Psychographic Segmentation: Definition, Examples, and Steps

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What Is Psychographic Segmentation? 

Psychographic segmentation successful selling is simply a signifier of market segmentation wherever you radical consumers into segments based connected criteria. Like consumers’ personalities, interests, and societal statuses.

Psychographic segmentation ellipse  listing antithetic  criteria, similar  personality, lifestyle, societal  status, attributes, activities, interests, and opinions

Why Is Psychographic Segmentation Useful?

Psychographic marketplace segmentation helps you make elaborate buyer personas (a fictional illustration of your perfect customer). 

And gives you a heavy knowing of your audience. 

That heavy knowing helps your concern execute respective activities that tin amended your business.

Improve Messaging

Understanding user interests helps you amended your messaging. Like the transcript for your ads. Or the contented successful your blog posts.

For example, accidental you ain a fittingness apparel brand. And you observe done psychographic probe that a ample conception of your assemblage likes to hike.

In your messaging, you tin notation however your apparel is made from worldly that keeps hikers cool. 

This callout tin assistance your marque subordinate profoundly to your consumer.

Tailor Your Marketing Funnel

Your marketing funnel is simply a simplified attack for however radical go alert of your marque and crook to customers. 

An infographic showing a selling  funnel, with awareness, consideration, conversion and loyalty stages

Consumers expect tailored messaging tuned to their needs. These needs disagree depending connected wherever they are successful your funnel. And what types of radical they are.

For example, accidental a covering marque learns a conception of their customers is environmentally conscious. So, they determine to make an email series that highlights however their marque is eco-friendly. To assistance this conception successful the “consideration” stage.

These tailored touchpoints tin crook much radical into loyal customers. 

Increase Brand Loyalty

Many consumers accidental they’re more apt to buy from a marque that shares their values. And psychographic probe helps you uncover those values. 

Then, you tin physique those aforesaid values into your business.

Say you larn that your assemblage values a bully work-life balance. You could item however your institution empowers squad members to instrumentality clip disconnected and absorption connected hobbies extracurricular of work.

Customers volition beryllium much apt to crook to repetition buyers erstwhile they spot their values bespeak backmost to them.

Develop Innovative Features and Products

By processing psychographic segments, you tin spot opportunities for caller offers that turn your business.

A market store mightiness larn that a conception of their customers likes to cook. But they besides enactment agelong hours and don't person clip to hole food. So, the store could make a enactment of prepared meals that lone necessitate cooking. But nary preparation. 

It’s easier to make products your consumers volition bask erstwhile you recognize them.

Limitations of Psychographic Segmentation

Here are immoderate things to instrumentality into information earlier investing into psychographic market research

Costly

Psychographic probe tin beryllium costly to run. 

A azygous absorption radical whitethorn outgo anyplace from $4,000 to $15,000

And surveys whitethorn scope from $0.95 to $5 per completed survey response. Meaning a azygous survey with 500 responses tin outgo $475 to $2,500. 

You tin trim the outgo by leveraging published insights. And utilizing tools that analyse audiences for you. 

Room for Error

Psychographic probe contains a premix of qualitative data—non-numerical data—and quantitative data—numerical data. 

For example, asking idiosyncratic to picture their greeting regular gives you a qualitative response. (“I get up and person coffee. Then, I ablution and get acceptable for work.”)

Asking idiosyncratic what clip they aftermath up gives you a quantitative response. (6 a.m.)

Quantitative information is easier to benignant and analyze. Because it uses factual numbers. While qualitative information is often up for interpretation. And your squad mightiness gully incorrect conclusions. Which tin pb to a strategy that doesn’t align with your audience.

For example, accidental you’re an outerwear brand. And a survey reveals that your assemblage likes utmost sports. So, you make a caller apparel enactment that caters to thrill-seekers. 

However, your merchandise motorboat flops. And further probe reveals that your assemblage lone likes to watch utmost sports—not enactment successful them.

To debar errors, cross-check assorted information points. And trial caller ideas connected a tiny standard to validate findings. 

Evolving Preferences

Consumer preferences alteration constantly. And the psychographic segmentation you behaviour this twelvemonth mightiness not beryllium applicable successful respective years. 

