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How To Digitally Target The DIY Weekend Warrior

By 2017, the US DIY (do-it-yourselfer) market is expected to balloon to a whopping $40.7 billion annually. So if you happen to have a product that lands in that market, your industry is on an uphill climb. All that means, however, is your market will only become more competitive and more segmented.

So what are the best target demographics for the DIY shopper? To start, let’s look at the home life of your regular DIYer. Using some of the many tools available we can come up with a buyer persona. This build out would clearly change depending on the product, but for the sake of argument, let’s pretend you’re searching for someone wanting to renovate a kitchen or another room in their house.

Demographics

In today’s digital age, the Weekend Warriors are typically married, first time home buyers and have a combined income of $75k-$125k. The bulk of the age range will fall between 26-38. From here you would want to segment the message between male and female. One could be more honey-do oriented. Another could be more “Surprise her with a new office or kitchen”, “finally finish the basement”, or “She’s asked you to clean out the garage, now is the time to make moves. “

Where They Shop.

Today’s DIYer tends to be more tech savvy, frequenting online shopping sites like Amazon, Lowes, and Home Depot. If targeting on Facebook, look to add other large scale chain hardware stores like Ace or True Value.

What They Consume.

DIYer’s consume tons and tons of video. If they run into a problem while on their project, they are more likely to hop on YouTube than call a company for help- this speaks to their digital savviness.  To stand out in this market, video is a must. According to Google “A DIYer is more likely to buy from a brand or retailer that has online videos to help with their DIY project.” Combined the top 6 DIY Youtube channles have a combined 1.8 million subscribers. 

What sites do they frequent?

DIYers frequent sites like Pinterest, search engines looking for materials for their next project or retail mega box stores like Lowes or Home Depot. Buzzfeed is becoming a master of reaching today’s tech-savvy DIY audiences. Just look at their Tasty and their new DIY oriented Nifty Facebook pages.

What do they value?

A DIYer is more often influenced by the perceived quality of a product than the price. They are a you-get-what-you-pay-for consumer. For many, DIYing is something they enjoy, not something to do out of necessity. This means they are more likely to splurge on a product that cost a little more.  These are people who would much rather MAKE than consume. These are the people that will value a creative project and would watch a time-lapse video of someone building a dresser our of pallets or use household items to create a unique lamp.

Who do they trust

The DIYer trusts companies and brands that again publish how to’s. This is also a strong word of mouth industry, so influencer outreach here is extremely valuable. As a brand, you need to show your quality, and that you know what you’re talking about. Keep the content on your pages and social channels fresh to keep the traffic coming.

So how do you reach this person?

Easy — reach them where they spend their time and where the ad will be most native. If they are spending a lot of time on YouTube, create short skippable and unskippable pre-roll videos. If they shop Amazon for deals on tools, you have promoted products. Create a unique do-able product on Pinterest linking to buyable pins. If they frequent retail sights, create an AdWords search and display campaign to catch them before or even while they are searching for a competitor’s product. Produce shareable content for Facebook of DIY projects using your products – but don’t try to sell this content. Think of this content more like a product placement rather than the hard sell. For all intensive purposes, you want to incept them with and idea or project, which your product or service is needed to complete. In the end, it’s that inspiration that will lead to $$.

Need help taking on this audience behemoth? Stratablue can help!