{"id":158565,"date":"2020-01-14T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/blog\/socio-demographic-characteristics-marketing\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T16:53:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T15:53:55","slug":"socio-demographic-characteristics-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/blog\/socio-demographic-characteristics-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"What are socio-demographic characteristics used for in marketing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Socio-demographic characteristics enable you to segment your customers according to their age, sex, profession, education, etc. They are essential when designing targeted marketing campaigns. Essential but sometimes insufficient, as we will see.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"chap1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The role of socio-demographic characteristics in segmentation<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To be able to target and personalise your marketing campaigns \u2013 whatever they may be &#8211; you must segment your CRM base. Segmenting means categorising your clientele according to certain criteria. These characteristics enable you to group together customers with something in common (homogeneous customers): the same purchasing behaviour, gender, hobbies, interests, of the same age group, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It is necessary to segment your CRM base in order to then accurately target your marketing actions. All the characteristics (or almost) can be grouped into three categories. There are 3 groups of characteristics you need a good understanding of to segment your customer base:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Socio-demographic characteristics<\/strong>, that will be explored throughout this article.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Psychographic characteristics<\/strong>, such as your clientele\u2019s personality traits, interests or even opinions. The interests criterion is particularly important for targeted marketing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Behavioural characteristics<\/strong>, such as your customers\u2019 buying behaviour. This criterion makes it possible, for example, to separate regular customers from irregular ones, customers who have purchased within the last month from those who have been inactive over several months, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/socio-demographic-5.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rtecenter wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">When applying targeted marketing, these segmentation characteristics can be, and should be, cross-referenced. Take for example the \u201cunder 50 housewife\u201d, i.e. women (criterion: sex) under 50 years of age (criterion: age), belonging to the \u201cmiddle classes\u201d (criterion: socio-professional group).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hence the importance of using several segmentation characteristics. Which requires good customer knowledge beforehand. A detailed segmentation of your customers, using a lot of different characteristics, requires your CRM to be rich in customer data.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"chap2\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Which socio-demographic characteristics can you use?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There are two types of socio-demographic characteristics, as suggested by their name: sociological characteristics (or \u201csocial\u201d) on the one hand and demographic characteristics on the other. But, in practice, geographic characteristics are often added to the above. In addition, demographic characteristics also include economic ones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">All these criteria have one thing in common; they describe objective situations or characteristics relating to your customers (for example, their age). In this sense, these characteristics are very different to psychological or behavioural characteristics, which are both subjective.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/socio-demographic-4.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rtecenter wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Socio-demographic, geographic and economic data is the easiest kind to collect from customers. Which is why these characteristics are widely used by marketers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The main sociological or social characteristics are:<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Gender (man\/woman)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Age or age group<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Family composition and household size (single \/ in a relationship; children \/ no children, etc.)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The main geographic characteristics:<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Country<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Region<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">County<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">City<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">City population<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Climate<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u200bType of residence<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The main demographic (and economic) characteristics:<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Education<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Profession<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Socio-professional group<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"chap3\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Why use socio-demographic characteristics?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There is no doubt about the value of these characteristics. The desires and purchasing behaviour of consumers in general, and your customers in particular, are always closely linked to their socio-demographic characteristics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Depending on their age, sex, income, social group, residential area (urban\/rural), climate of their region, size and composition of their household (with children\/without children), etc., your customers do not buy\/are not interested in the same products.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/socio-demographic-3.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rtecenter wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Of course, what we are does not always determine what we like. Without slipping into essentialism, it would be absurd to deny the influence of these objective characteristics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Although this criteria may not seem accurate enough to target customers, it can nonetheless help remove certain segments from your marketing campaign. For example, you can easily remove any households without children from your back-to-school email campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"chap4\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The limits of socio-demographic characteristics<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you want to design ultra-targeted marketing campaigns, you cannot limit yourself to socio-demographic characteristics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">These characteristics enable you to categorise your customers according to who they are: men or women, young or elderly, middle or working class, single or married, parents or not, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But <strong>what your customers are does not fully determine what they do or what they want<\/strong>. Some boys play with dolls, some men use make-up, some elderly people do sports and buy sports equipment, etc. This is the first limitation of socio-demographic data.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/socio-demographic-2.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rtecenter wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cross-referencing socio-demographic data with psychographic data can be very useful. For example, if you want to deploy a marketing campaign to sell men\u2019s sportswear, instead of only targeting males under 50, you could target all your customers who have expressed an interest in sports. This enables you to also include elderly people who play sports and who may be interested in your products.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The second limitation of these characteristics is that, by very definition, they do not reflect your customers\u2019 actual behaviour. Over the past few years, behavioural characteristics have become increasingly important. It could be said that behavioural characteristics are at the heart of real-time personalised marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"chap5\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How to collect your customers\u2019 socio-demographic characteristics<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Simply <strong>ask your customers<\/strong>! This is common practice in marketing, so they won\u2019t have any particular reservations about communicating this information. A newsletter or loyalty programme registration are both perfect opportunities to ask these questions. Smart surveys are also ideal tools to collect this information and feed it into your CRM.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A little piece of advice: ask questions enabling you to collect socio-demographic data <strong>at the end of your survey<\/strong>. This gives your respondents the opportunity to understand your overall approach, making them more likely to answer personal questions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/socio-demographic.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19426\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">New technology makes it possible to accurately measure your customers\u2019 behaviour and tends to reduce the role of these once dominant socio-demographic characteristics. Nowadays, it is easy to know what a specific customer bought, and how often that customer buys from you. This knowledge is just as important, if not even more so, than knowing how old your customer is.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">These characteristics are essential. Businesses will continue to use them in targeted marketing campaigns. They are the easiest kind to collect from your customers, so it would be a shame not to.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-cb2d0916-f405-47e9-bb18-4064b993938a\"><span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-cb2d0916-f405-47e9-bb18-4064b993938a\" id=\"hs-cta-cb2d0916-f405-47e9-bb18-4064b993938a\"><!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]--><a href=\"https:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/20304540\/cb2d0916-f405-47e9-bb18-4064b993938a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-cb2d0916-f405-47e9-bb18-4064b993938a\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" height=\"159\" width=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cb2d0916-f405-47e9-bb18-4064b993938a.png\" alt=\"Discover our Solutions: Book your Demo\"><\/a><\/span><script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> hbspt.cta.load(20304540, 'cb2d0916-f405-47e9-bb18-4064b993938a', {\"useNewLoader\":\"true\",\"region\":\"na1\"}); <\/script><\/span><!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-50ae5644-02d5-4330-9b0d-0e79812f8ce1\" class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\"><span id=\"hs-cta-50ae5644-02d5-4330-9b0d-0e79812f8ce1\" class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-50ae5644-02d5-4330-9b0d-0e79812f8ce1\"><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Socio-demographic characteristics enable you to segment your customers according to their age, sex, profession, education, etc. They are essential when designing targeted marketing campaigns. Essential but sometimes insufficient, as we will see. The role of socio-demographic characteristics in segmentation To be able to target and personalise your marketing campaigns \u2013 whatever they may be &#8211;&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":32673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[211],"tags":[],"case_study_solution":[],"landing_page_cat":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-158565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized-us"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158565"},{"taxonomy":"case_study_solution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case_study_solution?post=158565"},{"taxonomy":"landing_page_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/landing_page_cat?post=158565"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=158565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}