Not all customers are the same, so why waste your budget marketing to them like they are? McKinsey research shows that 71% of consumers want personalized shopping experiences, and 76% get frustrated when they don’t have them. That’s where demographic segmentation comes in.
But what is demographic segmentation, exactly? We define it as a process that helps you categorize your audience into meaningful demographic groups so you can reach the right people with impactful custom messages.
Businesses across industries are partnering with Experian to power smarter decisions and better results through solutions like demographic segmentation — but what does this look like in action? This article breaks down five real-world demographic segmentation examples, showing how businesses have worked with us to drive measurable success so you can see exactly how it can work for you.
What is demographic segmentation?
Demographic segmentation involves dividing your audience into smaller, more specific groups based on shared demographics like income, education, gender, job, family status, and more to gain a more granular understanding of your brand’s target segments. The better you know your audience, the better you speak to their unique needs — and the more effective your campaigns will be, as you’ll be able to target each segment with highly personalized content that resonates.
For instance, a company might market a new tech gadget to young adults in one way while promoting the same product to families with young children in a completely different way, ensuring the message speaks to each group’s lifestyle and priorities.
Demographic segmentation attributes
Some of the most common attributes used in demographic segmentation include:
Age
Each age group has different wants and needs. A new video game might catch the eye of teenagers, while a retirement plan is more likely to appeal to someone in their 50s or 60s.
Gender
Gender impacts preference for certain products, from fashion to gadgets, so knowing who you’re talking to helps make your marketing more relevant.
Income
Someone with a higher income might be more likely to purchase premium products, while someone on a budget will respond better to discounts or value-based offers.
Education
The level of education a person has can influence what kind of messaging will resonate with them, whether it’s complex or more straightforward.
Occupation
A marketing message targeting busy professionals might differ from one aimed at students or retirees. Occupation can tell you what’s important to a person in terms of their needs and lifestyle.
Family Status
A family with young kids likely has different priorities than a single person or a couple without children. You can adapt your messaging to be more relevant to what matters most to them, like convenience or value.
Benefits of using demographic segmentation
Demographic segmentation offers several valuable benefits for marketers. Here’s why it’s one of the most commonly used and effective ways to target audiences:
- Improved targeting and personalization: Demographic segmentation powers highly customized campaigns so you can cater to different income levels, family structures, job types, and so forth. B2C brands can provide offers based on factors like age, income, and gender, while B2B brands can target by occupation to reach decision-makers.
- Better product and service development: Understanding which demographics use your product or service is a great way to inform future improvements.
- Higher engagement: With highly customized content, you can speak directly to specific demographic groups and increase engagement.
- Cost efficiency: As you target the most relevant segments, you optimize your spending around the most likely buyers and will see better returns.
- Increased conversion and retention: Relevant, targeted messaging leads to higher conversion rates, and when people feel understood, they’ll want to keep coming back.
- Clearer customer insights: Demographic data provides precise, actionable insights for refining your marketing strategy.
- Simplicity and effectiveness: Demographic insights are immediately actionable and easy to implement, which gives you a great starting point for focused campaigns.
When to use other segmentation types
While demographic segmentation provides valuable consumer insights, there are times when other approaches may offer a more effective strategy:
- Your business provides location-dependent services. If you strictly serve a local area, geographic segmentation would be more effective in targeting customers based on location.
- You have access to detailed behavioral data. If you collect data on customer behavior (like browsing history or purchase patterns), behavioral segmentation would allow for more personalized targeting than demographics.
- You’re selling high-end luxury products. While income is a useful demographic variable, factors like values, aspirations, and lifestyle better capture the desires of luxury consumers.
- Your target audience shares similar behaviors, regardless of demographic factors. Behavioral segmentation might offer more insight if your customers engage with your product or service based on shared behaviors rather than demographic traits.
- Your product or service targets specific needs or pain points. Segmenting by need or issue rather than traditional demographic variables would likely yield better results if you’re offering a solution to a particular problem (like a health-related product).
