Demographic

Demographic segmentation separates your audience by who they

are, depending on whether you are in a B2B or a B2C context.

For example, typical B2C demographic traits include:

 Age
 Gender
 Occupation
 Income
 Family status
 Education
Meanwhile, a B2B audience might include the above, as well as:

 Company size
 Industry type
 Role (within company)
 Time in position
Demographic is one of the most common segmentation types used
in market research (alongside geographic). It is simple to use and
understand, is readily accessible through common data gathering
methods, and it can eliminate irrelevant audience segments quickly
and easily.

 
Example
A high-end jewellery store segments their audience by high
household income. This focus ensures they don’t waste valuable
resources on targeting an audience that wouldn’t be interested in
their products.

Meanwhile, a software-as-a-service company that sells software to

research firms segments their target audience by role hierarchy.
 This gives them the opportunity to create marketing campaigns that
resonate with relevant decision makers in their audience.

 
Geographic
Geographic segmentation splits your audience depending on where
they are located.

For example:

 Continent
 Country
 Region
 City
 Borough/District
Segmenting in this way is best used when a customer’s location
influences their purchase decision. This is going to be true for
nearly any business, which is why geographical segmentation is one
of the most popular forms of segmentation used.

The fact that nearly every business will have some kind of
geographical information on their customers (obtained through
address submissions for newsletters, coupons, apps, in-house
services, etc) also makes this one of the easiest to implement as
well.

 
Example
 A large business with international holdings segments by geography
to get a clearer picture on its audience volumes in the United States
versus the United Kingdom.

Discovering the popularity of the business’ products in the UK, the

company decides to develop a .co.uk website address and produce
content specifically for its UK audience.

 
Psychographic
Psychographic segmentation separates your audience by
their personality.

For example:

 Interests
 Attitudes
 Values
 Lifestyle
This can be especially useful for businesses which sell a product or
service that will make an impact on people with specific world views
or ideas.

NB psychographic segmentations can include a lot of different

factors. The above list is not exhaustive by any means; ensure that
you cover as many “softer” psychological characteristics in your
initial market research to ensure you don’t miss any important
perspectives.

 
 Example
A retailer segments their data by the value of “budget-
consciousness”, separating those among their audience who
consider themselves particularly frugal from those who are less
concerned about how much they spend.

Noting a distinct dip in the number of budget-conscious customers,

the research consultants suggest that the retailer may want to
either develop a new line of everyday essentials, or better position
their existing products to appeal to this budget-conscious group.

 
Behavioural
Behavioural segmentation divides your audience by their previous
behaviour in relation to your brand.

For example:

 Awareness of the business

 Previous purchases
 Purchase patterns
 Usage level
 Product knowledge
 Product/service rating

 
Example
A local restaurant segments its audience data by purchase patterns,
specifically when the purchase was made. This allows it to
investigate its lunch-time audience compared to its dinner-time
audience.

By comparing the difference in the type of meals purchased

between each of these times, the restaurant is able to create a new
lunch and dinner menu that better suits its individual groups of
customers.

Leveraging each of these segment types is integral for getting the

granular data you need to better understand and target your
audience. By gathering each type and segmenting your audience
with them in conjunction, you can achieve granular, specific and
robust research insights.

For more information on market segmentation, download

our all-in-one guide to understanding your audience.