Demographics Archives

How to Use Social Media for Market Research

January 15, 2026

Customers are one of the most important indicators that measure the success of a business. In order to understand what customers want and for them to buy into your business over competitors, it’s necessary to engage in comprehensive market research. Market research is compiling information about consumer preferences and needs. As technology continues to flourish and social media is at the forefront of marketing strategy, social media has become the primary and best place to conduct market research.

Rather than pouring money into traditional market research consisting of focus groups and annual surveys, social media market research is cost-effective and opens up more valuable real-time data. This data provides diverse customer, competitor, and industry analysis. However, because social media is filled with so many insights, it’s important as a marketer to know what specific research you should focus on.

Here is a list of 6 different insights that are essential for a business to know and how to use social media market research to find them.

Customer preferences and wants

Social Media allows businesses the opportunity to connect with customers on a more personable level. Using different platforms like Instagram and Twitter, you can communicate and understand the preferences of your target audience through comments, public polls, subtweets, etc. This information can help you understand what customers like and dislike. Depending on your company’s product, you can learn about popular colors, flavors, scents, and much more. Utilizing these preferences, make changes to future products because it can benefit both your customer and your company.

social media market research - target audience

Industry emerging trends

There are always new and upcoming trends, topics, and products floating around on various social platforms. Understanding and staying on top of these emerging trends can help your business gain views and traction on your different accounts. Not only can it open up new opportunities for people to see your product, but it also allows your target audience to feel connected to your brand and feel that you understand their interests. For example, if Gen Z is your primary target audience, uploading content to trending sounds on TikTok will be the most beneficial platform to utilize.

social media market research - competitor research

Competitor analysis

Your competitors are also staying up to date with trends and interacting with customers. It is necessary to monitor your competitors’ social platforms so that you have an understanding of their marketing and content strategies. This opens up the opportunity to pick apart their strengths, weaknesses, and most importantly help you restructure your marketing strategy accordingly. If a competitor is doing something that customers enjoy, it might be time to reassess some tactics to have customers click on your profile instead.

Target audience demographics

Various social media platforms offer insights into the demographics of its users. Use social media to find out the typical age, gender, and interests of people in your market. Grasping a greater understanding of your target audience will allow for you to make more articulate and tailored content for the niche target group. Location of target audience is also important. If a large sector of your audience is based in Los Angeles, implementing a pop-up shop of products could spread word of your business.

Influencer partnerships

Once you have an understanding of your target audience, take a look at what type of influencers they follow. Influencer partnerships are a great way to raise reach and engagement levels for a business. Look at various influencers that match your brand values and have them create content that resonates with your audience. For example, a new makeup brand that markets to Gen Z could utilize a partnership with a beauty TikTok influencer because that platform reaches their target audience. Then, reviews of the products spread across TikTok which reach a larger audience ultimately.

Existing customer reviews for future product development

One amazing aspect of social media is that people are allowed to freely speak their minds. This opens up the opportunity to read into what consumers are saying about your business. Gathering data on various opinions, feedback, and reviews can aid in redesigning existing issues with products, as well as creating new products customers would buy into.

Social media is the most valuable way to conduct market research. Insights are up-to-date and constantly changing allowing companies to have a deeper understanding of what their customers want in a product. Whether it be looking at target audience demographics, industry emerging trends, or customer preferences, they are all important insights that can aid in the success of your business.

The Newest Social Media Platform

July 27, 2023

The newest social media platform, Threads, has taken the world by storm accumulating over 100 million new users in the first week of release, but what is Threads and how does it work?

Created by Mark Zuckerberg, Threads is an app built by the Instagram team allowing people to join public conversations and share text updates and thoughts. As it can be directly connected to an Instagram account, when you sign up there is an option to connect with everyone you already follow. This feature helps ease your way into the app as you will already follow some familiar faces and will not have to go searching for every fellow friend. While this information transfers over to the app, a link to your Threads account will automatically appear in your Instagram bio. This way, anyone that follows you on Instagram can go ahead and follow you on Threads as well. It is a great feature, especially for celebrities, helping fans and people avoid following fake accounts. The link is removable if you wish.

the newest social media platform - colorful

Like Instagram, interacting with posts takes the same formatting on Threads. There is a heart icon to like a thread, a quote bubble to reply to a thread, a repost button, and a share button in the form of a paper airplane icon.

