Many businesses want to market to all carbon-based life forms. They won't take the time to really understand their audiences from geographic, demographic and psychographic perspectives.

Marketers waste a lot of time and money when they consider everyone a prospect. It requires research and a lot of thought, but for my money one of the most important elements to marketing success is clearly defining your audiences.

Geography allows you to target locations more finitely by country, state, city, neighborhood, and telephone number. You can target digital locations by knowing Internet service provider and email service information.

Demographics helps you define audiences by such elements as age, gender, marital status, race, employment status, industry, income, education, household size, market size, job function, intent to purchase, lifestyle-related habits and geographic location.

Once you have your geographic and demographic information, you can put your marketing on steroids by adding psychographic information such as personality and emotionally based behavior linked to purchase choices. Psychographic qualities you might consider include buying history, similar or related product and service interest, and activities, or hobbies.

Demographics help you identify people who might need your product or service, while psychographics help you identify those who need and desire it.

Having finely targeted your audiences in this fashion makes it easier for you to "clone" your best customers, and make the most of your limited marketing resources.

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Focus Four, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, Verbatim and Youth Link USA.