Analyze by psychographics - not demographics

There may have been a time when demographics actually defined your customer base successfully, but age, gender and geography are so overlapping now that if you are using just demographics to determine your marketing tactics, you are truly missing the boat.

Demographics equal age, income, gender, education, marital status, geography. The availability of disposable income no longer simply hinges on how much money someone makes - it is a question of lifestyle. You can make $100,000/year but if it is all tied up in mortgages and car payments, then even that level of income doesn't represent disposable. What is the personality that creates disposable income in almost any income bracket? Figure that out and you have the advantage over your competition.

Having a basic knowledge of your customers' demographics is a positive thing, but don't get married to it. The reality is you need to know your customers' hobbies, interests and even occupation to be more effective in your advertising. It's called psychographics.

Mass marketing is quickly becoming the dinosaur in the room - extinct. Even when purchasing television advertising - the big daddy of all mass marketing - you can now position your messages within specialty channels.

When you consider a 50-year-old female gardener, you would find she has more in common with more gardeners of any age or gender than she would have with the general population of 50-year-old females. People find comfort in groups of folks who are like-minded rather than simply groups of the same age or income bracket.

To be truly economical and efficient with your marketing tactics, you need to know which groups your product or service appeals to. Are they arts-minded? Sports fans? Instinctively frugal? Show-offs? You get the idea.

Match your tactics to your special interest groups and you'll be reaching them where they are more likely to appreciate and engage with your messages.