There are a few other features that transfer between both social platforms. For example, if you are verified on Instagram, you will be verified on Threads. Blocked accounts on Instagram will carry over as well. You can also share your threads to your Instagram story, really connecting the two platforms. Finally, your feed consists of threads from people you follow as well as recommended content from new creators.

There has been quite some talk about how similar Threads is to the already popular social platform, Twitter, now X. While they are similar in nature, there are differences among both of them. Threads allows users to upload 5 minute videos as opposed to Twitter allowing 2 minute and 20 second videos. Also, Threads does not limit how many posts users can read per day. On the other hand, Twitter offers direct messaging, trending stories, and hashtags while Threads has not yet been updated with those features.

What does Threads mean for brands and companies?

There is no telling what the future of the app looks like, meaning that as Threads is new to the scene, it is important for brands to stay up to date with constant threading because it could potentially be the next big app.

Currently, there are no ads or any type of monetization features, so the only way for brands to effectively utilize the app is through growing a follower base. Since Threads is surrounded around sharing thoughts and ideas, being personable and connecting to your target audience is necessary to grow your follower base. Threads opens up the opportunity for brands to share their voice in a more informal light and let their personality shine through. There is also a chance to end up in anyone’s feed because of the recommended content feature, so posting threads could lead to new followers and engagement. In just the first two hours of the release, it hit 2 million user sign ups meaning there are millions of new people that could potentially stumble across your brand. When you understand your brand image and what message you want to get across, start threading and grow your audience!

Threads is the talk of the town and you don’t want to be out of the loop. Whether you are a brand, company, or just casually want to thread about your day to day thoughts, hop on over to the app and play around until you get a grasp about what Threads has to offer. There are sure to be more software updates and features in the future as the app is in its learning curve, so stick around and find out what the newest social media is all about!

How to Develop Target Audiences for Your Brand

May 12, 2023

Identifying a target audience is important for your business because it will help you refocus your efforts and resources on reaching the people who are most likely to be interested in your products or services. Understanding who your target audience is allows you to tailor your marketing messages, develop products and services that meet their specific needs, and create a brand image that resonates with them.

Knowing who your target audience is can help you save time and money by focusing your efforts on marketing channels that are most effective for reaching that group of people. You will only have to reach out to people who would be interested in your business. They will be able to give you feedback about how they feel your products can improve. When you understand your target audience’s needs and preferences, you can create products and services that meet their specific requirements, which can improve their overall experience and satisfaction.

Using their feedback will be helpful when you upgrade products. Once they realize that the products are exactly what they want they will continue to buy from your brand. By catering to your target audience’s needs and preferences, you can build a loyal customer base that is more likely to continue to purchase from you and recommend your products or services to others. By tailoring your messaging to your target audience, you can create more effective marketing campaigns that resonate with them and increase the likelihood of conversion. Identifying your target audience is crucial for any business or organization that wants to be successful. It allows you to focus your efforts and resources on the people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer, which can lead to increased customer loyalty, improved customer experience, and better marketing messaging.

Finding your target audience involves understanding who your ideal customer is and what their needs, wants, and preferences are. Conducting market research can provide valuable insights into your potential customers’ demographics, psychographics, behavior, and preferences. You can gather this information through surveys, focus groups, customer feedback, social media monitoring, and other research methods. This can be a longer process, so it is best to start right away.

Surveys and research will help you understand the psychographic and demographic information of your target audience. Analyze your existing customer base to identify common characteristics such as age, gender, income, location, interests, and behavior. This information can help you create buyer personas that represent your ideal customers. These people will be more likely to buy from you, so being able to identify what they prefer in products is crucial for success. Next it is important to look at your competitors and analyze their target audience. Identify what makes your product or service different from theirs and who is most likely to benefit from those differences.

