Not demographics.  Not even psychographics.

What they have in common is bugs.

Our 24-year-old welder just bought a fixer-upper in his small town, and is facing a termite infestation left behind by the previous owner.  Our urban hipster has just discovered that the reason he got his loft so cheap is because half the beams also have termites.

Of course, when you start drilling down into the bugs, you begin to realize that our welder and our hipster have plenty of other things in common, too:  They’re both spending weekends at the DIY store, surfing the internet for renovation tips, searching for termite inspectors, etc.   They may also be looking for lawyers to sue the pants off the previous owners of their new homes.

Reaching your target means knowing what they’re doing in a day

Trying to reach both of these guys online using basic demographics isn’t going to work; trying to reach them by using psychographics isn’t going to work either.

But you can reach them by mapping out a Day in the Life of your ideal consumer.

It starts by starting with the product and working backwards:  You’re selling anti-termite treatment.  You know that one of the prime target audiences are people who’ve just bought homes, probably on the cheap because they decided not to spring for the full house inspection before closing.  From there, it’s just a matter of describing their day in reverse.

For the new homeowner of a fixer-upper, the days probably look like this:

• Up and out the door early, because they’re working super-hard to meet the mortgage payments
• These are go-getters who aren’t faffing around on the internet all day – a 24-year-old who can afford a house in a small town, and a 32-year-old who can afford a loft in Toronto, are driven, entrepreneurial types who aren’t spending 4 hours a day ‘exploring’ Google+
• After work, they aren’t wasting too much time and money partying with friends or eating out – they’re going straight home to spend their time and money on their new places
• When they get home and do get online, they’re price-shopping for DIY supplies, searching for termite solutions, or watching how-to videos about how to install new countertops
• Their online time is primarily spent on weekdays, because the weekends are big project days

…and suddenly you know exactly how and where to advertise your anti-termite treatment:  You need to be on YouTube, DIY sites, and invest in some SEO and good relevant content development.  A customized online promotion with Home Depot or Canadian Tire wouldn’t hurt either.

You even know the kind of message you need.  It’s going to be a combination of price and credibility, since these guys are on a budget and they feel like they got totally screwed by the people who sold them their new homes.

It’s all about figuring out what your consumers have in common.

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Chris Patheiger is a Vice President of Business Development at Redux Media, a leading international online publisher network of top-quality, specialty websites and media representation firms. Chris is responsible for Communications, Sales and E-Publisher of TheMediaPath.com online advertising Blog. He can be reached at chris@reduxmedia.com