Shifting Demographics Can Help Business

Sometimes you may find your demographics evolving naturally – embrace the change and capitalize on it.

Business experts advocate clearly knowing your business’ target demographic – knowing who you want to buy your products simply makes sense.  Companies that understand what kind of people are primarily buying the products and service will excel even more if/when they begin focusing marketing to that demographic.

Even global companies can find that their target demographic might not be “who” is buying their product.  A great example of this phenomenon (on a massive level) is Old Spice – a leading company known for male hygiene and toiletries products.  Old Spice found that, though their products are for men, women do most of the buying when it comes to their product – this statistic inspired the February 2010 advertisement, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.”  The campaign depicts a handsome man speaking directly to women about how their male counterpart could (at least) smell like man in the advertisement.  Old Spice learned from their market research and adjusted accordingly.

Unfortunately, not all business can afford official market research, but you can pay close attention to trends with your business.  Through our social media interactions (predominantly Twitter), Smeester & Associates is finding that 78% of our “buzz” is coming from women over the last 30 days.  This is great news for us for several reasons, most importantly because we enjoy and value working with women in business.  This information will result in an increase in our marketing and interactions focusing on an even more targeted demographic than it has been before.

Business owners that are not effectively tracking their clients, sales, and interactions should start immediately.  Keeping a close eye on who is talking about you can provide clear and invaluable information that can help business.  Above all, it is wise to know who you want to do business with and who you actually are doing business with.