Marketers used to only pay attention to demographics. Demographics are measurable factors that help define target audiences that include age, gender, location, income, education, etc. Now, with Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok collecting more diverse data we can target people based on their wants, needs, and preferences.
Psychographics are less tangible factors not associated with clean numbers like age or income. In the words of Seth Godin, “This is for people who like that. This is for people who dream of that. This is for people who believe that.” These are psychographics as they do not depend on what a person’s age, skin color, or income are. It’s about understanding preferences. Fulfilling people’s desire, wants, needs by tailoring our messaging to reflect their values and beliefs. Matching our brand’s story to their inner narrative.
I was walking through London when I saw a line outside the Swatch store. I asked one of the people what they were waiting for and he told me to buy the new Swatch collab with Omega. They had just released the new moonswatch. An affordable version of the Omega Speedmaster. 95% of people walking by did not care about this new watch but it meant something to the people in que. The wait in line, the hype, the gathering of like-minded people, and the product itself all contributed to a memorable experience that some people would be willing to pay a premium for. The psychographics would be more valuable to the business than the demographics because they reveal more pertinent actionable data.
Psychographics help us define our audiences. Saying these services/products are meant for these people but not for everyone. We serve people who believe x, y, and z. Not a, b, and c. If you change your beliefs to match ours then we are happy to serve you. If a business aims to serve everyone it ends up helping no one.
Marketers still care about demographics but in today’s age where attention is the most valuable currency psychographics matter more. Therefore, it is important to define your Smallest Viable Audience (SVA) based on psychographics. What are the needs, values, feelings, beliefs, thoughts, and behaviours of your target customers? How does your business fulfill those needs? When we market our services properly we do it for our clients and not to them. Good marketing is a generous act of service.
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