Three Ms of Marketing - Media Match

Let’s say you have decided that your target market is middle-class women aged 50-65 years old. Would you spend all your money advertising during the telecasts of college football games? Why not? Women in that age bracket do not form a major portion of the football watching public. Of course, that is an overgeneralization. But good demographic analysis depends on generalizations. While I would not assume than any individual woman 50-65 doesn’t watch football, I can reasonably assume that as a group they do not.

When you choose a media mix for marketing your product or service, you have to make a good match between the medium and the market. To do this you have to do your research. Don’t be afraid to ask your advertising representative for a demographic analysis of their audience. Local radio and television stations usually have Arbitron or Nielson ratings. Newspapers have circulation reports.

But don’t just look to see who has the largest number of viewers, listeners or readers. Find out who those viewers, listeners and readers are. If you have a product, targeting women 45-65, even if the hip-hop station has the largest audience of all the local stations, it will not be effective for you. The Number 3 easy listening station might be a better choice. This is why identifying your target market is the first step in the marketing process.

But age and gender aren’t the only considerations. Also think about economic factors like household income and occupation. I worked at a classical music station. We had a small audience, but our mailing list included most of the high income people in town. Consequently, we had the Cadillac dealership and two high –end furniture stores as satisfied customers. Likewise, if your product or service targets a particular business, consider advertising in trade magazines, newsletters and web sites which serve that business.

For the most part, a little common sense is all you need to match the media to the market.