Marketing seeks to develop and retain a consumer base so products can be sold for a profit. Statistics are an invaluable tool for marketing, because they can be used to make informed decisions about how to best sell any product. Intelligent use of statistics can make the difference between a wildly successful marketing campaign, and one that alienates potential customers or has no noticeable effect.

Developing a Target Market

The first thing you need to sell any product is a base of potential consumers. You might think you have a great idea for a product, but if no one else agrees with you, you greatly reduce your chances for success. Statistics help you to identify the audience that you will be speaking to through your marketing. The average income, age, gender, marital status and attitudes of those who might be interested in your product are crucial factors. Greater statistical detail can be examined depending on what you're offering. Getting to know your target market through statistical analysis allows you to speak to them in a relatable and understandable way.

Picking The Venue

Where you advertise is just as important as the approach and tone that your marketing takes. For example, it might seem as though television is the gold standard for marketing venues, but if your target market doesn't really watch TV, this approach would be a waste of time and money. Statistics can help you find out who is exposed to what cultural mediums. Whether your target market watches TV, surfs the Internet, reads the newspaper or likes to get around town and talk to others will determine where your marketing will be most effective. Statistics can also reveal how responsive people are to different mediums of marketing.

Determining Consumer Motives

It’s important to study your target audience at a deep level. Some of the most important things to understand are what your audience wants, what they believe they need, how they relate to products and how they are influenced by prices. In short, you want to know why they make economic decisions so that you can offer them something valuable. For example, if your audience has a low income and is looking for a low price, you would take a very different approach than if your audience is affluent and not as concerned with pricing. Statistics can reveal the needs and wants of consumers, and the motivations that cause them to make different purchases.

Reactions to Advertising

Another good use of statistics is to determine the ways in which consumers tend to react to advertising and what kind of marketing themes elicit certain responses. This can give you ideas on how to approach your audience. For example, some people find advertising to be overbearing or condescending and are turned off from buying products they might otherwise want. These consumers need to be addressed in a more subtle tone. Your tone will create an emotional response in your audience that will influence their decisions. Statistics can show you what kind of marketing campaigns have been successful and why, how marketing is perceived by consumers and why it is sometimes ineffective.