Social media marketing agencies are helpful when discovering your brand’s target audience. Marketing agencies have the skills and resources to figure out what your target audience is. They will use data analytics tools to track and analyze your website traffic, social media engagement, and other metrics. This data can help you identify patterns and trends in your audience’s behavior and preferences.

Once you have identified your target audience, refine it by focusing on the most profitable segments. This may involve developing specific marketing messages and strategies to appeal to different customer segments. You can gain a better understanding of your target audience and create marketing messages and strategies that resonate with them. It is also important to remember to continually monitor and adjust your approach as your audience’s needs and preferences may change over time.

Using Social Media Marketing To Increase Gen X Interaction

February 2, 2022

Focusing on marketing to an age group can be difficult when that group is between two of the largest current generations: Baby Boomers and Millennials. But a marketing agency can make it easier to market towards Generation X. This group of individuals is made of those who are making some of the biggest purchases and expenses of their lifetimes: home renovations, caring for families, and even newfound healthcare. Therefore, capitalizing on the interaction of Generation X through your company’s content creation is crucial to increase sales and connection.

Targeting Generation X

No demographic wants to be ignored, which is the main fault when it comes to interacting with Generation X. They are a midpoint generation, often overlooked by businesses hoping to capitalize off of their counterparts in Baby Boomers and Millennials. Your company’s content creation needs to focus on this group with eye-catching and specific headlines, acknowledging their interests. Generation X is a group of motivated and highly individual people, therefore, the content aimed towards them needs to follow this same path in order to grab their attention.

marketing agency man working at desk — A Hispanic man in his mid fifties sits at his dining room table and peers through his glasses while he holds a digital tablet and looks at his laptop computer. The table is strewn with his work as the morning sun streams in from outside and through the French door window panes in the background and envelopes the room with a bright glow.

One of Bright Age’s clients, Plastpro, highlights the importance of home building and renovations and is a perfect example of generating information that is targeted for self-starters such as Generation X.

Generation X is looking for marketing that is going to give them information and educate them; they value in-depth tutorials and DIYs. Therefore is it crucial that your content conveys why your brand is the best option for them to utilize.

What Type of Content is Best?

Going into a project blind is not ideal for any customer, therefore Generation X values ‘How-To’ content more than any other age group. As self-starters and hardworking individuals, this generation frequently utilizes step-by-step content. Using directly marketed tutorials will increase interaction from Generation X.

Introducing prospective customers to a simple and easy plan or project is crucial to ensure their business with your company. EZ Plans demonstrates this by creating a direct bio on their Instagram page displaying a step-by-step description of their process, “We offer a fast, affordable, streamlined approach to architecture services”. While also using eye-catching colors and imagery, this increases interaction from those who are looking for a thoroughly explained and accurate project process.

Helping these prospective clients visualize the projects and experiences they can create with your business is crucial to ensure success in their age group. Generation X is a group of hard-working and motivated individuals; therefore, your content must lighten their load and make their projects as simple as can be.

Creating Loyalty from Generation X

For many companies, it is extremely difficult to earn constant and unwavering loyalty from a group of customers. This is why engaging Generation X is so crucial to success. Generation X has been described as the most loyal generation when it comes to the brands they utilize. Being able to tap into this loyalty through your marketing agency is the perfect way to ensure long-standing and consistent customers and business.

Dedicating time and resources into the satisfaction of customers is a key aspect in grasping business from Generation X. Galaxy Theatres has partnered with Flashback Cinema in order to do just this. Making your audience feel seen and respected is key to ensure their loyalty to your company. Flashback Cinema at Galaxy Theatres provides moviegoers with the chance to watch some of their favorite classic films back on the big screen, targeting those in Generation X who come from the greatest era of film to date. In making this group feel seen and respected, they will want to continue on with your brand for years after the fact.

Service and satisfaction are the most foolproof ways to guarantee loyalty from customers. Generation X is a group that is rarely targeted, therefore, utilizing a marketing agency and their strategies to gain their loyalty is key to consistent business in the future.

