Psychographic segmentation is vital to your business: 10 things you need to know about your customers

Everyone in your local shopping street wants something slightly different. Even though you are all from the same geographic and economic area and even though you are similar in age and background, you still want something different from the person next to you. Demographic and geographic data are poor predictors of what people want to buy. Yet they are frequently the only factors that businesses consider.

The value of psychographic segmentation

If you want to succeed in your online business you need to consider psychographic segmentation. This is where you profile your potential customers in fine detail according to their personal wants and needs. By doing so you can much more accurately pinpoint what your customers are likely to buy.

Imagine that you know that your audience is business women aged 25-40 who live in the South of England and that most of them have at least a university degree.

So, you start creating content for women who are business owners in this age bracket and geographic region. You are using demographic and geographic data. But what if they’re mostly single parents? How does that change the picture? And what if these single mum business owners are high achievers? They’re not struggling, they’re goal-oriented, and attracted to stable and compassionate brands.

This information changes the way you market to them surely? It gives you more information to brand, to build relationships, to market and to change how you offer your products or services. Relying on demographics and geographics alone means you would have missed your target.

Here are ten ways you can profile your customers so that you can gain a better insight into the potential for psychographic segmentation.

1. Interests

What is your audience interested in? Are they interested in pets, politics, entertainment or technology news? Your prospects’ interests help you position and create the right marketing message. For example, if you have a prospect who’s interested in politics, writing a headline that integrates entertainment news or gossip isn’t going to work as well for them as an analogy to a political event.

2. Opinions

Opinions matter and your audience’s opinions can spread quickly. It’s important to both understand and manage your audience’s opinions about your products or services so you can provide immediate feedback and an appropriate marketing response.

3. Beliefs

What do they believe? We’re not just talking about personal beliefs. What do they believe about success, money, happiness and other elements of life? You can connect with shared beliefs or challenge their beliefs to get them to open their mind to new ideas, products, and services.

4. Values

Your audience’s values are their broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of action or outcomes. It’s their sense of right and wrong and what’s important to them. For example, do they value family over success? Do they value fame or fortune? Connect with your prospect’s values to really engage with them.

5. Goals

What do they want to achieve? For example, are they a bargain hunter looking for the best price or are they oriented toward brand recognition? Understanding your prospects’ goals can help you craft a message that speaks to them.

6. Attitudes

Attitudes play an important role in marketing content creation. An attitude is a positive or negative evaluation of people, events, activities, or ideas. It’s also an evaluation of your organization.

7. Purchasing motives

Why does your prospect make purchases? What is their motive? For example, are they motivated by fear of loss or by pride and prestige? Do they want to save money? Avoid pain? Feel comforted and connected?

8. Personal characteristics

Personality is difficult to measure but it can play a role in creating your customer’s psychographic profile. For example, is your audience complacent or determined? Are they inquisitive? Are they demanding? This information can help you provide the content and information your audience needs to make a buying decision.

9. Activities

What does your prospect do? What are their hobbies? What are their travelling habits, working habits, and so on? How do they spend their weekdays and evenings? This information can help you craft personal messages and it can also help with the timing of your marketing messages.

10. Social class

Where does your customer or prospect fall on the socioeconomic scale? Are they a professional or a manual worker? The language you use and the products or services you provide can be promoted differently depending on the social class you’re appealing to.

Few businesses know enough about their customers. Does yours? To ensure you improve your chances of success online you need to gain a deeper understanding of your customers and potential clients. That’s why you need to use these ten factors to help you understand the psychographic segmentation of your audience.