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geo-demographic profiling
geo-demographic profiling

Geo-demographic profiling is an essential ingredient in any direct marketing campaign if you want to ensure that your advertising mailings are being viewed by the right people. It can be used to target those who live in, shop at, visit or work at specific locations, and works on the principle that people in a location have similar needs, interests and cultural considerations.

This method of profiling considers age, gender, race, ethnicity, education level, occupation, income and many more factors. Data can include household, housing and economic characteristics and employment status to accurately classify lookalikes.
Now, let’s get into how it can help your direct marketing.

How to source geo-demographic data

Historically, geo-demographic data was accessed from a range of sources including the census, surveys and Government records. The Land Registry also collects data on house prices and sales and the Post Office records new builds.

But, in recent years, the amount of information available to be collected has grown. This is due to the rise of search engines, social media platforms and specialist list providers. Ofcom, for example, has information on broadband connectivity – meaning geo-demographic data is much more accessible.

However, if you need very specific data, you may still need to purchase this, or carry out a demographic survey to inform your market segmentation strategy, as existing survey data may not cover specifically what you need to find your target audience.
Purchasing cold data lists is more expensive and not as targeted as geo-demographic profiling, leaving you with less bang for your buck.

Royal Mail reported geo-demographic campaigns can benefit from reduced postage costs and can even reach up to 38% more households than cold data. So, let’s look at how geo-demographic profiling can be used to improve your marketing…

Improve targeting (and results!)

Geo-demographic profiling can help to identify new customers by analysing existing ones.

At Propack, we used geo-demographic data for our client, The Greenhouse People, creating over 100,000 mail pieces that contained unique maps and pre-calculated drive times to the sites that were local to each specific consumer. This meant that a highly targeted and relevant experience was delivered for each recipient.

We also utilised this method of targeting for luxury home builder, Beal Homes, by identifying lookalike houses to the ones within their developments, then creating mailing lists of these addresses. This campaign resulted in 25 of their homes being sold in just one day – brilliant!

Reduce cost and improve ROI!

Geo-demographic profiling is more cost-effective than purchasing cold data lists, which include personal data, and can also help to save money on postage rates as it’s GDPR compliant, making it a great source of data for a partially addressed mail (PAM) campaign.
Data obtained through geo-demographic profiling uses no personal or sensitive information so is a fantastic option to ensure compliance.

Using Grove Pension Solutions’ data, we analysed previously successful direct mail campaigns to help them develop a new audience. Using the new geo-demographic data we compiled to target prospects through a PAM campaign, we were able to help their team save 20% on their postage!

On average, it’s estimated that using geo-demographic profiling for PAM campaigns means that you are 30% more likely reach to prospects in comparison to using cold mailing lists – who could resist that?

Back up your branding

The age, social class and gender of your target audience can help you to determine the visual branding, price point and key messaging for your business. Knowing these geo-demographic factors can help you to design your creative and messaging to best appeal to your audiences.

We helped KCOM create a standout interactive mail piece and acquire new customers by using unique branding and styling, which we knew would resonate with their target audience due to the geo-demographic research we carried out to inform the strategy. We used mailing lists acquired by geo-demographic data to help us to achieve this goal!

To get started with geo-demographic profiling for your next campaign, contact our team today!

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