Demographics Are Out; Psychographics Are In

Email marketing may be heading in a new direction, along with many other advertising media.

In the past, general demographics may have been the standard way to market specifically to customers. We could separate lists into any information we collected: age, gender, region, etc. and while those might still be valuable, according to David Poltrack, demographics might be phasing out, and purchase history eagerly taking its place.

Poltrack explains factors such as age and gender may not give advertisers the best representation of consumer interests. There are factors that need to be viewed in order to market to the group most willing to purchase a particular product or service.

The best way to judge the enthusiasm of a product is by examining the buying habits or general market trends for a region, rather than classification centered on absolute statistics such as gender and age group. Just because I am no longer in my 20s, doesn’t mean I have suddenly changed everything I buy.