Audience research- how audiences are targeted

v  How audiences are targeted

Audiences are often targeted via an example release of the product. Kerrang! Magazine was first published as a supplement to the music newspaper Sounds in the 1980’s, and was soon released due to the peak in purchases within the time frame that it was supplied.

  Some methods may be carried out to target the kind of audience that a company is after, such as focus groups, professional surveys and direct mail questionnaires. These can give the general baseline to where the company will want to take the product, audience wise.

The type of product you are looking for may be determined through these methods, but, as in the case of Kerrang! Magazine, a target audience may be readily available to the company. If this isn't so, and your company is in the stage of designing a product, you may have to look at a few things before hand, via primary research.

Starting questions may include:-

• ·         The gender of your audience- male/female/both?
• ·         Age of audience
• ·         Where do they live? Is this a limiting factor to your plan?
• ·        What do they do for a living?
• ·        How much money do they make? (this can contribute to the price of your product)
• ·        What other aspects of their life matter to your project?

Starting questions will give you the general basis of what your looking for, and in the case of a regional magazine, will help you create an audience specific magazine that will interest them and make them want to purchase your magazine.

Other questions you may have to encounter will be part of the secondary research, such as official statistics of other companies, how many individuals are within the area you want to apply to, and, on extending this, how many of these people are likely to actually buy your magazine? This, again through Kerrang! Had already been set due to the sales that Sounds brought in.

  Other things that company’s would need to think about are outside the general, thinking more specifically towards the individuals.

• ·         Who would influence them to buy your magazine?
• ·         Why would they buy it?
• ·         Why should they choose yours and not your competitions?
• ·         How would your customers prefer to buy

These questions would delve you into the world of marketing that would expand the degree of your consumers.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article.71816