Demographics have long been the gold standard when it comes to marketing and social media ad targeting for a reason: information like age, gender, and location can provide a plethora of insights into a brand’s audience and help to tailor marketing messaging in order to reach the right people. But as digital and social media marketing becomes more and more sophisticated, relying solely on demographic data may not be enough anymore. And this is where psychographics can step in.

So, what exactly are psychographics?

Put simply, psychographics are a way of understanding the personality, values, interests, motivations and behaviours of your target audience. While demographics are based on objective information like age and gender, psychographics are more subjective and deal with the emotional and psychological factors that drive consumer behaviour. In marketing and advertising, psychographics are used in conjunction with demographics to understand and market to consumers’ purchasing habits.

By incorporating psychographics into your search and social media ad targeting strategy, you can gain a deeper understanding of your audience and create more personalised and effective campaigns.

How to use psychographics in your digital assets and marketing?

1. Gather data to build psychographic profiles

To begin, you will need to collect data on your audience’s personality traits, interests, and lifestyle choices. There are several ways to do this, including quantitative and qualitative surveys, various focus groups, and social listening tools. Once you have the data of your ideal or possible customers, you can use it to build psychographic profiles which will serve as representation of different segments of your audience (marketing personas).

For example, if you’re a fashion brand targeting millennial women, you might create profiles for “Eco-conscious Trendsetters” who prioritise sustainability in their fashion choices, “Workout Enthusiasts” who value activewear that can transition from gym to street, and “Luxury Shoppers” who are willing to splurge on high-end designer pieces.

2. Psychographics to aid messaging and ad creatives

Once you have your psychographic profiles in place, you can use them to inform your ad creative and messaging. For example, if you’re targeting the “Eco-conscious Trendsetters” segment, you might use messaging that emphasises your brand’s commitment to sustainability and eco-friendly materials. Or if you’re targeting the “Workout Enthusiasts” segment, you might use imagery that shows your activewear in action at the gym or on a run.

By tailoring your design and narrative to the specific psychographic traits and interests of your target audience, you can create more resonant messaging and effective ads, which are more likely to drive engagement and conversions.

3. Inform media and ad placement

In addition to informing creatives and messaging, you can also use psychographics to inform media placement. Different psychographic segments may have different social media usage habits, so it’s important to know where your target audience is spending their time online.

For example, if you’re targeting a segment of “Social Media Influencers” who are active on Instagram and YouTube, you might focus your ad spend on those platforms and use influencers to help promote your brand. Or if you’re targeting a segment of “Older Professionals” who are more likely to be on LinkedIn, you might focus your ad spend on that platform and use messaging that speaks to their career goals and aspirations.

By targeting the social media platforms and channels that are most relevant to your target audience’s psychographic traits and interests, you can maximise your ad spend and increase your chances of success.

The deeper level of understanding

While demographics will always be an important part of social media ad targeting, psychographics can provide a deeper level of insight and understanding into your audience and personas. By incorporating psychographics into your marketing and ad targeting strategy, you can create more personalised and effective messaging, creatives and advertising campaigns that speak directly to your target audience’s values and behaviours. 

If you’re looking to take your digital media targeting to the next level, consider going beyond demographics and leveraging the power of psychographics.

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We at Tribe of Brands can help you stay on top of trends and support You to effectively navigate the complex waters of branding and marketing within the digital economy. Our digital marketing agency can help you with strategy on how to build world-class websites, develop seamless user journeys from impression to conversion, and deliver high growth digital marketing campaigns.