Define your customers

Psychographics are a great way to consider your audience. In the past, we would just group people on their demographics. So, for example, we might say something broad and vague like ‘younger audiences like to watch superhero movies’. That may be true, but older people like to watch superhero movies too. If we decided to only target 18–25s, we’d be missing out on reaching more potential customers.

What if we grouped people together based on their habits, communities or interests? That’s where psychographics come in! Here are some examples:

• Interests: Things like hobbies, media consumption habits, pastimes, what they do to relax or unwind. What they do in their spare time: from the shows they watch to the music they listen to.
• Values: What do they think is right or wrong? This might be related to ethical reasons, the environment, or big issues in the world. Maybe it’s in the newspapers they buy at their favourite shops?
• Lifestyles: Their day to day life, where they live, what they spend their time doing, their associations or clubs – maybe the groups they are part of or the positions they hold.
• Personalities: These are a bit harder to quantify but still important; what personality would they have, an extrovert or introvert? Happy go lucky in life, or a big time planner: it could be a mixture!
• Opinions, attitudes, and beliefs: this is a big and broad one, anything from religion to voting habits, conservative or liberal? A bohemian creative lifestyle or a strict and disciplined one?

There are literally thousands of ways to bring your customer to life using psychographics. It’s a creative and clever way to think like your customer and how you can appeal to them at their level.