In the past, marketing campaigns were particularly demographic focused. There was a level of specificity used in finding a target audience, often based on age and gender, though racial identity and geographical location were also important factors. However, that’s changed in recent years, and it’s no longer effective to focus marketing efforts on these narrow characteristics.
These walls have without a doubt come down because of the digital age. If one takes a look at Amazon’s sales demographics, for instance, they are almost equal among age groups 18-34, 35-54, and 55+. Being a leader in the age of e-commerce and online sales, this should be a call for marketers outside of Amazon to try and understand how the digital sales giant has accomplished this.
Of course, it’s important to note that Amazon’s product variety is much greater than that of a niche organization. However, Amazon’s branding must still appeal to a mass amount of people. So marketers should do their best to realize this truth: companies like Amazon have been successful with multiple age groups not only because of their product variety, but because they understand is that their target demographic is much more diverse than a single age range. An age, gender, or race brushstroke will always be too broad. Once marketers understand this, how can they build their brand to appeal to people in all different walks of life?
Their Focus Must Be to Build A Brand For Everyone
When talking about marketing demographics, brand identity is crucial to understand. A brand identity was described by Lucidpress as “the visual components of a brand” that represent its emotional, philosophical, and intangible purpose. A brand identity, therefore, needs to be widely appealing and something that people from different walks of life can stand behind confidently.
Each person involved in the branding process will speak best for themselves and their own demographic.
This should be the purpose of brand building. In 2019, this primarily means that the tactics used to build a solid brand identity — niche, market research, memorable aesthetics — should be general enough to appeal to the majority of people, not just certain subsectors of society. Companies should be vying to build a brand for everyone. This does not come easily, however. Each person involved in the branding process will speak best for themselves and their own demographic. Additionally, everyone has different skillsets. How are they supposed to reach people from other walks of life without misunderstanding them?
The Correlation Between a Diverse Staff and a Diverse Customer Base
The easiest way to properly meet a demographic is to enlist the help of people who are a part of it. This calls for diversity within a branding and marketing team. Now, sometimes people talk about pushes for diversity as if they are unnecessary, but the concept is quantifiably important. As explained by Maryville University,
When people recognize themselves in messages, they’re more likely to respond. Up to 83 [percent] of people pointed to better representing modern society as the reason marketing campaigns were impactful in a positive way.
Thus, diversity does matter, and what better way to appeal to a diverse audience than to enlist people from that audience? That way, businesses aren’t just guessing about what other people like or basing their marketing methods off of speculation and stereotypes.
However, when we talk about diversity it’s easy to leave some people out. Previously, this discussion halted at race, gender, and age. Being inclusive means understanding there is another party to be considered, and experts are now adding different abilities to the gamut of factors to consider in finding a target demographic. Companies who hire people who face disabilities may find themselves learning more about that part of their target market, in addition to finding great employees. This, of course, goes along with the idea that who a business appeals to is related to who is building it. Businesses should be trying to reach people of all ages, racial and geographical histories, gender and gender identities, and physical abilities.
The Wide-Reaching Consequences of Collaboration
Moving beyond diversity, the skillsets a team has on hand is crucial to agile brand building. What is commonly known as “the agile method” is the combination of consistent quality and output, as well as consistent innovation. This can only be done with multiple hands on deck, however.
This cannot be understated: Collaboration by a well-trained staff is the key to profit and can be the difference between a thriving and a failing business. Everybody has different areas of expertise and a well-rounded marketing campaign or brand-building exercise will be the result of each person being able to do what they do best.
So the key to building a broadly attractive and high-quality brand identity comes from collaboration with a diverse staff of differently trained experts. Each one should have the training and experience to design their part of the brand in a massively appealing way and should be able to work well with others. Ultimately, this collaboration is the key to profit.
In Summary
The modern age of marketing is one that appeals to multiple customer demographics, rather than narrow portions of society. Therefore, it is necessary to build a brand that appeals to everyone. This can only be done by collaboration with a skilled staff and enlisting the help of people who actually meet multiple demographics. With their help, you will be able to accurately market to vast groups of people without tokenizing or demeaning them.