At Bright Age marketing agency, we are determined to utilize these aspects of age-targeted marketing and content creation to ensure that business customers work cohesively for our clients. By utilizing these tips, your company can see vast improvements in Generation X interaction and sales.

How To Market To Millennials

February 1, 2022

One of the most lucrative demographics for businesses to market to is millennials, a generation made up of people born from about 1981 to 1996. Millennials (otherwise known as Gen Y) have aged alongside technology, making them extremely tech-savvy. 9 out of 10 people in Generation Y own smartphones and almost 100% use the internet, making them vital to the success of digital marketing campaigns. While they may be an important group to market to, a social media agency may struggle to identify the best way to grab and hold on to their attention. At Bright Age, our research and experience strives to connect businesses with the millennial market.

So what are the best practices when it comes to social media marketing to millennials? This generation is flipping the script on traditional methods of consuming, which means advertising also has to grow and change. The trend for millennial spending habits is leaning towards experiences, compared to the material items of past generations. They have created a new set of priorities and values for themselves, which calls for a new kind of advertising. These are some things to think about when marketing to millennials.

Multi-Platform Accessibility

One thing that’s important to understand is the millennial desire to be able view media across different devices and platforms in a streamlined manner. As more and more technology becomes readily accessible, more people are bringing smartphones, computers, and tablets into their daily life. 55% of millennials watch videos on multiple devices everyday. 72% want to be able to read and watch the news on each of their devices. Generation Y is consuming the same content in varying ways, so marketing campaigns should cover multiple platforms to establish a connection and start a conversation.

iPhone with Apps to showcase social media agency

Interacting with Brands

Millennials have a different style of connecting to brands than prior generations. They prefer to watch content created with their interests in mind rather than receiving a hard sales pitch. Millennials look for authenticity in the brands they interact with, meaning they don’t want to be “sold” to. Organic social media interactions with a business are much more likely to end not only in purchases, but also with your content being shared with others, giving opportunity for your brand to grow. This generation often enjoys the experience of shopping rather than just the product, so branded content should reflect that. The branded content that works the best for millennials should be brief, entertaining, and funny while also being informative or educational. It’s okay to be a bit more casual, millennials value feeling like they’re interacting with a person instead of a marketing machine.

social media agency interacts with brands at desk

Making Positive Impacts

Another way to foster a relationship between your brand and millennials is to reflect their values. They want businesses to have a positive impact on society, not just offer a good product or service. Some of the things that are most important to Gen Y is for a business to create jobs, promote profit generation, and to be innovative. Millennials also value brands that are socially and environmentally conscious. 50% of millennials are more likely to buy a product if their purchase supports a cause they believe in. This consciousness helps to emphasize the sense of authenticity the demographic looks for when interacting with brands. Millennials are much more likely to support and share your business when they feel a positive impact is being made.

Working with a Social Media Agency

It can be challenging to market to a demographic with trends, interests, and values that have evolved so much from previous generations. It’s important to work with a social media agency to ensure your content is reaching your audience. At Bright Age, we’re passionate and skilled when it comes to growing your brand and staying up to date on the latest social media trends, as well as helping you market to key demographics like the millennial generation.

How Tik Tok Grew Into a Social Media Marketing Giant

January 3, 2022

Do you want to expand your social media influence and reach? Bright Age is a Los Angeles-based digital creative agency that specializes in developing marketing campaigns that have an impact and generate income for your company.

Just when you believe one platform has monopolized the market, another appears seemingly out of nowhere, shifting the landscape. While giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter continue to be relevant in an ever-evolving digital age, a new rival: TikTok, has emerged particularly among young people.

TikTok History

TikTok has now gained a vibrant, creative, and young audience of hundreds of millions of people all around the world. It began as three separate apps. The first was Musical.ly, a Shanghai-based app that had strong US business ties and a sizable viewership in the market when it started in 2014. ByteDance, a Chinese software firm, created a comparable application named Douyin in China in 2016. In just a year, it garnered 100 million users in China and Thailand. ByteDance realized it was onto something and intended to grow under the TikTok brand. As a result, in 2018, it purchased Musical.ly, integrated it into TikTok, and began its global development.

