The term demographic, also called demographic data, refers to the statistics used to characterize the human population.
The term is often confused with the word demography, which refers to the study of human population. In short, demographics are the data gathered and used in the study called demography.
Examples of common demographic data include age, sex, gender, race, income, employment status, and location.
Demographics are very important in marketing. A company’s overall marketing strategy is based on the demographics of their target audience. The demographic data used mostly in marketing are age, gender, sex, income level, race, and ethnicity.
From the very beginning on the marketing process, marketers use demographic data to come up with a so-called demographic profile, which in turn is used to identify and characterize the target audience. Identification and characterization help marketers come up with suitable products and services. The same data will also be used to help in deciding the other marketing details, usually referred to as marketing’s 4 Ps. These 4 Ps include place (channels and distribution), pricing, and promotion/advertising.
After the products and services have been rolled out, demographic trends are still closely monitored by the marketers. The reason for this is that changes in the trends could mean a need to change specific product/service features or at least change the pricing and advertising approach. It could also indicate the future profitability of current products and services, thus warning the business to prepare for a ramp up in manufacturing or downsizing if needed.