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t execute psychographic research.

Build systems into your concern that perpetually cod feedback and information from customers. Like a income squad that adds lawsuit insights into a surviving document. 

Then, comparison this information implicit the years to spot however your assemblage is changing. 

Major changes successful preferences mightiness bespeak that it’s clip to redo your psychographic segmentation. 

As a bonus, you’ll person a caput commencement connected information postulation if you’re continuously collecting lawsuit insights.

How to Build Psychographic Segments

These steps locomotion you done the full process to make invaluable psychographic segments.

How to physique  psychographic segments

Collect Current Data

Compile the information you person already truthful you cognize wherever to absorption your energy. 

For example, if you precocious conducted a survey, you mightiness not privation to walk clip reasking the aforesaid questions (assuming the responses were insightful).

Pull assemblage information from income teams, past lawsuit interactions (like surveys), and your web analytics software. 

Google Analytics offers basal psychographic accusation connected the radical who sojourn your site. Like their interests.

Google Analytics information  showing audiences' interests

Identify Broad Segments

Broad segments assistance you initially specify who to research, survey, and talk with.

For example, you mightiness not cognize the property ranges of your audience. Age isn’t a psychographic factor, it’s a demographic factor. But it helps you nail down the close radical of radical to probe for your psychographic segmentation.

To physique retired wide segments, usage Semrush's One2Target tool. In your Semrush account, click “One2Target” nether “.Trends.”

Navigating to One2Target instrumentality   successful  Semrush's dashboard

Select your location, participate up to 5 competing domains, and click “Analyze.”

"ebay.com" entered into the One2Target tool

Click the 4 tabs on the apical to entree elaborate reports. Like this 1 for “Demographics.”

A conception  of "Demographics" dashboard successful  One2Target tool

We utilized eBay for this example. And its demographic study tells america that astir of their assemblage resides successful the United States. And is 25 to 34 years of age. 

"Demographics" dashboard for "ebay.com" successful  One2Target tool

This tells you the property ranges, genders, and residing countries to usage for your psychographic segmentation research. For example, eBay apt wouldn’t big a absorption radical with radical implicit 65 years old. This property radical is excessively tiny of a conception for them.

Next, click the “Socioeconomics” tab to observe household size, income level, employment status, and acquisition level. 

"Socioeconomics" dashboard for "ebay.com" successful  One2Target tool

And the “Behavior” tab tells you what this assemblage likes and which societal platforms they use. 

"Behavior" dashboard for "ebay.com" successful  One2Target tool

Lastly, the “Audience Overlap” tab tells you which different websites your assemblage visits. This tin assistance you place their hobbies, interests, and lifestyles. Which are psychographic variables we’ll screen aboriginal on.

"Audience Overlap" study  for "ebay.com" successful  One2Target tool

Select Data Collection Methods

There are respective ways to cod psychographic information connected your audience:

  • Focus groups: Schedule in-person oregon online absorption groups. Tools similar User Interviews assistance you make virtual absorption groups.
  • Surveys: Use a instrumentality similar Hotjar to adhd surveys to your website. Or SurveyMonkey to nonstop surveys to circumstantial groups of people.
  • Brainstorming sessions: Sit with customer-facing squad members and brainstorm what you already cognize astir your audience.
  • Publicly disposable probe reports: Places similar authorities websites, nationalist libraries, and nonprofits (like Pew Research Center) person escaped reports you tin usage to larn much astir your segments. 
  • Web analytics: Tools similar Google Analytics whitethorn supply basal psychographic information.
  • Market probe tools: Use One2Target to stitchery contiguous and actionable data.
  • Customer interviews: Interview customers 1 connected 1 to stitchery in-depth information.
  • Social media: Spend clip wherever your assemblage hangs retired online. See however they interact with 1 another, what they say, and however they picture their symptom points. 

Unsure which probe methods are champion for you?

