Last time, I discussed market demographics and covered the first three characteristic demographics, primarily the involuntary ones: sex, age and location. Today here are four more characteristics, which might be described as voluntary. Voluntary because they are to some degree choices made by your market.
Seven Demographics, 4 – 7
Common Interests
Common interests are interests shared by your clients. Stamp collecting is an interest some people have. It is unlikely to be relevant unless you are offering something directly interesting to stamp collectors.
There may be interests your target clients are likely to have in common. For example, are sportspeople interested in diet? If not, perhaps they should be and you may wish to use marketing to convince them of that.
So, a common interest is not something everyone in your target market necessarily knows about. There may be value in raising awareness of an issue, like diet for sports people.
This may be the main value of common interests; identifying issues that should interest your target market. This could be a move from level 0 to 1 on the awareness ladder. But it could equally feature between levels 2 and 3, where sports people are seeking solutions to low energy and have not considered diet.
Sports people are likely to be aware of diet. So, if your offer is diet related, sports people may share a common interest. Running a Facebook advert, you could target it to people with a declared interest in sport.
Start with your offer and ask the question: what is likely to interest my potential clients?
Career
I’ve given this next section the heading career because it is worth considering not only the type of job your prospects do but how they perceive it relates to their career. Some people may see their role as primary, they are managers with aspirations to more senior posts. Alternatively, they may be specialists seeking opportunities to build on their experience.
Sometimes the issue for people in work is some problem they encounter and so need help. A problem can be short-term and immediate or long-term and chronic. If it is a common problem, you can offer to help solve or manage it.
Hopes and dreams are perhaps career orientated. Many people come to a point in their working life, where they consider moving on to something else. They may be seeking a new job or to freelance. They may be a parent who has taken time out to care for small children and want to return to work. Use these insights to narrow your market and focus on specific issues.
And of course, many people experience frustrations in their working life. This may be general dissatisfaction with their working life to specific issues in the workplace they are unable to resolve unaided. Some people wish to stay in their current position and overcome some frustration, others want to find a way out.
Culture
Ethnicity may be relevant where businesses appeal to people of a particular culture; it is not necessarily a problem. People will self-select. I am aware of many shops close by where I live that serve particular ethnic groups. It works for them.
Perhaps the main drawback for such businesses is they may limit their market unnecessarily. A shop that sell fashions that appeal primarily to people of one particular ethnicity may have found a specialist market.
However, cafes and restaurants are another matter and an ethnic based appeal might cut both ways. It can bring something new into the marketplace that would not be available otherwise but it can be effectively exclusive. Some businesses find this is a problem and others seem happy for it to be so.
Language and Religion
Language is another way businesses can be exclusive. Staff who speak languages spoken locally, are an obvious advantage. Their role is little different from staff in any shop, who explain and educate their customers.
I have eaten in restaurants where there is no English spoken. My main problem is explaining I’m vegetarian. What actually appears on your plate can be something of a lottery. The question for the business is, how can they survive with mostly customers who speak their language?
It is worth asking if your offer is likely to appeal to people with particular religious affiliations. If so, you may need to be sensitive to their expectations. Certainly, most shops, including the chains, sell halal food in a Muslim area. They do this because it sells not just the halal food but everything else these customers buy.
Divisions between religious groups can be overemphasised. Generally, religious people find common ground. Many Muslim parents prefer Christian schools to state schools because Christians can be more sensitive to their requirements as fellow religious.
Education
Education is not about discriminating against people who are more or less educated. It is about considering what people with specialist education may need. If you sell to people with education, you don’t ask to see evidence of their ability, you set out your stall and see who turns up!
Similarly, your market may be people who have had an experience and so have a consequential interest in your offer. People who buy need not all share the experience but if a significant proportion of your customers have had it, then this is another opportunity to target your market.
Habits are perhaps little understood. I suppose cigarettes and alcohol are examples of bad habits. They are obvious examples of sales opportunities to supply the habit or sell ways to overcome it. However, not all habits are bad and some are simply routines. I walk certain routes and I’m less likely to go out of my way to make a purchase.
Finally, life story may be a factor. These would be people with some common thread to their life story, eg living as a carer, long-term illness or immigration.
Can you think of other factors to consider when you describe your market?