A Great Marketing Tool Built with Your Tax Dollars

There has been no shortage of criticism of how the federal government spends our tax dollars, in particular over the past two years.  But I found something recently that is worth every dollar, especially if you’re a marketer.  

The Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) has a fantastic website that includes excellent economic and employment reports, as well as, an incredibly robust and user-friendly database.  The BLS produces some very well known economic reports including the Consumer Price Index and the National Employment/Unemployment Rate. 

 

But it also contains a wealth of information for marketers.   Some of my favorite B2B BLS reports include:

• Occupational Outlook Handbook
• Industry at a Glance
• Product Price Index

My absolute favorite section is the Database, Tables and Calculators.  You could literally spend weeks in this section running reports.  Many vendors resell this information but given how tight budgets are nowadays, do it yourself.  The BLS can help you answer a wide variety of marketing related questions such as:

• Want to understand how consumer spending varies by income?  Got it, Consumer Expenditure Survey.
• Need to know how to modify pricing to adjust for inflation?  Check out the PPI. 
• Want to evaluate which industry to target for a new product?  Go hunting in the Industries at a Glance section. 

The BLS website is a great tool for conducting research on market segments, demographic trends, and consumer habits and spending.  It also an invaluable tool for understanding the health of the economy, price forecasting, etc.

You’re paying for it so help yourself, and for once, feel good about your tax dollars at work.