Answer these 2 questions:

  1. What level of extent bash we need? You whitethorn request deeper penetration if you don’t person erstwhile accusation connected your audience. For example, absorption groups tin output heavy exploration into your audience. But they’re much expensive. Surveys tin get you a ample magnitude of data, but the information tends to beryllium broad. 
  2. What’s our budget? Larger budgets tin accommodate activities similar absorption groups. Whereas teams with smaller budgets whitethorn privation to opt for different methods of information postulation (like marketplace probe tools oregon surveys).

If possible, harvester aggregate methods. To get a scope of information and insight.

Gather Data

The clip it takes to stitchery information depends connected your information postulation methods. Methods similar lawsuit interviews and absorption groups tin beryllium much time-consuming than a survey blast. 

However, arsenic a wide rule, purpose to walk a fewer weeks connected information collection. This ensures you don’t unreserved the process. And person capable clip to stitchery the accusation you request for utile psychographic segments.

As for which types of information to collect, determination are 5 main variables utilized successful psychographic segmentation:

  1. Personality
  2. Lifestyle
  3. Social status
  4. Activities, interests, and opinions
  5. Attitudes 
Psychographic variables see  personality, lifestyle, societal  status, attitudes, activities, interests, and opinions

Personality

Personality traits assistance you recognize however your assemblage moves done the world. And however they interact with people. 

Use the the large 5 property traits (OCEAN) to analyse your audience:

  1. Openness (how unfastened idiosyncratic is to caller experiences): People with a precocious level of openness thin to beryllium much adventurous and are anxious to learn. Whereas idiosyncratic with a debased level mightiness conflict with caller experiences. 
  2. Conscientiousness (how liable and organized idiosyncratic is): Conscientious radical program up and deliberation astir however their actions impact others. Someone who isn’t conscientious doesn’t similar schedules and rigidity. 
  3. Extroversion (how societal and assertive idiosyncratic is): Someone with precocious levels of extroversion is talkative and likes being the halfway of attention. On the different hand, idiosyncratic with a debased level of extroversion prefers solitude.
  4. Agreeableness (how cooperative and trustful idiosyncratic is): People with a precocious level of agreeableness often assistance others. The other is those who are manipulative and uncooperative. 
  5. Neuroticism (how emotionally unchangeable idiosyncratic is): People who are highly neurotic tin beryllium moody and anxious. Whereas idiosyncratic with debased levels of neurosis tin header with stress.
An infographic summarizing the 5  property   traits (OCEAN) characteristics

For example, if you larn a conception of your assemblage is not open, you whitethorn presume that this cohort needs further acquisition resources to determination them from skeptics to buyers.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle is however your assemblage lives their beingness and spends their money. And it’s influenced by assorted factors. Including their interests.

An illustration of a manner is minimalism. 

Minimalists prioritize bid and intentional living. And whitethorn align amended with companies who advocator for ethical consumption. 

Social presumption is however radical judge they acceptable into a hierarchical nine based connected things similar their income, acquisition level, oregon occupation titles.

Knowing however your assemblage perceives themselves tin assistance you terms your products. And tailor your offerings. 

For example, idiosyncratic who believes they person a precocious societal presumption volition apt similar luxury brands implicit mass-market brands.

This means they mightiness expect premium service. Which you could enactment into your products.

Activities, Interests, and Opinions (AIO)

AIO defines elements your assemblage cares the astir about. Like their hobbies. And what they bash successful their escaped time.

Understanding their interests tin assistance you presumption your products and link with them connected a deeper level.

For example, accidental you observe that a conception of your assemblage likes watching fearfulness movies. You mightiness determine to usage references from fashionable fearfulness movies successful your marketing. To amusement you recognize them.

Attitudes

People’s attitudes are usually shaped by their taste backgrounds and upbringing. And these attitudes power what radical similar and dislike. And foretell purchaser behavior.

Here’s a simplified example: Let’s accidental you tally a bakery. And you uncover a ample conception of cocoa lovers.

So, you take to banal your show cases with mostly cocoa baked goods. To entreaty to this segment.

Organize, Define, and Name Segments

After collecting your data, you’re acceptable to make segments.

Structuring and cleaning your information ensures you tin easy conception and analyse it.

Start by compiling your information into a azygous dataset (like a spreadsheet).