The app had one billion downloads worldwide by July of 2020, with 500 million active users. It had two billion downloads and 800 million active users a year later. The secret to TikTok’s success is the combination of music and an incredibly sophisticated algorithm that learns what material users want to see significantly faster than many other apps. Users can choose from a large collection of songs, filters, and movie clips.

The For You Page is where many people will spend the majority of their time. This is where the algorithm puts information in front of users, anticipating what they’ll like based on what they’ve already seen. It’s also where it displays content that it believes has the potential to go viral. The concept is that if the content is good, it will spread independent of the creator’s number of followers.

TikTok download statistics from the top ten countries.

TikTok and Social Media Marketing

TikTok is a platform that shows us what social media marketing will look like in the future. It’s also a great place for influencer marketing because of its rising global use. Younger generations, notably those in the Gen Z generation, are flocking to TikTok in search of the platform’s expanding number of micro-influencers. Many young digital users appear to be moving away from the “major social actors” in order to interact with people who share their interests and perspectives. Utilize the services of a creative agency, such as Bright Age, to assist you in utilizing TikTok to engage your audience.

Being an early adopter of TikTok influencer marketing will help you expand your reach as the Gen Z population grows, letting you interact with a bigger audience in a way that is relevant, engaging, and value-driven. Big brands like Calvin Klein, Sony, and FIFA have already used TikTok to run influencer marketing campaigns, reaching millions of active users, and more are expected to follow suit as the site grows in popularity. Galaxy Theatres, one of Bright Age’s entertainment clients, has joined the TikTok trend to reach a wider audience. As a result, their company has been able to reach a larger and expanding target demographic of users. Because social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook are mostly targeted at senior audiences, Galaxy Theatres turned to TikTok to expand their reach.

When it comes to reach and engagement, TikTok gives marketers a fair playing field. Due to the viral nature of the algorithm, TikTok accounts with zero followers can acquire millions of views on a new video, unlike social media platforms like Instagram or YouTube. Engagement will follow as long as the content appeals to the audience. According to Werner Geyser’s article “TikTok Statistics – Revenue, Users, and Engagement Stats (2021)”, TikTok’s followers engage with the app at a higher rate than other social media platforms. Because of this, marketers may generate significant buzz with a well-planned campaign featuring content that appeals to the app’s users. Bright Age is excited about the prospect of partnering with the appropriate companies to help expand their social media campaigns to TikTok!

TikTok has risen to the forefront of social media marketing, allowing marketers to reach a new demographic in a unique and relatable way. To learn more about TikTok, contact a social media marketing agency in Los Angeles today.

How to Use Demographics in Your Social Media Advertising Strategy

March 25, 2021

People using apps at social media advertising agency

Social media has quickly become the best way to advertise a business. It gives you the chance to connect with people all around the world through the internet from the comfort of your home, office, or anywhere. The most successful businesses understand advertising on social media is all about strategy, and as a leading social media advertising agency, we know marketing a business online can be a bit overwhelming. There are quite a few social media platforms these days such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter—and each of these platforms cater to different demographics of people. For a business to succeed in social media advertising, understanding how to specifically use each of these platforms to reach specific demographics of people is key in developing a winning advertising strategy.

Facebook

If your business is thinking of using Facebook as one of the social media platforms to reach your desired audience, you’re in luck. With over 2.7 billion active monthly users on the site, there is a good chance your business will become recognized by the demographics of people you’re trying to reach. When thinking about using Facebook to advertise your business, keep in mind that most of the platform’s users are young (24-34 years old) and male (56%).

As a social media advertising agency, we recommend advertising universally across multiple social media platforms. However, if your target audience fits this demographic of people as mentioned above, it would be best to put more time and effort into the content your business posts on Facebook. By creating quality, eye-catching content specifically for your Facebook audience, you will be putting your business on a path to advertising success.

