aged 24-55 | vs. | Women aged 24-55 who are planning a vacation in the next 3 months Women aged 24-55 who are in the market for a gift for their female friend or family member Women aged 24-55 who follow competing brands on social media |
By investing the time to investigate consumer behavior, you will gain insights that narrow your target markets to more meaningful characteristics than simple demographic categories. This will mean more effective messaging, better returns on your marketing investments and, hopefully, more profits in your pocket. Learn more about marketing your Nashville business here.