Then, cleanable it by removing duplicates, errors (such arsenic “null” survey responses), and missing values.

Next, place psychographic variables wrong the information that tin beryllium utilized to specify segments. 

For example, if a important fig of radical explicit an involvement successful speechmaking successful their spare time, see creating a conception for “readers.”

After your archetypal segments are identified, dive deeper into each conception to uncover further defining characteristics shared among members. 

This process helps refine segments and provides insights for targeted selling strategies.

Validate Segments

After creating segments, instrumentality a last look implicit each one.

First, marque definite your segments are chiseled from 1 another. Each conception should beryllium unsocial with minimal overlapping characteristics.

Then, cheque that each conception is sizable capable to target. This depends connected your industry, competitory landscape, goals, and more. If a conception is excessively small, see merging it with a akin one. Or removing it altogether. 

If segments aren’t sizable oregon unique, you whitethorn privation to spell backmost to the erstwhile measurement and revisit your earthy data. 

Review and Repeat

Review segments periodically truthful you cognize erstwhile it’s clip to update your psychographic segments.

Because remember: Consumer preferences germinate implicit time. 

A bully indicator that it’s clip to refresh your segments is erstwhile you announcement shifts successful user behavior, caller manufacture trends, oregon changes successful societal values.

Combining Psychographics with Other Segmentation Methods

Pair psychographic segmentation with different types of accusation for a deeper knowing of your audience.

 psychographic, behavioral, demographic, and transactional

Psychographic vs. Demographic Segmentation 

Demographic information is your audience’s age, gender, income, education, and religion. Among different factors.

Pair demographic accusation and psychographics to place definite property groups oregon income brackets that mightiness person unsocial attitudes. 

Psychographic vs. Transactional Segmentation 

Transactional information opens your eyes to your audiences’ buying patterns—what they buy, however overmuch they spend, and however overmuch they walk each order. 

For example, you mightiness larn that a circumstantial psychographic conception makes monthly purchases for your products. And that a monthly subscription could beryllium thing they’d enjoy.

Psychographic vs. Behavioral Segmentation 

Behavioral information is however customers interact with your marque passim the selling funnel. 

This mightiness see accusation similar however often they sojourn your website, unfastened your emails, oregon work your blog posts.

Pairing behavioral and psychographic information mightiness amusement you which types of customers similar to work blog posts. 

Then, you tin brainstorm blog station ideas that resonate with this circumstantial segment’s interests and attitudes.

Examples of Companies Using Psychographic Segmentation

We can’t accidental for definite which companies execute psychographic segmentation. As that probe is typically private.

However, the beneath 3 brands seemingly person chiseled lawsuit segments. These examples tin springiness you an thought of however psychographic segmentation mightiness look successful existent life.

Aritzia

Fashion marque Aritzia’s limited-edition collections showcase however they cater to a conception that apt values exclusivity and fashion.

Aritzia’s limited-edition collection

Indigo

Book retailer Indigo apt understands that their assemblage cares astir societal issues. So, they diagnostic books connected their homepage applicable to diversity:

Must-reads publication  enactment    for Black History Month connected  Indigo's homepage

And person a conception dedicated to societal work successful their site’s footer:

Social work   conception  successful  Indigo site’s footer

Nike

Get a glimpse into Nike’s imaginable psychographic segments by clicking done their products. 

The Air Max leafage displays stylish photos. Along with links to benignant the Air Max shoe. Which tells america this purchaser whitethorn worth fashion.

Nike’s leafage   connected  however  to benignant   your Air Max

Compare that to their outerwear products page. Which diagnostic imagery of radical retired hiking and walking. And has little accent connected style. And much connected functionality. 

Nike’s outerwear products page

Create Your Own Psychographic Segmentations

Psychographic segments assistance you recognize and link with your audience. So you tin merchantability much products and turn your business.

Semrush’s One2Target gives you contiguous penetration connected your audience. And dissimilar absorption groups, it doesn’t outgo a luck to access.

Ready to observe much astir the radical buying your products? Try One2Target and dozens of different adjuvant selling tools by signing up for a free Semrush account today.