How our customers are using demographic segmentation to produce tangible results
Demographic segmentation is about knowing your audience and using data to create marketing strategies that drive measurable outcomes. Let’s look at some real-world use cases from brands like yours that have been successful in this effort, working with Experian to translate demographic insights into significant business growth.
Use case #1: Identifying customer spending potential to boost growth for a retail chain
Objective
A large retail chain wanted to understand the spending potential of each customer in their stores. Their goal was to uncover and maximize untapped spending potential.
Solution
The large retail chain licensed Marketing Attributes to identify the top demographic factors that drove spending in the retail store the previous year. The four key drivers were:
- Age
- Income
- Family structure (household composition)
- Location/region
Results
By combining these attributes to create custom segments, we uncovered two valuable annual estimates:
- Potential spend: A conservative estimate of how much a customer could spend if they reached the top 20% of spenders within their specific demographic segment (based on data from the highest spenders).
- Unrealized spend: The difference between a customer’s annual potential spend and their current spend. An estimate of how much more they could be spending each year.
These demographic segments provided the marketing strategy the retail chain used to target $1.1 billion in unrealized spend. This revealed how much additional revenue could be captured by targeting the right customers with tailored marketing and offers through demographic segmentation.
Use case #2: Helping a financial institution identify regional DE&I opportunities
Objective
A large financial institution needed help identifying regional diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) opportunities. They wanted to better prioritize their outreach to underserved communities in the Los Angeles area.
Solution
We provided the data and insights to pinpoint specific areas needing attention. We used three key indices to analyze the region:
- Income index: Measured each underserved economic group by comparing the percentage of low-to-moderate income consumers against the entire L.A. area.
- Ethnicity index: Measured the percentage of consumers by ethnicity, such as African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and others, against the entire L.A. area.
- Credit index: Identified potential credit disparities by looking at the average FICO score and the percentage of customers with credit accounts against the entire L.A. area.
Results
Our client received an analytics dashboard to track and report these metrics, providing clear, traceable data to prioritize DE&I outreach. This dashboard helped them measure progress toward more inclusive practices.
Use case #3: Segmenting a health supplement ambassador program for enhanced engagement
Objective
A health supplement company wanted to identify specific segments within their ambassador program to provide better support and increase engagement.
Solution
We developed tailored customer segments to address specific needs and behaviors. These segments included:
- Young and independent: Younger, lower-income singles or starter households who are just beginning to establish their own lives.
- Families with ends to meet: Young and middle-aged families with kids who are budget-conscious, often using coupons and enjoying fast food.
- High-end families: Middle-aged families with kids and high incomes, financially secure big spenders who also give to charities.
- Empty nesters: Older households with no kids who focus on cooking at home and may have more disposable income.
Results
Segmenting at registration allowed for more effective communication and engagement with prospects. Customized messaging, guided by customer demographics and purchasing behaviors, improved acquisition and retention by helping the right messages reach the appropriate individuals through their preferred channels.
Use case #4: Comparing customer bases: Insights for a retailer across two cities
Objective
A national retailer with locations in two major cities (their home base city and a recent expansion city) wanted to understand how different their customer base was in each city. They aimed to uncover key demographic and behavioral differences to refine their marketing strategies and ensure each location received the most relevant messaging and promotions.
Solution
We analyzed each city’s customers across a wide range of characteristics:.
- Demographics: The expansion city had a younger population with more families, while the home base city had an older and more established customer base.
- Purchasing behavior: Customers in the expansion city spent more per transaction than those in the home base city.
- Preferred marketing approach: Customers in the home base city were likelier to be Brand Loyalists, responding well to familiar, trust-driven messaging. Shoppers in the expansion city were Savvy Researchers who responded better to value-based content and product comparisons.
Results
Using these insights, the retailer tailored its marketing approach to align with each location’s customer base:
- Home base city: Focused on maintaining loyalty by emphasizing brand trust and highlighting long-term customer benefits.
