Age is one of the greatest, and easiest to prove, demographical marketing methods you can use to get your product into the hands of those who will want it. Along with sex, income level and educational background, using age as a marker will help separate casual users from frequent users to complete non-users.

When you’re marketing a new energy drink, chances are good that the 65+ demographic will be a very small percentage of your users. The idea of grandpa plowing down a half dozen redbulls and doing extreme sports COULD happen, but it’s the least likely scenarios. On the other end of the spectrum, these kinds of drinks could end up in the hands of very young children, and it’s up to your moral compass as a marketer to decide if you’re willing to choose the company’s financial interests over the possible health interests of a child who may consume your product.

So you look for the demographic that fits your product well. Being an energy drink, you’re most likely looking at three groups of people.

1. Young people (15-25) who participate in sports or high intensity activity.
2. People who use the drink as a mixer (21-35 most likely)
3. People using them as a diet suppliment (15-35 year old, and from market research, more women than men).

So there you have it. Look at the marketing data above and you’ll see your true target demographic. 21-25 year olds get the greatest cross section, though ages 15-35 are all within the standard deviation.

Now that you’ve determined an age demographic for your product’s marketing, there’s a few old tricks that work when dealing with age demographic.

• Appeal their activities. If it’s children in your demographic, you’ll want to put emphasis on why the parents should buy this item for their children, perhaps to engage the children in activities while relieving the parents. If it’s children, put emphasis on their social status and how your product will impress and influence their friends. If your clients are body builders, emphasis benefits to this activity. Appealing to their activities will give you an easy-in to something they are already doing.
• Influence a group through it’s strongest member. Aim specifically at the alpha dog, the strong willed leader of a group. Look at Gatorade in the 80s and 90s. They marketed specifically to the strong, saying their product would improve your game. It worked. As the strongest of the herd began using, everyone who wanted to be that person began using too.

Age can be a great demographic because your products can continue to evolve as your users evolve. What works for 18 year old boys now could be transformed into something that could work for 25 year old boys next decade. Your same customers already know the brand, and simply need to be marketed to with their new age as a target of your campaigns.