Psychographics in Marketing: How to Use It + 7 Examples

Including a breakdown of top keywords found in their bios, a summary psychographics of their top influencers and content sources, and a list of the top hashtags they use. The tool classifies your audience by personality types, online habits, media affinities, and top influencers. Their high education levels could imply an interest in continuous learning, personal development, and sustainability. To illustrate, we researched UK-based sustainable clothing company Rapanui. Choose your business category, select a location, and hit “Research a market.” Understand where consumers fall within this spectrum to tailor your strategies to the evolving needs of buyers at each stage.

For example, using psychographic data, they learned that many consumers valued products deemed to be fashionable and exclusive. Both ads will have been created using psychographic segmentation and targeted at different groups on social media or elsewhere. Meanwhile, the latter targets those who value the company’s green credentials.

But while one focuses on the joy of coffee (the quality, the sense of personal well-being) the other addresses its environmental impact. Launching new products and messaging, the company now targets a younger generation of customers and has a more diverse gender mix, too. Taking into account other demographic factors (like age) their target audience was just 3.5% of the US population. Using all four in conjunction, marketers can create far more accurate segments and buyer personas (representative models of the ‘ideal’ customer). Combining it with psychographic data, however, allows for a more nuanced segmentation that marketers can use to sharpen their campaigns. We know what you’re thinking…You’ve heard of demographics before.

Meet them where they’re at.

Accordingly, 61% of people expect brands to tailor experiences based on their preferences. Ever since the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke out, people are more concerned than ever about the risks of psychographic profiling and about the way big companies are using their data. You can do these either with experts in psychology and consumer behavior or with your best buyers.

• At the core of both psychographics and demographics is data.
• In her annual newsletter, CoreHealth founder and CEO Anne Marie Kirby predicted that artificial intelligence, psychographics, and personalization would be key sites for innovation for companies like her own in 2018.
• Combining it with psychographic data, however, allows for a more nuanced segmentation that marketers can use to sharpen their campaigns.
• In an attempt to better understand the next generation of customers, the company launched a research project to identify commonalities between various demographic groups.
• Above all, it builds a stronger relationship with your customers (especially if you’re a smaller business).

Exactly how many psychographics are used to segment an audience—and which data points are used to create those segments—will depend on what info is available and most relevant for your specific use case. His courses span key areas such as performance marketing, social content marketing, analytics, brand strategy, and digital innovation—empowering the next generation of marketers with actionable skills and thought leadership. His career includes impactful work with global brands such as American Express, AT&T, McGraw-Hill, Young & Rubicam Advertising, and The New York Times. Each of the social media platforms tracks customer engagement and customer demographics. This may include both offline and online behavior. And it includes information that is included in demographics, such as age, gender, income level, education, occupation, marital status, ethnicity, race, household size, geographic location, and income, right?

Companies & industries leveraging psychographics

They include values, beliefs, lifestyle, personality and opinions. To persuade a prospect to convert, you must go beyond knowing their job title and company size. You can use business databases such as Statista, ABI/INFORM Collection, and Business Source Ultimate to find demographic and/or psychographic information. Contact Media Culture for expert guidance in crafting advertising strategies that not only reach but deeply resonate with Gen Z.

When combining these insights with demographic data, you’ll be able to craft better offers, more persuasive campaigns, and, ultimately, grow your business. Develop detailed personas for each segment, highlighting how their psychographic characteristics influence their purchasing decisions, media consumption, and engagement with brands. Promoting closer collaboration between customer-facing teams helps you compile valuable customer data that would otherwise remain compartmentalized within your business. The main report dashboard gives you an overview of your audience’s demographics, top brands, influencers, and content sources.

Frankly, we believe the sooner Facebook and other companies are subject to democratically accountable rules on this the better.” — Rob Leathern, Director of Product Management, Facebook Facebook’s efforts to offer greater transparency into its advertising policies was further undermined in December 2019, when an internal memo from company executive Brian “Boz” Bosworth was leaked to The New York Times. While users could see which Facebook pages had paid for specific advertisements on the platform, they could not identify specific individuals who had paid for those ads. Although advocates for greater transparency in online advertising welcomed the move, the View Ads tool had several major drawbacks. While there is little doubt that many interested parties have sought to sow division and uncertainty online using psychographic profiling, the actual impact of these efforts is not always clear.

Market research businesses

If this sounds like you, it's time to focus on producing relevant marketing content — and to do that, you'll need psychographics. While demographics tell us who the customer is, psychographics tell us why the customer buys a product. Unlike basic demographics that tell you someone's age or job title, audience intelligence digs into psychographics, behavioral patterns, and content affinities. Audience intelligence platforms analyze public data to reveal the psychographics, behaviors, and content affinities that demographics miss.

The real estate industry

If people don’t enjoy, learn, or relate to what they’re watching, the signals stop there. In this section, I’ll share the TikTok tips I use to reach a clear target audience for TikTok by creating content the platform knows how to distribute. That group is one of the most valuable audiences for brands focused on purchase intent, repeat buying, and lifestyle-driven spending, not just passive views. Valentin is also an Instructor at the Customer Value Optimization (CVO) Academy, an educational project that aims to help companies understand and improve Customer Lifetime Value.

Psychographic information helps you see which leads align with your product, not just those in the right job or place. With psychographic segmentation, you’d send two different marketing messages. Gates was analytical and systems-focused, while Jobs led with emotion and design. What is psychographic segmentation in marketing, and how is it different from demographic segmentation?

You can also place target audiences onto one side of simple character binaries (such as spontaneous vs. analytical.) If the latter, you may want to infer which psychographic qualities translate to your overall market base and which are unique to those you’re studying. To bolster your demographic profile, you need insights into the more subjective factors that make an audience unique. At the very least, you should consider your current customer base and identify some of the more significant group segments you’ve oriented your products toward. Then, you'll want to identify several obvious psychological traits shared by the starting demographic.

Develop Innovative Features and Products

For advertisers, this means that aligning with these values is not just good ethics; it's good business. These values extend beyond mere personal preferences; they are shaping Gen Z's approach to life, influencing everything from the brands they support to the causes they champion. For instance, 44% are more likely to purchase from brands that are Pro-Choice, and 47% are more likely to support brands that are Pro-Ukraine. They allow advertisers to tailor their messaging to align with the specific values, interests, and lifestyles of their target audience. Whereas consumer demographics might not shift much over half a decade, events like those just mentioned can drastically alter a consumer’s psychographic data almost overnight.