When considering how to develop your marketing campaigns, you’ll first want to be sure that you are targeting your specific audience correctly. Without this knowledge, you’re just flinging your advertising campaigns out into the void without any proper direction.
Demographic segmentation marketing can break down your audience into smaller and more manageable groups. In this article, we’re going to cover:
- What demographic marketing is,
- The different demographic segments, and
- How these segments can be used to make your marketing more effective.
What is demographic segmentation?
Demographic segmentation is a type of customer segmentation that breaks down your audience into smaller groups to better cater your advertising technique to these audiences.
This type of segmentation separates your existing customers based on some basic factors of their identity but doesn’t include things like geography, purchasing behaviors, and personality.
Demographic segmentation factors
The groups that make up demographic segmentation are mostly the same wherever you go, but the ones you use will depend on how relevant these aspects are to your product and your target market. These include:
- Age
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Income
- Religion
- Family structure
- Education
- Occupation
Demographic segmentation is also a good starting point compared to behavioral segmentation or psychographic segmentation as it requires less in the way of data collection and analysis, yet can still tell you a lot about your customers.
How to use demographic segmentation
Demographic segmentation comes with significant perks when used correctly. It can improve personalization, product relevance, and advertising effectiveness.
Targeting your customers in this way will ensure that you aren’t getting the attention of the wrong people, but also aren’t falsely advertising who your product or service benefits. This kind of thing is vital to present a true narrative within your brand storytelling.
So, how can these factors be applied? Let’s get into it.
Age
Narrowing down by age will depend on how age-specific your products are. Usually, you’ll segment these groups into children, teens, young adults, adults, and seniors. You can also segment based on generations, such as Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. This might affect:
- Where you advertise your product.
- The time of day you release certain ads.
- The kind of image you use to represent your product.
- Your tone of voice.
Eve Chatfield
Examples of demographic segmentation and age:
- If you are appealing to teenagers, you might host your ads on YouTube in the evening when school has ended.
- If your product caters to seniors, you may use senior models in your advertising campaign.
- If you are advertising to children your tone of voice may be more casual and upbeat.
Gender
Segmenting by gender can be another useful tool when used correctly. It’s important to first consider if your product is being gendered unnecessarily before advertising it in that way. It’s also vital that, if you advertise to different genders differently, you’re not relying on stereotypes to do so.
As such, gender segmentation works better when paired with other segments, most commonly age. Advertising by gender might change:
- The channels or websites you choose to advertise your product.
- The models you use for your campaign.
- The use cases you choose to advertise.
Examples of demographic segmentation and gender:
- If you are advertising to this segment, you might prioritize sharing voices from that segment, and create an advert around shared experiences.
- You might choose to create comedy around gendered stereotypes, playing with these stereotypes without having to make a specific statement about them.
Ethnicity and religion:
Advertising to specific religious and ethnic communities allows you to advertise based on religious and cultural needs. This can depend on the type of product you’re advertising or even the time of year. It’s common for advertising campaigns to occur around specific religious holidays.
This segmentation might affect:
- Where you advertise your product.
- The time of year you’ll be advertising.
- The geographical location you target.
Examples of demographic segmentation and ethnicity:
- You may use the holidays as a way to advertise your product in relation to that holiday, providing perks or discounts as a celebration.
- You may promote the diversity of your brand products; for example, in make-up brands.
Income
This segmentation is important to consider, depending on the price range of your own product or service. Promoting your product to young teens if you’re a car dealership, for example, will mean you’re not targeting the audience that will actually end up making a purchase.
Again, there’ll likely be overlaps with other factors of demographic segmentation.
This segmentation will affect:
- The tone of your advertising.
- The age of the models you use.
- Where you advertise your products.
Examples of demographic segmentation and income:
- This will likely change where you choose to advertise, online and in person. You’ll choose affluent areas or cities where there’s a higher percentage of your target demographic.
- You might also choose specific faces or sponsors that are attractive to your audience.
Family structure
The common family structures within your chosen target segment will impact how you cater to them. They have different desires and different pain points, so you’ll need to advertise your product(s) with this in mind.
This segment might impact:
- The use cases you display in your advertising.
- Where you advertise your product.
- Representing the family structure within your advertising.
- The time of day you advertise.
Examples of demographic segmentation and family:
- You may think about how your product can save time and money for those with children and big family commitments or about its simplicity for single people with busy schedules.
- You might choose a variety of models with ages, occupations, and dynamics in your ads.
- You may aim to show how your product can be used by a variety of dynamics than first comes to mind.
Education and occupation
Educational needs and occupation level will have an impact on your target audience and its needs. This is something that works when your product has a direct impact on studies and workflows.
Many people will add their education and occupation to social media profiles which’ll tell you the most common industries and levels that make up your target audience. Considering how this’ll contribute to how your product is used is important.
This will impact:
- The age you’ll cater to.
- Where you’ll advertise.
- The case uses you choose to highlight.
Examples of demographic segmentation, education, and occupation:
- You may focus on an aspiring image or solution your product can bring for their skill and study.
- You may want to give hints about the information and support they will gain.
- Think about figures that are known in the industry that may add a perceived elevation to your product.
Advertising and demographic segmentation
At the end of the day, your segmentations will sway how you choose to present and sell your product, but they must always come from the truth. Understanding how your product works to benefit your customers will show you the points you should highlight in your marketing.
For your advertising to actually land with your audience you must:
- Be truthful.
- Approach the product as if you’re the customer.
- Represent your customer in your advertising.
- Represent the pain points and needs of these customer segments.
Storytelling
When using use cases and appealing to your customer experience with your advertising, you have to understand how to tell these stories. CMA’s Storytelling Master’s will make this process simpler to understand.
This course is for anyone ready to boost their storytelling skills to the next level. Whether you’re just starting out in customer marketing, or just want to refresh your knowledge and further understand the science behind a story that sells, this certification is for you.
By the end of the course, you’ll have a comprehensive set of skills needed to create impactful and successful storytelling.
