When was the last time, if at all, you looked at current target audience demographics? Or better yet, why should you? Societal values and cultural norms change all the time, which can change audience demographics. 

Social media, for example, has changed how consumers of all ages find and research brands. This means that if you’re not investing in your social media efforts, you’re missing out on buyers actively looking for your brand. 

What You Need to Know Highlights

• Know who your demographics are before planning your strategy. 
• Whether you’re a local, national, or international brand, your demographics matter.
• Demographics change as societal norms and trends change. 
• Be inclusive with demographics.
• You may think you know your target demographic, but the results may surprise you.

Audience Demographic Analysis

Before you start planning website content or creating social media accounts, you need to do a demographic analysis. The data from this analysis will help guide you as you look at the most effective strategies to reach your target audience, as well as build out other marketing resources like personas. 

Your demographic analysis should include details like: 

• Age
• Gender
• Income
• Education
• Geographic location

Local vs. International vs. National Audience Demographics 

Whether your brand is local, national, or international, you need to know your target audience’s demographics. 

For local brands, knowing things like how many veterans live in your community can help you be more inclusive in discounts offered to support local vets. 

National brands will want to be mindful of demographic data by region to make sure they are targeting ads and using appropriate language for each region. 

The same can be applied to international brands. Some forms of acceptable language used in one part of the world can be offensive in other regions. 

Being aware and mindful of who your target demographic is, as well as their culture, is all part of connecting your brand to the consumer, wherever they may be. 

Be Inclusive in Your Audience Demographics

Being inclusive in your demographic analysis should be automatic. Minorities and people with disabilities have significant purchasing power. 

Worldwide, according to Return on Disability, the disability community has a disposable income of over $2.6 trillion. 

Adding inclusive demographics to your marketing strategy not only helps you connect with consumers of all background types but also creates an inclusive brand image—which, according to Statista, 70% of Millennials and Gen Z want more of from brands. 

Another benefit to inclusivity? It leads to higher brand retention rates. 

“Knowledge itself is power.” – Francis Bacon 

Use Reliable Sources for Identifying Demographics

Where you get your data matters. If you go to a website that is linking to a source, check that source. The data could be outdated or not from a reputable source. You want the most current, accurate information. 

Some examples of reliable sources:

• NIH (National Institutes of Health): Provides health-related demographic data.
• Statista: Offers comprehensive statistics on various industries and demographics.
• Census Data: Government census data provides detailed demographic information about populations.
• State Websites: Many state websites offer local demographic insights that can be useful for targeted marketing.

Segmenting Your Target Audience

Being able to segment your audience based on the demographic data you collected will help you not only know where to publish content, but how to create that content in the most effective way. The most impactful, however, could arguably be with paid ads. 

Being able to pull audience segments to connect with your target audience in ads not only will help your ad campaigns be more efficient but will be money better spent by targeting exactly who you are trying to connect with. 

Here are a few examples of how you can segment your audience to help with your marketing strategy:

• Age Segmentation: Create content in a way that it will connect to the age group(s) you are targeting, keeping the platform the content will be published on in mind. For example, younger audiences might prefer video content on TikTok, while older audiences might prefer written content on Facebook.
• Income Segmentation: Offer products or services that align with different income levels. Luxury brands might focus on high-income individuals, while budget-friendly brands target lower-income groups.
• Geographic Segmentation: Create content relevant to specific regions. For instance, a brand might highlight local events or seasonal products in their marketing campaigns.

Be Open to New Audience Demographic Data

So often, we think we know who our demographic is, but when we begin our demographic analysis, sometimes the data doesn’t align with what we thought we knew. 

Be open to the data. 

I once performed a demographic analysis for a dental office that became defensive about the results—refuting the results. 

A few days after the findings were presented, a follow-up conversation happened, acknowledging the information was legitimate. Explaining that they had been advertising to the same demographics for the past 15 years (15 years!). Hearing that they were advertising to the wrong demographics was hard to hear—which was totally understandable.

Remain a fierce competitor by having accurate, up-to-date information.