- Expansion city: Positioned marketing to appeal to younger, family-focused consumers to showcase high-value purchases and competitive pricing
These adjustments led to improved engagement and higher sales in both cities.
Use case #5: Optimizing direct mail to help a nationwide retailer maximize impact on a limited budget
Objective
Facing a shrinking marketing budget, a nationwide retailer needed to refine their direct mail strategy to reach the right customers while reducing costs.
Solution
We developed a comprehensive dashboard summarizing two dozen recent direct mail campaigns, which allowed the retailer to:
- Understand the demographic composition of high-response customers across different regions.
- Identify key patterns in response rates, helping them pinpoint the most receptive audiences.
- Discover that the Power Elite Mosaic Group representing affluent, high-spending households comprised only 17% of their mailed audience but accounted for 47% of responses.
Results
With these insights, the retailer restructured their direct mail strategy to target the highest-performing segments. Changes like these led to a 30% reduction in mailing costs while retaining 92% of sales, proving that strategic segmentation can drive efficiency without sacrificing revenue.
Explore demographic segmentation with Experian
Now that we’ve defined demographic segmentation and provided real-world examples, it’s time to explore how Experian data can help you better understand and connect with your audience. Experian’s Marketing Attributes provide rich, privacy-conscious insights into consumer demographics, lifestyles, and behaviors. These insights empower marketers to personalize experiences, refine targeting strategies, and make more informed decisions. With a deeper understanding of who your customers are, you can create more meaningful, impactful campaigns that drive stronger engagement and results.
Connect with us today to see how our data and expertise can improve your targeting, personalization, and campaign performance.
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Audigent, a part of Experian, now offers turnkey, outcome-driven deals for brands through Amazon DSP, expanding advertisers’ options for advertising across the open internet. While buyers continue to activate through established supply paths with Amazon DSP, this collaboration introduces sell-side curation that expands data access and reduces overall buyer costs. Three paths to activation With Audigent's curation services now available through Amazon DSP, buyers have streamlined access to premium open-internet inventory and measurable results. Advertisers now have three simple ways to build or tap into curated deals: Off-the-shelf deals in Inventory Hub on Amazon DSP Buyers can access hundreds of pre-built curated deals, each designed to align with common campaign goals and accelerate time to market. Custom deal libraries built around KPIs Advertisers can work directly with Audigent and Amazon Ads to build tailored deal libraries that reflect their unique performance objectives. SimplePMP with AI-driven intelligence Audigent's proprietary AI technology powers its SimplePMP product, offering advertisers sophisticated segment recommendations to identify relevant audiences and inventory with enhanced accuracy. Data that drives performance Turnkey curation only works if the data behind it is immediate, precise, and actionable. With Audigent providing curation via Amazon DSP, each deal fuses premium, real-world signals with hand-picked inventory so every impression can move the needle. How turnkey curation works Here are three ready-made examples to spark ideas 1. Weather in real time When the temperature climbs above 85°F, a beverage brand’s “Hot-Day Hydration” creative can launch automatically. Twenty-four hours before a heavy-rain forecast, big-box retailers can push “Storm-Ready Supplies” for generators and batteries. Weather-triggered audiences from The Weather Company mean you buy only when conditions drive demand. 2. Moments that matter to fans Live Nation ticket-purchase signals that pinpoint two peak travel-booking windows—right after fans secure out-of-town concert or game tickets and again during the week leading up to the event—so airlines, online travel agencies, and hotels can serve timely seat-sale or last-minute lodging offers when intent (and conversion rates) are highest. 