You Are Not Your Target Demographic

You are unique. You are a wonderfully complex product of experiences, abilities and potential. There’s nobody like you in the whole wide world! We’re all different. We get it, you get it and just about everyone else probably got it since they were about four or five.

That also applies to marketing. You’re unique and in most cases, different from your customers. Sure, you understand their needs when they walk through your door, but that doesn’t mean you understand them. Mostly because you and your ideal customer – or target demographic – aren’t usually the same person. You may even have three or four ideal customer profiles, and, strictly mathematically speaking, you can’t be all of them.

If you were, marketing would be easy.

As simple as that seems, it can be difficult to wrap your brain around. Your customers might not like the same kind of music you like. They may not spend their weekends the same way you do. They may hate your dog and love cats instead. They may love pasta, not burgers. They may … you get the point.

That’s why we spend so much time developing personas when we build your brand profile. They help us guide messaging, develop imagery and create strategies customized for the people you want to reach. Which, not to kick this dead horse too many times, probably isn’t you. We want to be able to understand your customer as much as possible, and use several tools to do so. Without giving the recipe for our secret sauce, this includes:

• Demographic data: OTM always loves data. We dig up household income, purchasing preferences and other statistical measures.
• Psychographic profile: People like what they like and think how they think. We figure out just what that is, so we can speak their languge.
• Marketplace trends: Is Mr. Ideal Customer buying more or less of your product now than last year? Are there other demographics who are low hanging fruit?

It can be a difficult concept to wrap your head around, particularly if your business has been successful without thinking about the differences between yourself and your ideal customer. Sometimes, without a bit of outside perspective, it’s downright impossible. Let OTM help you sort out this massively important part of your branding and corporate identity.