Companies use demographic information to learn more about the people who buy their goods and services. By analyzing data like age, location, gender, occupation, and income, demographics reveal the types of people most likely to be interested in your brand.

When organizations collect as much demographic data as possible, the risk of false positives is lower. When demographic data is lacking, such as population statistics, the likelihood of overestimating is higher. And erroneous positives may lead to the misallocation of resources. Demographics encompass a wide range of socioeconomic data. Some of the most common data that is collected include:  

• Age group

• Gender

• Race

• Ethnicity

• Location

• Marital status

• Education level

• Occupation

• Employment status

Demographic data that has proven to be valuable for organizations tap into deeper details and may include characteristics such as:

• Income

• Religious affiliation

• Political affiliation

• Spoken languages

• Hobbies

Demographic data also gives you insight into buying behavior which can help forecast future activity and reveal trends, helping you understand what products and services people from different groups want and can afford now. This insight can help you adapt to a changing society.

The demographic information you collect can paint a detailed picture of your community and target market, including how it stands concerning others and how it has evolved. Your brand can become a local expert in the likes and dislikes of your community as you keep track of experiences and observations of an area. And all the data that you’ve collected will translate into intelligence that can guide decision-making, strategies, and action.

Demographic Marketing and Segmentation

Market segmentation is a useful strategy that involves segmenting your data by groups based on a specific demographic, such as by age bracket, geographic location, or family status. The right demographic information will allow you to direct your marketing dollars toward the people most likely to become buyers, rather than wasting money on those who are least likely to engage with your marketing campaigns. For the cost per lead or sale to be minimal, you should be targeting people who are most likely to engage with your content and respond favorably to your calls to action. 

By dividing their target market into smaller subsets, businesses can determine which of those groups is most likely to become paying customers. They can use this insight when introducing new products and services to a select audience – once that is most likely to be receptive to the campaign’s message and offerings. For example, college-aged young adults are not likely to be attracted to marketing campaigns for baby toys. If your company sells high-end products, your target market should belong to a certain income bracket – one that can afford a luxury lifestyle. And if you’re a local small business that can only cater to customers within your neighborhood, it doesn’t make sense to spend your marketing budget trying to reach an international audience.

There are several strategies for collecting valuable demographic data. Surveys, polls, census collection, focus group discussions and interviews, online surveys, and research are some of the common ways to get demographic data. Another way to collect demographic data is through data enhancement services.

At RunnerEDQ, we append your existing database of names and email addresses with a wealth of demographic data. We tap into a data file of over 2 billion records covering 250 million U.S. individuals and 170 million households to add detailed consumer information to your customer and prospect records, including household income, marital status, residence data, credit information, and more.