3. Intent you can see Bombora B2B signals surface companies researching topics like “zero-trust security” or “cloud cost reduction.” A cybersecurity SaaS can reach those accounts with demo ads, and an office-furniture brand can court firms exploring “hybrid-workspace redesign.” Media spend zeroes in on buyers already in-market. A customer-centric approach Audigent delivers turnkey, customer-centric solutions across the open internet through Amazon DSP, prioritizing quality over quantity through premium web inventory. As buyers and sellers embrace more direct, transparent, and addressable supply paths, this streamlined approach boosts efficiency and drives meaningful outcomes for brands. Interested in trying this new path with Amazon Ads and Audigent? Email: audigent_sales@experian.com. What's next? Audigent is committed to enhancing our curation services available through Amazon DSP. We're focusing on: Expanding our suite of turnkey solutions to address evolving advertiser needs in the open internet space Developing new data-driven insights to further refine audience segmentation and inventory selection Continuously improving our technology to deliver even greater value and efficiency for advertisers As the advertising landscape evolves, Audigent will continue to innovate, ensuring our offerings complement and enhance the capabilities available through Amazon DSP. Ready to cut supply path costs? Connect with us to design your first curated library Latest posts
Marketers aren’t thinking in channels anymore: they’re thinking in audiences. As consumer media habits have scattered across devices, platforms and formats, brands have shifted their focus from managing one channel at a time to delivering a connected experience. That’s the core of omnichannel marketing: meeting people where they are and making each touchpoint feel like part of a larger narrative. However, most brands still encounter the same roadblocks: siloed data, fragmented planning and tools that don’t integrate. And while the industry talks a great deal about omnichannel marketing, few are actually doing it well. The brands that figure it out won’t just reach more people; they’ll improve brand perception while improving the customer journey, achieving better outcomes, and optimizing their media spend more efficiently. Learn more about this trend in our 2025 Digital trends and predictions report. Learn more Why omnichannel is no longer optional Omnichannel marketing has long been a goal, but recent shifts in media and technology now make it a necessity. According to Forrester, 21% of global B2C business and tech professionals identified enhancing omnichannel or cross-channel customer experiences as a top priority for their organization today. Connected TV (CTV) and commerce media networks are emerging as dominant channels, necessitating the coordination of messaging across an expanding ecosystem of streaming, programmatic display, and commerce-driven environments in addition to the multitude of other addressable (and non-addressable) channels. Fortunately, identity solutions continue to evolve, enabling marketers to maintain audience addressability in digital channels even as traditional signals decline and privacy regulations intensify. Consumers expect this kind of cohesion. They don’t see “channels" – they just see a brand. A member of your loyalty program might browse a product online, see the exact item later on their socials, and then receive an email offer. If those messages feel disconnected or out of sync, this will not be a good customer experience, and a brand risks wasting impressions and losing conversions. Omnichannel isn’t about showing up in more places. It’s about showing up with a consistent message. The opportunities inherent in true omnichannel execution Despite the industry’s movement toward omnichannel marketing strategies, there are a few untapped opportunities brands would benefit from pursuing. Break down planning silos to optimize performance Many marketers still plan and measure media in silos: programmatic display, CTV, commerce media, search, social, email, SMS, and each might have their own budgets, strategies, and KPIs. This disjointed approach leads to inconsistent messaging, inefficient spend, and overexposure or underexposure to key audiences. The opportunity? Shift toward integrated media planning and measurement. By aligning teams and KPIs across channels, marketers can optimize frequency, coordinate creative sequencing, and better attribute business outcomes. Breaking down internal silos improves the customer experience and drives more effective performance. With two-thirds of North American CMOs naming siloed data as their biggest obstacle, those who solve it stand to gain a clear advantage. Encourage interoperability to activate audiences consistently Omnichannel success depends on defining an audience once and reaching them everywhere. But in today’s ecosystem, where walled gardens control inventory and many tools remain disjointed, this is easier said than done. Just under a third of marketers say the tools they use don’t work well together. The opportunity? Invest in interoperable systems that give you control over your data and privacy-safe solutions like clean rooms or universal IDs that enable consistent audience activation across platforms. Advocate for a unified identity framework Audience data remains fragmented: commerce media networks control shopper data, TV platforms hold viewership data, and walled gardens provide