I was asked to prove a theory on a stakeholder campaign recently. My first port of call? The UK census data. In the UK, we recently had a new Census in 2021, the first in ten years. The Office for National Statistics started releasing this data in June 2022, providing valuable demographic information for businesses and organisations alike. It’s into the final last sets to be released, and there is a wealth of information for the taking for PR professionals.
Today I cover four reasons to use this data in your campaigns.
Let’s dive in!
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Transcript (unedited)
Just in case you don’t know what demographic data is; It is a statistical analysis of the population. It can be used to calculate all sorts of things.
To effectively utilise this data in marketing or PR campaigns, we can analyse the target audience based on age, income, and location. By understanding these key demographics, we can design tailored messages that will resonate with the target market. Furthermore, continually refining and adapting campaigns based on the insights derived from the census data can lead to improved engagement and overall marketing success.
Here are four reasons to use this data to your advantage if you want to make a mark with your campaign.
- Tailored messages that will resonate with their target market.
This is comms 101 – the right message for the right audience, and understanding your audience better allows for this to happen through refining it for age, interests and even education levels or household income levels. Depending on how specific your campaign is, you can also look at health data, employment data and what sort of homes people are living in too; rented, owned etc.
- Select the right channels based on where the audience is likely to be most engaged.
This is a key component of any campaign, and census data can provide good insight by overlaying the data with other sources, such as social media platform analytics and user times on websites, for example.
- Aid in customising visuals such as images, graphics and videos to ensure they are representative and appealing to the intended consumers.
How we look at and take on information changes as we age, and the same applies to our perception of information. The lens through which we see information also changes depending on our standpoint on the issue, maybe our gender or place in society too.
- Guide the timing and scale of PR initiatives to maximise impact on the target audience.
If our audience is online at a certain time on a certain platform, we can use this o our advantage. We can also be really niche if we are targeting working people; where and when we place some content can be really specific if we want them to see it / read it / engage.
Finally, demographics are a guide. Always use common sense and overlay your own understanding of the information before heralding it as the answer, but it will help build more robust campaigns and a better understanding of your audience.