As you begin your annual marketing plan, notice that demographics has its very own section, or tab, within your marketing plan worksheet (download here). Why is demographic information so important in marketing that it has its own dedicated section? The simple answer is, you want to target an audience with a need that you can meet. The long answer is a little more complicated.
There are numerous questions to be asked in order to define a demographic that will help you, and your audience, achieve the ultimate goal of connecting. First, you need to determine the existence of a need. You also need to consider if there are products or services in your toolkit that are more valuable than others, and how they are meaningful to your target audience.
This is part one in a four-part series on demographic marketing for chiropractors. In this first article, we will focus on finding the best audience for each of your products or services.
PRODUCT/SERVICE CENTERED
It is critical to understand your target consumer's interests in order to effectively market your product/service. Let's talk about how we can define a product/service from the perspective of your target customer.
Unless they are an avid walker, or have a grandchild who really wants a pair of high-end sneakers, you likely are not trying to sell high-end sneakers to an 80-year old. In this scenario, a person who may be on a fixed income most likely would not be looking to spend a significant amount of money on sneakers. Understanding your audience and their needs is key. You'll look for a more suitable target audience to market high-end sneakers too.
Perception is a powerful marketing tool. Sometimes your product/service must be perceived as the simple solution to a complex problem. Trust is also a key factor. You need your audience to trust your product or service. You can begin to see that it is necessary to cover all possible solutions your product/service can provide as you work to define your demographic.
In most cases, you will actually have multiple end users. You can absolutely offer your product or service as solutions to various problems. Listing important features of your product/service. If the end result is a benefit or solution to the problem, you have created a product-based demographic.
Now think about where you would employ a product-based demographic. When posting an ad, most advertising platforms allow you to select various demographic options. If you've done your homework, you will find the selection process to be fairly easy.
This year we're talking about automation. You can most certainly employ automation in your communication, and still build trust. Social media is an excellent tool for fostering communication, and therefore trust. However, you may not always be able to select demographics when posting on social media.
In our marketing strategies, we have defined the purpose for social media as a communication builder. We can create demographic specific posts for social media and utilize #hashtag marketing to reach the target. Let's examine this a little closer.
Take knee injuries for example. Think about what services you provide for injuries related to sports injuries, or even a vehicle accident related injury, etc. Now break this down even further by defining services that are related by season. In December, you may see more ski/snowboarding related knee injuries. In the Summer you may see knee injuries stemming from running or soccer. (We will talk more about demographics based upon people in a later article, but for now we would look at what you can do for a knee sprain.) In the winter, you would launch a social post with the hashtags #winter #wintersports #skiing, etc. Some hashtags are service based, such as, #massage or #kneemanipulation. When in doubt, do some A/B testing on your social platforms and see what garners the most interest.
When building ads for PPC on various platforms (ie Google), choosing your demographic is an integral part of the process. When you have defined the demographic for a specific product or services you can guarantee that the correct target is being reached, increasing your odds of ROI success.
Your overall success depends on clarifying your demographics before you start spending time and money on promotions. If in doubt turn to your detailed Key Performance Indicators and tweak as necessary. That is what makes Agile marketing so successful.