They say that demographics are everything. And while it’s true that knowing the demographics of your audience can significantly influence your marketing plans and their overall success, emotions matter more when it comes to sales and conversions. In today’s world of branding, marketing, and advertising, demographics don’t matter nearly as much as knowing the customer’s emotional mindset -- trust me.
The target audience’s physical location, their age, educational level, or other staples of their demographic statistics are less important to marketing success than speaking to the customer’s values, what matters most to them, and how your product or service can meet that emotional need.
Why is psychographics more important in today’s world than demographics?
Throughout history, compiling demographics has been much easier than getting into a customer’s head and understanding what drives them to make a purchase. It’s easy, simple, and straightforward to know where a customer lives, how old they are, or what their family situation looks like that could influence their buying decisions.
While demographics are comprised of the dry facts of your audience’s data, psychographics can shed light on what inspires your customers to buy your product or service. In many cases, your audience may have little in common with each other's demographic data points. This is one of the most compelling reasons why marketers need to understand their audience’s psychographics because demographic data is very limited for helping marketers position their brand.
Today, it’s essential for marketers to figure out what the customer’s emotional mindset is, or the “why” behind why they buy. In other words, their psychographics.
What goes through their minds?
What is their buying behavior like?
Do they plan on making purchases, or are they more likely to impulse buy?
When the customer is searching for a product or service like yours, are they feeling confident, or are they in a state of frenzy or panic?
How does that mindset influence how they shop for and buy your product?
These types of questions and their answers are crucial for marketers to know and understand for greater advertising and brand success. Knowing what values your customers focus on, and their emotions and affinities are what marketers need to realize for optimal positioning of their brand.
How can you find out what your audience’s psychographics are?
There are a couple of things marketers can do to understand their customers’ psychographics.
Interview your existing loyal customers: You can do this either one-on-one with a repeat client, or send out a survey or questionnaire to your mailing list. Ask your customers what their goals are, what motivates them, and what their shopping habits are to get a better idea of their psychographics.
Delve into your website analytics: If you prefer a less hands-on approach, combing through your website analytics can give you insight into what previous offers you’ve made that motivated people to buy, click, or share.
With a survey or interview, sometimes the client doesn’t truly know what motivates them. But looking over your website analytics can show you exactly what actions your customers take. Your customers may say they aren't bargain shoppers, but if your discount codes have really driven sales in the past, then actions speak louder than words.
Hitting the right emotional and cultural notes with your audience will ensure that the tone of your content aligns with their values and motivations. While it’s still important to have a firm grasp of your audience demographics, psychographics will enable you to differentiate your brand. Speaking to your customer’s emotions will make your brand more memorable, and inspire greater customer loyalty.
Finito.