limited data transparency and determine which data they will share, making it difficult to recognize, reach, and follow the customer journey across digital touchpoints. Without a unified view, campaigns remain disconnected and cross-channel attribution is difficult. The opportunity? Advocate for a centralized, privacy-conscious identity framework that bridges fragmented data sources. This would allow marketers to recognize consumers across platforms and deliver cohesive messaging. Marketers need solutions that enable connected audience activation while respecting privacy requirements and platform-specific constraints. Without this, omnichannel remains an aspiration rather than a reality. Data and identity: The tools you need in your toolkit to make omnichannel work Implementing omnichannel right starts with establishing identity. Brands need a foundation that lets them connect the dots: across data, platforms and channels. Here’s how: Build a unified identity foundation “A single view of the customer is the foundation of a successful omnichannel program,” says Forrester in a December 2023 report on omnichannel. This begins by connecting disparate data sources, including persistent offline information, such as addresses, emails, names, and phone numbers, with digital signals, in a privacy compliant way. And this, in turn, creates a strong identity foundation. Solutions that integrate hashed email addresses (HEMs), mobile ad IDs (MAIDs), IP addresses, CTV IDs, and universal IDs enable brands to resolve customer identities across different platforms, ensuring that campaigns remain addressable as users transition between channels. Activate audiences everywhere, without the hassle Brands should be able to define an audience once and activate it across all addressable channels without unnecessary complexity. Interoperability between demand-side platforms (DSPs), supply-side platforms (SSPs), clean rooms, and private marketplaces (PMPs) ensures that high-quality audiences are matched with premium inventory in a targeted, transparent, and efficient manner. This connectivity helps maintain consistent audience targeting—even as consumers engage in different environments. By working with a partner that seamlessly integrates with major platforms, marketers ensure that data quality and identity resolution remain intact throughout campaigns, avoiding data loss that occurs when data is transferred between different, disparate platforms. Measure across channels, and the customer journey Effective omnichannel marketing isn’t just about reaching audiences—it’s about understanding how different touchpoints contribute to conversions. Advanced attribution models, incrementality testing, and cross-platform frequency management enable brands to use consistent identity across campaign planning, activation and measurement so they connect ad exposures to real-world outcomes. Achieving this requires a strong identity resolution partner—one that can unify audience data across environments and power accurate, privacy-compliant measurement at scale. The future of omnichannel marketing Omnichannel is becoming the baseline expectation for modern marketing. The brands that figure out how to connect the dots across the increasingly disparate media landscape will drive better performance and build stronger customer relationships. By working with a partner that can offer you an end-to-end data and identity solution focused on consumers, not channels, you can better understand your best customers (and your next customers), reach them across channels, and measure cross-channel campaigns more effectively, making true omnichannel execution more achievable. Get started today About the author Kimberley Klevstad Account Director, Retail, Experian Kimberley Klevstad is 25-year industry veteran with a wide range of experience driving strategic growth for global accounts across print, online, mobile, location-based and streaming audio platforms. Kimberley is currently a member of the Experian Marketing Services Retail team, advising top retail brands on data and identity strategies that will deepen loyalty and drive acquisition in an increasingly competitive landscape. Latest posts
Audigent, a part of Experian, is excited to announce that curated audience and contextual inventory packages are now accessible on Google Display and Video 360 (DV360), delivered via Index Marketplaces. These premium deals offer industry-leading targeting solutions, combining high-quality data and inventory to enhance scale, value, and performance across connected TV (CTV), display, and online video (OLV). The integration launches with over 250 ready-to-run deals covering various sectors, including some available for DV360 buyers for the first time, such as automotive, B2B, seasonal retail, sports fandom, travel, and weather, among others. Each deal combines exclusive audience data with premium inventory under a single DV360 deal ID. The supply-side