The more you understand about your target audience, the better you can create content that will appeal to them. Psychographics will help determine the interests, attitudes, values, and personalities of your ideal client when attempting to ascertain the wants and needs of your target audience. Knowing your audience will help you collect data and create messages that will appeal to potential customers.
You must first understand your target audience to engage them. You can more effectively create content that will appeal to people if you are aware of what they appreciate and seek. Psychographics is one piece of information that could provide you with a thorough grasp of your target market.
What are psychographics?
Psychographics is the psychological study of consumers’ attitudes, interests, personalities, values, opinions, and lifestyles. Psychographic data applies to prediction, opinion research, and general social science, but it also plays a role in marketing.
Psychographics help you understand what content consumers are drawn to and what they want from your product or services. Knowing the psychological wants and needs of your ideal customer aids in the creation of effective marketing messages.
Psychographics vs. Demographics
While both demographic and psychographic data provide crucial insights, they reveal different aspects of your audience.
Demographics begin at the surface level and help you gain a general idea of your target audience. They identify age, gender, race, geography, occupation, income, and more. This data can help you make decisions like where to promote your brand and how to price your services.
Meanwhile, psychographics dig deeper into your audience’s thoughts and feelings. They identify values, personalities, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles. Psychographics help you frame your brand and services in a way that appeals to what customers already want.
The importance of psychographics
Understanding the psychographics of your target audience can make or break your marketing campaigns. By taking the time to dig deep into their thought process, you can uncover what is actually going to convince them to buy.
Psychographics influence not only your messaging strategy but also how your ideal customer makes buying decisions and where they are paying attention to brands. For example, if your ideal customer is a business professional, they’re more likely to see your content on LinkedIn than TikTok or even Instagram.
Psychographics can help you improve your marketing efforts by refining what you say and where you say it to increase results while better utilizing your resources.
Psychographics examples
While a brand strategy firm can help you uncover deep psychological insights about your target audience, you can also start applying psychographics on your own.
Here are some common psychographics to consider when communicating with your target audience.
- Lifestyle refers to the daily activities and preferences of your target audience as determined by how they live their lives. What are their sleeping, eating, and exercise patterns? Are they community- or family-oriented? What activities do they value over others?
- Beliefs and values refer to what your audience perceives as right or true, often concerning matters of faith and affecting their worldview. Do they care about the environment and sustainability? Do they fight for women’s, POC’s, or animal rights? Targeting your audience based on their beliefs often strikes a strong emotional connection.
- Interests are the hobbies they do in their leisure time and the topics that engage them. Are they a sports fan? Do they love fashion, food, or media? What topics do they keep up with on Twitter?
- Personality is determined by a person’s level of agreeableness, openness, extroversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. These traits often correlate with consumer habits.
To help identify and apply your audience’s psychological traits, shoot us a message to chat about our brand strategy process.