Demographics and Psychographics

Demographics are the average or typical characteristics of the people who buy your products or services. Such characteristics include age, income, education, status, type of occupation, region of country, or household size. Demographics can also include the age of children, the status of

Psychographics take this idea a step further: These include people's lifestyles and behaviors — where they like to vacation, the kinds of interests they have, the values they hold, and how they behave.

To hone this information to fit your marketing needs, you will need to conduct research — survey people who have bought your products or those who use similar ones.

You need to know both demographics and psychographics in order to advertise and sell your product effectively. You'll need to match the audience's characteristics of the media you choose with the characteristics of your desired purchasers. In that way, you won't loose precious dollars on wasted advertising and marketing.