You know your own zip code, but do you know who you are surrounded by? Do you have more Active Senior Singles in your neighborhood than Twentysomethings? Or are you inundated by Newly Formed Households? These are just several of 43 classification names coined by one demographic marketing company. There are many variables to consider when looking at the demographics in your business area, and many ways to research this data.

Al Cleinman, of Cleinman Performance Partners, Oneonta, N.Y., says there are two questions eyecare professionals need to ask themselves about this topic: What are the demographics of my marketplace? And, what are the demographics of my patients?

"It's the difference between the two that's critical," he says. "The biggest mistake that professionals make demographically is allowing there to be a disconnect between the demographics of your marketplace and the people you want to attract. You have to know both," he says. "Whom do I attract? Are there enough of them? And, how do I get to them?" Cleinman asks.

Lining Up Information

"Who am I targeting?" asks Tom Exter, Ph.D., senior director United States Standard Data at Compusearch, a demographic data company based in Toronto. "It's a natural question for any retail professional. A key thing to know is whether you are in a growing or stagnant market."

One place to begin research is with your local Chamber of Commerce, says Sheldon R. Gerarden, president of the Greater Norwalk, Conn. Chamber of Commerce.

"We maintain demographics on the local community. We also work with the regional plan agencies, and we have resources in the state that maintain a lot of
statistics," he says.

Gerarden says that businesses don't necessarily have to be Chamber members to access information, although some Chambers will charge for these materials.

Depending on a community's size, the local Planning and Zoning Commission and Department of Economic Development can also provide supplemental statistical data.

One commonly overlooked source for demographic information is the local library, Gerarden says. The library will have United States Department of Commerce books such as the State and Metropolitan Area Data Book, updated annually, which is a local area supplement to the Statistical Abstract of the United States.

State Rankings is another annually updated reference book that provides state-by-state statistical information on everything from projected American Indian population to divorce rates and voting statistics. Health Care State Rankings, from the same publishers, examines healthcare in each state.

Info a Keystroke Away

A handful of companies provide small-area demographic data for businesses. A fair amount of demographic information is free and easily accessible on the Internet.

For instance, if you log onto CACI Marketing Systems's site at www.demographics.caci.com you can do a free zip code search. Input "90210" (Beverly Hills, Calif.) and you'll get a synopsis of this area as "one of the wealthiest areas in the United States." The zip code search will break the data down further into population, population by gender, population by race, income figures and housing figures, which are further broken down by percentages. All of this information is updated annually. Businesses can purchase detailed demographic reports ranging in price from $30 to $100.

Easy Analytic Software's site at www.easidemographics.com also provides some free demographic information. For example, type in any city or county at this site, and receive detailed "Significant Variable Reports" on population broken down by age, race, and gender. Users can also receive free demographic profiles via e-mail.

Claritas is another software company that offers some free information at its Web site, www.connect.claritas.com. Claritas Connect is a Web-based business tool that allows users to choose reports on demographic profiles and trends, lifestyle segmentation, healthcare supply and demand, and traffic counts. Claritas Connect has some free report samples available. However those who want more detailed statistics have to pay an annual membership fee of $195, where access to all data is on a "pay as you go" basis.

Mapping Markets

Eyecare professionals who want to go a step further and map geographic information, may want to look into companies such as ESRI (www.esri.com) in California or MapInfo (www.mapinfo.com) in Troy, N.Y. Both companies provide geographic information software (GIS) for bringing color and analysis into what would otherwise be just a table of numbers. Now that GIS has become more user friendly and affordable, more companies are using GIS as a way to analyze business trends.

The U.S. Census Bureau, found at www.census.gov, contains loads of raw demographic information and interactive software tools such as downloadable Integrated Microcomputer Processing System (IMPS), which performs the major tasks of census and survey processing. Many CD-ROMs are available for purchase at this site, including 1996 American Housing Surveys, County Business patterns, and much more.

The site also contains the government's Topologically Integrated Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) digital data base of geographic information. Users can use their own GIS to import data and produce maps ranging in detail from a neighborhood street map to a United States map.

The American Community Network at www.acn.net is chock-full of free information useful for researching, evaluating, and comparing communities.

American Demographics magazine and Web site at www.demographics.com is yet another source of information. On site, users will find a search facility, a marketing tools directory, as well as a sources page with links to other informative demographic sites.

Finally, anyone can access statistics on the Web using FedStats at www.fedstats.gov, which links to more than 70 government agencies, including the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Once you track down demographic information for your business, what is the best way to put it to use? "Put it in the hopper," Cleinman says. "There are certain elements that can be used scientifically, like direct mail campaigns, but demographic information is simply one piece of the marketing mix."

He cautions that eyecare professionals should target markets carefully, and that it should fit into the overall business plan. "What it all boils down to," he says, "is that marketing is everything." EB