In an era where statistics and data is more readily available than ever before, we need to be able to utilize this information in such a way that it enables us to reach our desired outcomes. From digital marketers to small businesses to content creators, using this information is important for anyone and everyone that has an audience or a customer base.

By understanding what a demographic is and how to utilize it to reach desired outcomes, you will be able to not only better understand your market, but you will be able to better drive specific results that you are looking to achieve. Whether you need to increase sales, increase foot traffic in your store, or find new followers for your community, the understanding of your market’s demographics will help you to achieve your goals.

Today we will explore what a demographic is, the types of demographics that might be important for you and your goals, and how to best utilize and maximize demographic data to achieve your objectives.

What Is a Demographic?

In order to best understand how to utilize and maximize the use of data surrounding a demographic, we first need to understand what a demographic is. At the very core, a demographic is a very specific portion of a population. Every type of population has numerous types of “portions” within that population. Populations could be as large as the number of people on the planet to as small as the number of followers to a blog.

Types of Demographics

When you’re looking at any type of population, there is going to be a number of different sub-groups that make up that population. Each “group” is considered a demographic. The number of demographics within each population will vary based on the information you want to gather. While there is a virtually endless amount of demographics, it’s up to you to choose as few or as many as you would like to analyze.

Below are the most common types of demographics or demographic categories that are analyzed to help with improving performance within a business, community or any other type of group.

• Geographical Data. The location of the individual. This may be as specific as their address to as broad as the county, city, state or country that they live in. Geographical data is used to help target specific groups of people who live within certain geographical parameters.
• The gender of an individual is important for many marketers. Certain products are used more by men than women, and vice-versa. Gender specific demographics helps marketers more accurately deliver advertisements and information to the specific gender that is more likely to gain value out of it.
• Lifestyle Data. May include a variety of different information, such as media consumption, whether or not the individual owns or rents their residence, the quantity of specific belongings, and more. Any information that may count as a way to determine the quality of life an individual lives may fit this category.
• Career Data. Individuals who are part of different careers is common in our society, and it’s important to be able to separate them into categories for marketing purposes. An individual who works in the food industry may not gain much value out of a service, product or advertisement that’s intended for corporate leaders.
• How old an individual is can play a large impact on the marketing strategies that are utilized to deliver relevant information. Older generations will react very differently than the younger generations, or some products may only be designed for certain age brackets.
• Financial Data. How much an individual or family makes can also play a large impact on the type of marketing that is used. If products are designed to be high-end, knowing that a certain group of people can afford it will help you to determine that the product will have a chance. Likewise, knowing that a demographic is also middle-class can help certain service providers adjust their rates and offerings to help meet the needs of more people.

Gathering Demographic Data

Gathering demographic data can either be relatively easy or can be very time consuming, depending on the audience, industry and your overall goal. However, just because an audience is smaller does not necessarily mean it will be easier to gather the information. When gathering demographic data about your customers or followers, understand that the information will never be 100% accurate. There’s always the chance that a small percentage of individuals won’t provide information or your sources aren’t completely accurate.

There are a couple of different ways in which you can gather relevant data about your customers. The most accurate, although less likely, method is to request the information directly from your customers or followers. This may be in the form of a written survey that they can fill out and provide.

Another and more effective method would be to enlist the aid of marketing companies who specialize in gathering and archiving data about individuals and wide ranges of demographic information. These marketing companies have compiled lists upon lists of information on individuals, families, households, companies and more. They operate with the intention of gathering information that can be used to help businesses or groups like yours get the most out of market data and demographics.

If you have an online presence, you can also gather analytical and demographic data about visitors to your website. This information can help you to get an overview of the type of individuals who are visiting, their operating system, geographical location, internet service provider, and more.

Utilizing Data from Demographics

Like all types of information, data and statistics, demographic data is only going to be of use when it’s executed on. If you gather information about your customers or userbase, how are you going to implement the data into changes at your company? Study and analyze the information you gather and figure out you can adapt your business, product, service, or whatever your offering is, in order to better serve your customers, clients and followers.

Learning how to not only acquire demographic data but to also utilize it is key for any business or organization that wants to narrow down on who they’re targeting with their services, products and advertisements. Using demographic data to make changes and improve your offering is an effective way of generating better results.