August 27, 2021

Geography - Anatomy of a Target Client

Erica Mackay

Location, location, location

When it comes to your marketing strategy, the more you know, the better. 

And geography really is the winning ticket. 

If you’ve already turned your nose up and thought ‘how is geography going to help?’ - get ready to have your mind blown!

Geography can in fact tell us a LOT about our customers so, when pinning down your target client identity, asking where they’re based is definitely not a silly question.

It can really help fine tune your strategy, as knowing where they are can help you know who they are. 

The location of your customer can provide a whole new angle of intel, including indicating your customers’: 


  • Needs
  • Wants
  • Characteristics 
  • Behaviours 

This information can be invaluable, especially to small businesses or organisations with a limited marketing budget.  

You will be more likely to get your strategy right the first time around and not waste money on things that just won’t work for your audience.

Using household databases or Census reports is a great place to start. 

They can tell you about the type of people that live in certain areas - e.g. whether they are mostly working professionals or families, what the typical age is, how wealthy they are and other useful information.

You can analyse this data that has been already collected for you and start to build a picture of the demographic characteristics and the lifestyle your customer leads.


Once you have a good idea of your target client’s characteristics you will be able to personalise your marketing strategy in alignment with them. 


Which will make the message really resonate and hit home for the target client. 


In other words, you will be speaking their language and triggering sales. 


The demographics don’t only show characteristics, it can also give you a good idea of the culture of the location. 


An example of a huge company who uses this information to their advantage is the global corporation McDonalds. 


As although McDonalds is based all around the world, they always gather data on their restaurants’ locations and adapt their menu accordingly e.g. in their German restaurants they sell beer. 


The geography of your customers can also help in predicting their behaviours - past, present and future.


If you pay close attention it means that you will be one step ahead of their purchasing decisions. 


And if you know what they’re going to buy, you can prepare your marketing strategy to be front and centre offering them what they want and need - striking while the iron is hot. 

Customers have different wants and needs, and geography can help you understand them.

For example, people who live in urban centres have different wants and needs to those living in rural areas.

Understanding where your customers are based will mean you can align your marketing strategy to fit what they’re looking for. 

So, to sum it up, the geography of your target audience is hugely important, and understanding it will help your marketing strategy speak their language and bring on success. 

Did you catch last week’s blog - ‘Age - Anatomy of a Target Client’.