Knowing Your Audience

In a recent post by Renee DiResta titled Demographics are dead: the new, technical face of marketing she explores how using only demographic data is an outdated way to know your audience.

DiResta accurately points out: “The era of demographics is over. Advances in data mining have enabled marketers to develop highly specific profiles of customers at the individual level, using data drawn from actual personal behavior and consumption patterns. Now when a brand tells a story, it has the ability to tailor the narrative in such a way that each potential customer finds it relevant, personally.

We all like a personal touch when people communicate with us. Think about the differences in how you feel about a personal hand written note vs a form letter. It’s easy to dismiss the form letter since it doesn’t apply to you or to what you find important. Consumers respond to what is important to them, more so than to what is important to their demographic classification.

She continues, pointing out: “Consumer loyalty to brands is a thing of the past; brands now demonstrate loyalty to their customers.” Brands are realizing the potential when they are interested in the things that are important to their consumers. When they take the time to find out what is important to their customers the brands become approachable and appreciated.

That’s what we’ve been working on. How to find out what people are like without them taking a survey or inventory. Sure, demographic information is part of our analysis but it goes much deeper than that. Our analysis enables brands to find out more about their consumers on a personal level.