Are you running your business, investing resources in promotion, but the results do not meet expectations? Is it possible that the issue is not with the advertisement itself, but with whom you are showing it to? Do you really know your subscribers? Not just "women 25-45", but specific individuals with their own dreams, problems, and habits?

Often, the reasons for lack of sales are not about what you do, but for whom you do it. As we know, there is a buyer for every product. You just need to clearly understand who exactly your buyer is.

In this article, we will discuss why it is so important to track demographic data for successful marketing. We will also look at how the mismatch between your expectations regarding the target audience and the real picture can become a problem. Let's delve into this topic together and find ways to create a more precise and effective strategy!

What are demographic data?

Let's discuss what demographic data are and why they are so important for your business.

Demographic data is information about your clients: their age, gender, residence, and other characteristics. However, if you just say that your target audience is women aged 20 to 45, that's not enough.

Why? Because it's a too broad category.

When we say our target audience is women aged 20 to 45, that is just the beginning. We can't just lump all women together and consider them the same. Why? Because 20-year-old girls and 45-year-old women are at different stages of life. They have different interests, motivations, and needs. Some are just starting their careers, while others are already building a family or taking care of children.

Now let's consider the place of residence. Many do not take this factor into account as the business operates online with delivery available to all regions.

This, of course, is very extensive. But covering the entire country in the target audience profile is simply pointless.

In our country, there is such a diversity of cultures and habits that the approach "everyone at once" doesn't work. For example, women living in the south may prefer one style of clothing, while residents of the north will choose something completely different due to the climate and lifestyle. Habits and preferences are shaped not only by age but also by region, traditions, and even climate.

Segmentation — the key to success

Many think that demographic data is something outdated and uninformative. They say it’s better to gather information about preferences and interests. And that’s true. Indeed, demographic data may not always be useful. Why?

If you gather too general information — for example, just "women aged 30-35 from Russia" — it may be uninformative. You need more specifics. And here segmentation comes to the rescue.

If you just know that your audience is women aged 30-40, but you don't know what they like, what they are interested in, and what problems they have, it will not help you create an interesting product or offer. But when you start digging deeper and dividing the audience into segments, then demographic data starts working for your business.

Segmentation means dividing your potential clients into narrower groups. For example, you can highlight 20-25-year-old girls living in large cities and 40-45-year-old women living in suburbs. This is already more specific information to work with!

Thus, to make demographic data your tool for business development, it needs to be used correctly. Understanding your audience and its features will help you create a more personalized approach that truly attracts clients. After all, you don’t want your offers to go unnoticed, do you?

Reasons for mismatch between target and actual audience

Let's examine why sometimes what a marketer has written about the target audience does not match what we see in reality on social networks.

Imagine you have a fashion brand. You decided to target progressive residents of big cities, thinking that they would be your main buyers. After all, based on your offer, this is the most solvent audience segment.

And then you release a winter collection where the predominant items are warm sweaters.

But here's the trouble: potential buyers just don’t need such warm things! Most of them work in offices where, as a rule, it’s warm and cozy. They spend a lot of time in a comfortable environment and don’t need a warm sweater.

But residents of smaller cities in cold regions, on the contrary, are delighted to buy such sweaters. They spend a lot of time on the road to work and need warmth.

It turns out that the marketer in his mind created an ideal image of the buyer but did not consider that she just doesn't need what he offers.

So, what mistakes were made?

Firstly, it's a segmentation error. If the marketer had more carefully divided his audience into groups, he would have noticed that business attire is more important for big cities than sweaters.

Secondly, it's incorrect assumptions. The marketer envisioned an ideal image of the target audience but did not check if it matched reality.

And finally, changes in user behavior. People change, as do their habits and preferences. What was relevant a year ago may no longer work. For instance, with the transition to remote work, many have changed their clothing style and are now looking for something more comfortable.

In the end, the marketer made three mistakes that led to a mismatch between the prescribed and actual target audience. To avoid such situations, it is crucial to continuously analyze your audience, listen to its needs, and adapt to changes.

How to correctly track and analyze demographic data? Postmypost Analytics

To track the demographic data of the audience, use Postmypost analytics. What data and why should you look in the "Analytics" section?

First — gender and age. We think this is the foundation of any target audience. Based on this data, you can immediately understand a lot about the audience. What year they were born, what culture surrounded them, what important historical events influenced them, and so on. All these questions can be answered just by knowing the age.

Then we move on to cities. The city gives us an idea of the climate, mentality, traditions, etc.

Knowing just three main characteristics, you can answer many questions about the audience. And for this, you don’t need to conduct surveys, questionnaires, and dig through potential subscribers' profiles on social networks.

Postmypost provides detailed audience analytics that helps optimize your content and increase audience engagement. Try it for free for 7 days.