Demographics & Digital Marketing, Part 5: Real-World Demographics on the Web
This five-part series details some of the history behind using demographics as part of a digital marketing strategy. In addition, we’ll talk about how you should approach online engagement, and which tools we find most useful for managing our campaigns.
In our last post we wrote about the evolution of online chat. In this final post of our series, we look at some places you can find real-world demographics online.
A rarely-considered benefit of having the internet at our fingertips is the ease of access to public records. Since this series has focused primarily on how to use demographics in your digital marketing campaign we thought we should also list some places on the internet where you can access demographics for the real world. Below are just a few of the websites that offer a wide variety of statistics and survey info to help you add demographic data to your marketing campaigns.
1. Census.Gov
One of the most complete resources you can find, census.gov offers all census data from 1790 until today. This is a great surface level start to any targeted marketing campaign.
2. Social Explorer
Socialexplorer.com also offers access to census information (as well as countless other surveys), with the added benefit of a clean and easy-to-use interface.While access is limited if you don’t have the pro version, you may be able to access the pro version via your local library’s membership services.
3. Local Library Website
Speaking of your local library, it’s always wise to visit their website for a list of resources. Many libraries give you access to ReferenceUSA, a listing of millions of residential and business phone numbers in the U.S. You can use this free resource to conduct surveys of your own.
4. ALA
The wider American Library Association also has a fantastic list of demographic information that extends beyond government data.
5. SBDC
The Small Business Development Center’s website also offers an extensive list of real-world demographics you can access. They have statistics on everything from migration data to produce price in the U.S.
6. Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center’s website has a tremendous amount of demographic information that you can use to trace trends or build better profiles of your target audience. For instance: Pew Research Social Trends provides a lot of information on American perceptions of race, income, and age.
7. Statista
Statista.com offers real-world demographics data, with additional focus on web statistics.
All of these sites offer excellent quantitative input on virtually every race, gender, religious affiliation and industry. However, if you really want to put the internet’s information to good use, make sure to take the time to research your audience’s interests, and invest your resources in those outlets. For example:
- If 45% of your targeted audience likes a particular commerce group’s LinkedIn page, go scope out a meeting.
- In preparation for a tradeshow, send a LinkedIn message to prospects who will also be attending to personally invite them to your booth or an event you’re hosting.
Any other questions on demographics and digital marketing?
We hope you’ve enjoyed this series on how to use the Internet to find, research and reach out to your target audience. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below.
In case you missed any of the previous posts in our demographics series, here are the links to each:
Part 1: History
Part 2: Retargeting
Part 3: SEO Outreach
Part 4: Chat Rooms
