Target based on values and emotions, not just demographics

Content and advertising that is specifically targeted performs better because it speaks to an individual someone.

Often when I speak with entrepreneurs and even nonprofit organizations, they like to think that anyone can buy their product or anyone can donate to their cause. And while that's probably the case, and you want to be optimistic and believe that of course everyone can be a supporter, you can't speak to everyone at once.

If you try to speak to everyone, you're actually speaking to no one — because you're not targeting anyone specifically, where it's going to really drive that message home and relate to them and create action or incentive.

Demographics are discussed all the time. Often you could be asked to identify the age of your customer, buyer or your donor. What's the age of your audience? What gender are they? What background are they from, what area do they live in? Those questions — especially in the earlier stages, or in a more established organization that doesn't have any data on their customers — the answers are all over the place, or you're not able to pinpoint them. So what you can do instead?

Demographics vs. Psychographics in Marketing

This is where Psychographics come in. What I recommend is considering the type of person — the type of buyer or user, from an audience standpoint — based on their behaviours. This includes the way they think and how they make decisions. Think about this type of individual in this type of situation, and not necessarily a person of a certain background have a certain age of a certain gender in a certain city.

"Psychographics is the qualitative methodology of studying consumers based on psychological characteristics and traits such as values, desires, goals, interests, and lifestyle choices. Psychographics in marketing focus on understanding the consumer's emotions and values, so you can market more accurately."

When you open it up to psychographics and behaviors of your typical buyers and supporters, then you can really start to target more closely based on how it fits into their day to day lives. And how your messaging and your solution and your product and your offering can be in better alignment with them. (Rather than reaching them simply because they're a 32 year old, white male living downtown Toronto).