The Blog on Branding

Reinventing Online Marketing: Ditching Demographics

For as long as we can remember, using demographics has been a go-to method for marketers and advertisers. It’s ubiquitous on television–commercials are targeted to the demographic which advertisers think is most likely to view a show or a network. Demographics are how soap operas got their name–commercials targeted a specific demographic (stay-at-home moms and housewives) and advertised soap and detergent, things that marketers assumed housewives would need during their daily work. The same principle is applied to networks today–this is why MTV’s commercials often show acne medications for their pimply viewers, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Spike TV advertised exploding nunchucks to its typically testosterone-ridden consumers.

“Spike TV viewers should always be prepared!”

After Al Gore invented the Internet, though, marketers were soon faced with a new challenge of how to advertise online. Naturally, their first thought was to use the TV and print format and use age demographics to advertise to Internet users. However, the tried and true method of using demographics to market isn’t as useful online.

Why isn’t the old routine working?

1. Demographic ranges are too general for the web, and you can get much more specific information just by looking. You don’t have to be a seasoned Facebook stalker to find out with a few clicks that your former high school BFF loves Twilight and adorable kittens. And recently, more and more consumers are adopting social networking sites like Twitter that allow them to put their personal lives–and preferences–on display, making it that much easier to figure out what they might like and what they would buy. One way marketers (like those that work with Facebook and Google) capitalize on this knowledge is by using targeted ads, which take into account the interests you display and cater advertising to those interests. Gmail targets ads based on the content of emails, and many other websites compile data based on your online behavior in order to target ads.

“The name’s Mail. GMail.”

2. Interacting online is inherently different than interacting in person. Online, you can be whoever you want to be–how do you market to a cat on Second Life or a police officer pretending to be a 13 year old girl? If you don’t know, it’s okay. That’s why using demographics is not as feasible in the online world–you may think you’re marketing to one person, but in actuality the person in front of the screen may have totally different buying patterns than their online persona.

Similarly, people aren’t acting their age, whether it’s simply because they’re lying about it (we’re not mad, but we’re on to you) or because they live their lives differently from the stereotype. If marketers stick to using traditional age demographics, they won’t be able to tap into these different markets.

3. Consumers will only see what marketers think their demographic would be interested in purchasing, and not advertisements for other age ranges. By narrowing the advertising to a broad age group, marketers may miss certain opportunities that could potentially get them a lot of revenue.

Here are some factors that demographics can’t handle:

• Gift buying. How are you supposed to know that the new Golden Girls box set comes out right in time for Grandma’s birthday if all you see are ads for Jonas Brothers tickets?
• Products that aren’t relevant to a consumer now, but will become relevant later. For example, slipping in an advertisement for a car to a 12-year-old isn’t traditional since cars are generally marketed to an older demographic. But what if marketing to people who won’t buy your product now raises their interest in your company, resulting in a sale later?
• Influencers who won’t buy your product, but will either tell someone else about it or convince someone to buy it. That same 12-year-old might be able to convince his parents that your brand of car is better than those of the competitors.

So now what?

Just because traditional demographics aren’t as effective online doesn’t mean we have to revert to a universal marketing approach where everyone gets the same ad, no matter who they are.

There are a few new concepts that are much more effective when marketing online, and they all revolve around making advertising more relevant to the consumer:

• Interests and habits: If you list your interests on Facebook or frequently search for the same things, it would be silly of advertisers not to notice that and use it to their advantage. By aggregating your interests, marketers can tailor advertisements to these interests and habits so that the advertisements you see are the ones in which you’re interested.

“The ads you see are the ones which interest you.”

• Location: Local advertising is an increasingly growing field in social media marketing. In fact, according to Borrell Associates, 74% of Facebook’s ad revenue this year will come from local advertisers and businesses. Think about it–you probably do the majority of your everyday buying right where you live. That makes local advertising an extremely useful way to reach the right customers who will be interested in a local product or service.
• Groups and subscriptions: People affiliate themselves with certain groups online and subscribe to particular blogs or website updates. This information can be used to sell ad space more effectively. These large groups of like-minded people have all organized themselves into an easy-to-reach community; so, why aren’t you marketing to them?

These factors all represent the shift to the ever-growing field of social media marketing, which is all about marketing relevant things to relevant people. Using social media to understand your customers lets you tap into their behavior while also opening up a dialogue that will allow you to better market your product. Companies are changing the way they market to customers by getting more involved and having more meaningful relationships with potential customers. Facebook fan pages and Twitter accounts are becoming increasingly popular ways for companies to find out who’s interested in them and then market more towards these people.

By following the principle of relevance instead of demographics, and showing consumers the advertising they want to see, companies can greatly increase their online presence and effectiveness. This isn’t to say that the relevant thing can’t be the demographic–sometimes demographics are still the most useful starting point for a marketing campaign. However, with all the new options for advertising online, it’s time for companies to evolve and update their marketing strategies to match their consumers’ behavior.

Becca Scheuer Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.