To the uninitiated, psychographics may appear to be a debunked “scientific” notion similar to phrenology, but it is one of the most intriguing advancements in psychological research that marketers can utilize in their campaigns.
But, exactly, what is psychographics? What’s the point of being concerned? What can we do with it? For obtaining all of the answers, we’ll discuss what psychographics are, why they’re important for digital marketers, and some brilliant ways to use them in your campaigns. But, before we begin, let’s go over a quick training on psychographics as a scientific topic.
Psychographics
Psychographics is the study of a person’s interests and attitudes, which is often integrated with conventional demographic data for generating more extensive profiles of target markets and consumers.
Although psychographics is used in a variety of applications, market analysis is its primary use. We can learn a lot about someone by looking at the demographic data regarding their life like their age, education, occupation, and income bracket, but this data is only of finite utility on its own. It does not reveal anything regarding their hopes, beliefs, temperament, or any other biased psychological measurement.
Gathering of Psychographic Data
While many of the indicators favored by digital marketers are quantitative type, psychographics is a more qualitative type. Yes, psychographic data can and must be precisely classified; however, when compared to typical quantitative research techniques, psychographic data can be significantly more subjective and complex.
Market Research Organizations
If a person has ever conducted market research, they know how inconvenient it can be, especially if they are a freelancer or part of a small group with limited resources. As a result, many companies employ specialized market research firms to do the legwork for them. This has several advantages, including stringent scientific data collection techniques and extensive screening for ensuring data security.
It also raises a budgetary concern, since market research findings, even fundamental white papers, and reports, are rarely cheap.
Focus Groups
Focus groups can be an excellent way for gathering psychographic information. It allows us to create testing audiences based on our specifications (for example, a company’s ideal users and defined buyer personas).
The major disadvantage of focus groups is that they are difficult to organize and gather data from. It can take a long time to organize a focus group, and that’s before one even asks their first question. However, there are no guarantees that the information gathered will be helpful or even reliable.
Consumer Surveys and Questionnaires
Another method for collecting psychographic data is through customer survey questions.
This methodology has several advantages, which include the fact that surveys and questionnaires are very economical for conducting, that they can be sent electronically for the convenience of the participant and that consumers are generally familiar with this type of market research.
However, survey questions have drawbacks, such as a limited number of effective ways for overcoming low participant participation and the potential unpredictability or inexactness of the data itself. Many people respond to survey questions aspirationally, which means they may not respond completely honestly to specific questions, particularly those on more contentious subjects.
Comprehensive Analytics Data
Utilizing comprehensive analytics data for gathering psychographic data could be the most time-efficient method.
Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter may be better suited to the gathering of psychographic data due to the plethora of personal data available about their users. Personal interests, for example, can be exceptionally important psychographic statistics, as can information that few people may not be as truthful about in a real-world scenario like a focus group, such as political beliefs.
Conclusion
Psychographics is a fascinating research topic that may be quite useful to marketers looking for a better comprehension of what makes their market segments tick. Integrating more personal psychographic data with traditional factual marketing measurements can be difficult, but the possible benefits are worth investigating.