Instagram

Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms to date, and for good reason. This photo sharing platform currently has over 1 billion monthly active users, making it a fierce leader in the social media industry. If your business is trying to target a younger demographic, specifically 24–34-year-old women, Instagram is the platform to use.

Instagram has a lot to offer, making it the ideal platform for businesses to capitalize on if they are trying to reach an audience of young users. This platform is constantly pumping out new features such as Reels which are short 15-second video clips that users can post to their Stories to share with their followers. Because Instagram is known as a photo-sharing platform, businesses are given the chance to visually capture the attention of their desired audiences. If reaching a younger demographic of consumers is one of your advertising goals, make sure your business is putting out its best content on Instagram.

Twitter

If your business is specifically trying to reach an audience of older adults, Twitter is the place to be. 30–49-year-old males make up the majority of the platform (68%) while females are currently only making up 32% of the platform. There is over 187 million daily active users, meaning that your business has the possibility of reaching a wide audience if you promote your brand well with intriguing, eye-catching content.

Another interesting fact about Twitter’s demographics are that 42% of users on the platform hold a degree. This is higher than the 31% of total Americans who have a college degree, so advertising on Twitter could be the perfect strategy if you are aiming to reach an audience of highly educated professionals. It is important to keep in mind, however, that Twitter is used as a news source for many users and may be one of the harder platforms to successfully advertise on. On the other hand, if your business wants to reach a demographic of college-educated adults, it doesn’t hurt to try it out because Twitter could end up being a great source of visibility for your brand.

In summary, it’s extremely important to understand your target audience if you want to successfully advertise on social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter each have their own particular set of users, giving businesses the chance to capitalize on the platform they feel will help them achieve their advertising goals. Social media experts here at Bright Age, a top-of-the-line social media advertising agency, work with consumer demographics daily. We take the time to understand each of our clients’ desired audiences and we create quality content we know will reach the demographics that will help them rise to success. Feel free to contact us to learn more!

How to Market to Gen Z

October 21, 2020

Copywriting for your business’s blog, email, or social media post is a tricky process that requires practice and openness to feedback. If you’re writing copy for your business, here are 10 common copywriting mistakes to avoid.

Forgetting Your Audience

Writing without an audience in mind makes your advertising less effective. You must understand what motivates and intrigues your audience, so you can write from their perspective instead of your own. A content marketing agency like Bright Age can help you define your audience and fine-tune your copy to make it relevant, eye-catching, and successful.

No Call-to-Action

Your social media copywriting should include a short call-to-action, such as subscribe or learn more, that directs viewers to your website or products. Without this, your copy becomes passive and may see a lower conversion rate. If there is a discount or reward to incentivize the call-to-action, include it in your copy to grab attention quickly.

Overwhelming Jargon

Don’t assume that everyday consumers understand the technical terms that are common for your company. Consumers don’t want to read long-winded paragraphs about the product’s design and details, as this kind of information overwhelms them and prompts them to skim your writing. Focus on quality over quantity by keeping your content simple and digestible.

Too Wordy

Simplifying your writing makes your copy more eye-catching. Eliminate unnecessary phrases such as It is important to know this because…and instead jump right into the explanation. Also cut out words that don’t add much value, such as very and really. Succinct writing is especially essential for social media copywriting to keep people engaged with your content. As a general rule of thumb, delete any words that don’t serve a clear purpose.

Too Choppy

Alternatively, many writers use short, choppy sentences that sound unnatural. While you should keep wording simple and succinct, you should also maintain a natural flow. Use commas to combine short sentences, and add transition phrases to guide readers through your blog or caption.

Typos Abound

Though spellcheck wards off many common spelling errors, you should proofread your finished copy at least once before posting it. Typos can be as simple as a missing comma or the wrong form of “there.” Still, they make your writing look sloppy and turn away readers from your brand. Send your work to your peers for a new set of eyes.