activation lets you scale campaigns without cookies or device IDs, so results stay consistent even as traditional tracking disappears. "We’re excited to expand Audigent’s curated, data-enriched packages in DV360 with Index Exchange. Putting Experian’s audiences and Audigent's premium supply inside a single deal ID accelerates smarter decisions for marketers—letting brands activate, test, and see results right away.”Chris Feo, Chief Business Officer, Experian Why these packages stand out Unique targeting and supply packages Each package fuses exclusive data with handpicked inventory and ships as a single, ready-to-trade deal ID. Deep partner bench Audiences are sourced from first-party publisher data as well as data leaders such as Experian, Affinity Answers, Acxiom, Bombora, Circana, Dun & Bradstreet, Resonate, Sports Innovation Lab, The Weather Company, and more, providing buyers with deterministic purchase, intent, behavioral, and lifestyle signals in one flight. Future-proofed addressability Packages rely on Audigent’s identity framework, contextual intelligence, and supply-side data activation rather than third-party cookies or device IDs, keeping reach intact as identifiers fade. Three reasons these packages drive results Signal-agnostic reach: Cookieless, device-less targeting preserves scale today and tomorrow. Instant activation: Traders simply add the pre-curated deal ID to a DV360 line item and go live in seconds. Built-in quality assurance: Exclusive audience data is paired with hand-vetted inventory, so you start closer to KPIs from day one. Direct-to-source media buying that pays off By packaging curated, data-enriched deals directly atop Index Exchange, via the Index Marketplaces platform, Audigent eliminates extra hops and integrates premium partner data into a single price, with no additional data management platform (DMP) fees. That means higher match rates, simplified audience management, and a cleaner, greener path that concentrates spend on top-tier publishers. Paired with Index Exchange’s omnichannel reach, brands see stronger performance and lower waste, no trade-offs required. "Our goal with Index Marketplaces is to streamline access to premium supply, high-quality data, and measurable outcomes. Hosting Audigent's ready-to-run deals on Index lets DV360 buyers tap addressable inventory curated for scale, sustainability, and speed – no extra steps, just better results."Paul Zovighian, Vice President of Marketplaces, Index Exchange Real-world use cases Audigent’s deep data collaboration bench isn’t window dressing; it’s baked into every package. Deterministic signals from Experian and fellow data leaders come pre-loaded, so you tap high-intent, high-match audiences the instant you activate a deal ID. In-market auto shoppers Reach consumers actively researching specific vehicle types, such as compact cars, SUVs, trucks, or luxury models, using deterministic data from Experian. These segments predict purchase intent within the next 180 days, enabling the delivery of accurate messaging at the moment of consideration. B2B account growth Target decision-maker employees at companies segmented by employee count: 11–50, 51–250, or 251+, using Dun & Bradstreet’s data. Or reach small business professionals and business decision-makers via deals utilizing Bombora’s data assets. Sports fandom Engage verified MLB fans based on purchase behavior, powered by Sports Innovation Lab. Extend reach to contextual sports content, including live sports and sports-related programming across CTV and OLV. Seasonal retail bursts Engage gift-givers and in-market segments for gifts and occasions. Target DIY home improvers and verified affinity audiences for home projects. Reach back-to-school families by targeting parents preparing for the school year with Affinity Answers’ event-based segments. Weather-driven behavior Activate campaigns based on how real-time or forecasted weather conditions (like sunny days, outdoor activity suitability, or severe weather alerts) influence mindsets and decisions, powered by The Weather Company's data. "This collaboration integrates The Weather Company’s industry‑leading weather forecast data into DV360, the world’s largest buying platform, enabling real‑time relevance through curated deals. Experian contributes deep expertise in consumer audiences, The Weather Company delivers unmatched precision in timing and location, and Index Exchange adds efficiency and transparency – together creating a streamlined, turnkey solution for activation." Dave Olesnevich, VP of Data and Ad Product, The Weather Company Ready to activate? Search Audigent in DV360’s Marketplace, select the Audigent package that fits your KPIs, and add the deal ID to your line item. Prefer a custom build? Reach out to us at partnershipsales@experian to curate a package tailored to your campaign goals. The quickest path to performance is just one deal ID away. Contact us now Latest posts