Using Demographic Targeting to Reach the Right People

One of the toughest challenges in any campaign is how to get the word out to the people who are genuinely interested in your product, service or message. You want to reach potential customers and encourage them to take action. Millions of products and services are marketed every year, so how can you occupy some of that space?

What is Demographic Targeting?

Demographic targeting is directing the pieces of your campaign to an audience based on specific characteristics or qualities that describe the group. All you’re really doing is trying to get in front of the people who have an interest in your product or message. There’s also a good chance your audience has a need or even an emotional connection.

You can choose from the obvious demographics like age, gender, geographic location, language, and income. However, thanks to social media and the vast amount of technology at our fingertips, demographic targeting can get really granular and personalized. So yes, you actually can target manufacturing companies who have an interest in automation. You can pretty much find a targeting option for any interest.

Why Should I Use Demographic Targeting?

The greatest benefit to using demographic targeting in your campaigns is to cut down on unnecessary impressions. The worst mistake you can make is to assume everyone is the same and that everyone who comes across your product or message will be captivated. By targeting people with the interest, need, connection or whatever aspect of which they overlap with your campaign, you are making sure you’re getting in front of the right people. This will also ensure the money you are spending is being used efficiently. If you’re not entirely sure who your audience is, there’s a good chance you may not be using your budget in the right places, and possibly reaching the wrong people. This problem happens more times than not. Not everyone has an unlimited budget, so you’ll want to make sure you’re using your money wisely.

What is the Best Way to reach my Target Audience?

If you’ve dipped your toe into the water of demographic targeting at all, you’ll know there are many combinations of ways to reach your ideal audience. You might be asking what’s the best way to do this? Let’s break it down into two parts:

1. Finding where these people are
2. The messaging

Where is Your Audience?

There are a couple of important questions to ask to determine your target audience, in order to uncover what makes them tick. What groups are they part of? What behaviors or beliefs drive them? What do they expect from you and how can you connect with them?

Demographics reports in Google Analytics and Google Ads can be a great starting place to gather information. Another idea would be to put together your own surveys, which will provide valuable insights into your audience.

Once you identify qualities of your audience it will ultimately be up to you to decide which targets to go after. One great factor to help you decide will be your audience size. For example, if you’re doing a paid social media ad for dairy farmers in Wisconsin, you might consider targeting a Wisconsin dairy farmers group that has 200 members. However, maybe you also have an email list of dairy farmers from a Wisconsin association that has contacts for one thousand different farms. The email list will probably provide you with more depth. It’s up to you to decide the best value from your options but keep in mind what the exposure to these people will be.

Think About Your Message

The second part of reaching your ideal audience will be creating your messaging. You might get in front of your target audience, however, if the message is not carefully curated, you won’t actually reach these people. The message of your campaign should work in unison with your demographic targeting. Keep these questions in mind: What is my audience expecting from me? What do they need?

If you can hit home with your message and make it resonate with your target audience, not only will you reach them, but they are also more likely to take action. If you have questions about finding your audience and want to learn more about how to target them, let us know!