Lacking Keywords and Hashtags

Keywords and hashtags attract viewers to your social media post or blog. When you write a blog, choose a couple relevant phrases to incorporate into your article. A content marketing agency can help you integrate them into the URL, title, and alternative text to maximize SEO. Similarly, don’t be afraid to use hashtags in social media copywriting to reach additional viewers.

Trying Too Hard

Some companies try too hard to make their writing relatable and lose their authenticity. For instance, a brand reaching out to young people might go overboard on pop culture references and slang in order to seem trendy. A touch of relatability adds shine to your marketing strategy, but be careful not to come across as desperate. Additionally, try not to imitate successful competitors in an effort to remain relevant. Copying content from other companies will likely make your brand seem unoriginal.

Inconsistency

Strong brands keep their content consistent across platforms. While it is okay to slightly alter your technique based on the social media platform, your basic tone and content should remain the same. This will make your brand appear cohesive and reliable to your entire audience.

Mobile Unfriendly

In a time where mobile devices are a top way to consume information, be sure your website copy is optimized for mobile devices. Use a large font and keep paragraphs relatively short in order to make your words readable on a smart phone. Since people use their phones for quick, digestible information, make sure your headline is strong and your writing is not too long-winded.

A content marketing agency like Bright Age can help you avoid these common mistakes by creating interesting, clean, and relevant copy. These copywriting tips are a simple way to enhance your marketing strategy and increase your sales!

Demographics vs Psychographics

July 22, 2020

Marketing on social media is no longer a linear path due to the saturation of advertising in the market. How many times have you seen similar advertisements on your social media feed and found them interesting, but never took the extra step to join or buy?

The answer is probably a lot.

This is partly because of a wide cast net for specifically targeted ads where you might fall into the categories set such as location, age and gender. The aspect that is being denied in this situation, however, is that you might not be the target audience for the product.

Identifying a target audience is one of the first steps to growing your business online. Read any social media blog and they will tell you “find your audience.” However, finding your audience and understanding your audience are two very different aspects.

The two aspects that are involved in identifying this audience are demographics and psychographics. Though extremely similar, each have unique attributes that can make or break your social media strategy.

Social media agencies stress the practice of qualitative marketing through psychographics while including the quantitative measures of demographics.

So, what’s the difference?

Psychographics explain buying habits, interests, values, lifestyle factors, and personality traits. They may not be instantly observable, but through the increase of tracking online behavior and understanding of the qualitative aspects of marketing, psychographics are pretty easily attainable.

Demographics, though quantitative, help define the broader aspects of a buyer. These include, age, gender, race, family size, income, and education.

It is important to understand that you can’t have one without the other without potentially risking or blowing an advertising budget from not taking the time to really identify the core of your buyer persona.

So, what exactly is a buyer persona?

Let’s create a fake product for a fake company for a second. Say we are trying to find the ideal customer for a new pair of running shoes from a lesser known company.

Demographics vs Psychographics

The demographics for this buyer could be seen as follows:

Male
Aged 21-37
Single
Household income of $50K+
Dealing with knee pain

Now the Psychographic profile is a little more specific:

Dealing with knee pain
Enjoys a healthy lifestyle Single
Values time in the outdoors
Wants a healthy lifestyle and enjoys going to the gym
Concerned with health and appearance

Now imagine trying to target your audience online without one of these profiles. It would be nearly impossible to reach your intended “buyer” without half of this information. This is how some businesses are advertising and it makes sense why it’s not working.

At this point you’re probably wondering, so how do I find this information about my intended buyer. It’s one thing to know what you need, but it’s another thing to know how to get what you need.

Learning your Audience

Some of the best ways to get down to the nitty-gritty of what your customer actually likes on the inside, beyond their general demographic profile are: Focus groups, customer surveys and questionnaires, and market research teams through a social media agency.

Social media agencies are one of your best bets to make sure that everything is thoroughly vetted, and a comprehensive understanding of the psychographics of your audience is achieved. You and your business can count on the fact that your budgetary considerations for marketing tactics are being utilized properly, and your markets won’t stay un-tapped for long.