The Customer Prospecting by Demographic Data tool allows you to search for areas (standard geographies) that meet certain criteria. These criteria are usually determined by the Customer Profiling tool.
This tool generates an output feature class by querying a demographic data layer (for example, ZIP Codes, census tracts, block groups, and so forth) based on the parameters set in the Demographic Query dialog box. This new layer will contain all the variables defined in the query and will only display features of that layer that meet the query criteria.
How to set up your query
If you want to profile the customers of a national women's clothing retail chain based on your results from the Customer Profiling tool (or internal metrics), and you have determined that your customers have a median household income of $35,000, a median age of 30, and are predominately female, you could set up your query to search for these parameters at the block group level. When prospecting your customers, it is recommended that you set a range for these values, since it is unlikely you will find many (if any) block groups that would have all these specific values.
The resultant output feature class would contain all the block groups that met the requirements set in your DMQ file (or through the Way to Define Demo Query tool). In other words, you would be able to see all the block groups that would be likely to contain customers that you would expect to shop at your retail stores within your market (or boundary layer).
