Consumer Activity
Having five years worth of data to analyze is a crucial tool to shed light on the trends of consumers. Once you analyze the data, you will be sure to see that consumers act in certain ways that are affected by region, social, economic, and personal. By being able to analyze these trends with consumers you and your marketing team will have the tools necessary to predict these trends giving your company the ability to better market itself and the product.
Population Factors
When analyzing population factors that affect marketing one of the best tools you can use is the US Census and the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. These web sites have all the information that you need and are free to use online. From these websites you will be able to find the median age of a city, state or region, the education level, and if the population in a given area has increased or decreased in recent years. You will also be able to see what types of households there are in certain areas. When marketing it is important to know if a household is headed by a male or female, are the occupants married, if there are children, if so, how many, along with the income level of the occupants.
Regional Factors
Another great use for the US Census and the Bureau of Labor and Statistics is gleaning information about different areas of the country. By using this data properly, you will be able to see the differences across the country in education levels, income levels, the make up of families, the rate of unemployment, and where different ethnicities are located. All this information will better prepare you to develop a marketing plan that will more easily reach your target demographic and making the marketing campaign a success.
If you analyze the data well it will be able to show you trends in population growth across the country. If your target demographic is moving to certain areas of the country, then it behooves you to market to the areas that they are relocating. This may also affect how you get your product to market so all of this data has to be taken into account when it comes to pricing and business expansion.
Technological Factors
Technology is playing a larger role in everyday life than it ever has before. This is not an area that you can overlook. You should be able to determine if technology is something that you can take advantage of to better help your marketing ability. You will need to know if there have been any advances in technology in your industry and if it can add value to your product. Even advances in technology that are in the area of logistics can greatly help your product if you can more easily keep track of shipments.
Media Factors
Media no longer means the evening news or newspapers. Nowadays, with the explosion of social media consumers can be reached in many ways. Make sure that your marketing team takes a close look how it can boost your company’s presence online. Today, almost all companies have a presence on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. This makes it easier for companies to stay connected to consumers who like their products and it is an inexpensive way for companies to let consumers know about a new product that is coming to market or an upcoming sale on already existing merchandise.
Along with social media, it is important for you to know the percentage of your target demographic that uses traditional types of media. You will need to compare data to see what types of television programs that your target demographic watches and at what times. The same goes for radio stations, newspapers, and magazines. Knowing all this information will help to streamline your marketing campaign to the consumers that you want to influence.