Target Audience

For this part of our commission unit we have to create promotional materials aimed at a target audience of 14-25 year olds. A target audience is group of people within one specific target market at which the marketing message is aimed at.

A target audience can be people of a certain age group, gender group, martial status, etc (for example teenagers, males, married people. A certain combination like teenagers from 14 - 25 is often known as a target audience. Discovering the appropriate target market and  determining the target audience is one of the most important activities in marketing management. The biggest mistake entrepreneurs are making is trying to reach everybody ending appealing to no-one.

A target market is a group of customers that the business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise. A well-defined target market is the first element to a marketing strategy. The target market and the marketing mix variables of product, place(distribution), promotion and price are the two elements of a marketing mix strategy that determine the success of a product in the marketplace. Once these distinct customers have been defined, a marketing mix strategy of product, distribution, promotion and price can be built by the business to satisfy the target market.

Target markets are groups of people separated by distinguishable and noticeable aspects. Target markets can be separated into:

• Geographic segmentations (their location)

• Demographic/socio-economic segmentation (gender,age, income occupation,   education, sex, household size, and stage in the family life cycle)

• Psychographic segmentation (similar attitudes, values, and lifestyles)

• Behavioral segmentation (occasions, degree of loyalty)

• Product-related segmentation (relationship to a product)

Demographic Considerations

There are several things which must be considered demographically in order to clearly define the target audience.

Sex, age, ethnic background: This information is essential and in this case would be provided by the target audience of the product itself. Sometimes ethnic background is not an important consideration; but, as colors and terminology have different meanings from country to country, it is important to know so designers can prevent the site from evoking the wrong emotion and foster usability.

Marital Status: The importance of this information will vary from project to project, however, in the case of the computer gadget will be beneficial in the sense that it may be something better suited for a single person, or a married couple.

Occupation and Income: In the case of the computer gadget, occupation and income are very important, depending on what the gadget actually is. For instance, office professionals will likely be a huge portion of the target audience, though if the product is expensive, the target audience goes from office professionals to office professionals who earn more than £100,000 annually.

Geographic Location: Not always important, sometimes where a user lives and conducts his or her work is important to the overall design of a website. Because the computer gadget will likely be marketed nationwide, it is not a major detail, though it still should be considered when choosing hours for customer service, order and shipping cut off times. Knowing where the audience lives will allow for a time frame everyone can use once again fostering usability and appealing to the audience on the basis of convenience.

Technological Expertise: Depending on exactly how highly technological this computer gadget is, some people may not have the knowledge to use it. Targeting members without the necessary expertise is a waste of time. If someone comes to the site looking for this gadget, he or she is likely technologically advanced enough to make use of it.

The target audience which we have been asked to aim our promotional materials at is teenagers who are between 14 - 25. This age generation is the same age as what we are so this should be an easy task because we know what our target audience likes and dislikes. Many 14 - 25 year olds are known these days as the YouTube generation, simply because everything is digital and we are always using YouTube, Fcaebook, Mobile Phones, etc, whereas when the all the middle aged people were this age they weren't using Facebook to chat with their friends or catch up with family they would have to wait until they saw them next. Nearly every single young person uses or has used YouTube, to either listen to music, watch films, get help with work. We like it because mostly evrything is short and sweet and it's very easy to use. 

A lot of the young people in our target audience group are still in education either still at secondary school, in college or studying at university. Some have part time jobs as well as still being in education which is a good way of starting to become more independent and have your own money which is what teenagers like; having their own money. Most of them still live at home with their parents, but there are some who live independently on their own or in university dorms. 

This generation use computers and watch TV most of time because technology has changed over time and there is now so much more available for young people to use like iTunes, iPlayer, etc. No one uses CD's and video tapes anymore because everything is digital and easy to use. Many young people use iTunes as a way of listening to their music on their ipods. They like the way that you can shuffle through all the songs and the way that you don't have to put a whole album on it, only the songs that they want. Also these days younger people watch films and TV a lot of other different ways, instead of being at home 8 o'clock to watch Eastenders they can use:

• BBC iPlayer
• On demand
• iTunes
• iPhone
• Consoles
• Google video

BBC iPlayer and 4 OD are used a lot by our target audience because they like to catch up on the programmes that they have missed on tv so they just use these sites to catch up.

Our target audience also use iTunes and YouTube to get their music and to watch different video clips. They like YouTube because its quick and easy to use, also you can choose what you watch and when. They also like iTunes because this is a new way of getting hold of music and instead of having to buy a whole album you can just buy singles that you like and put them on your iPod.

Facebook is used a lot by our target audience. It is a social network website where people can create a profile and add friends, instant message each other and many other things. Our target audience like using Facebook because it is an easy way to keep in contact with friends and family, plus it is what everyone else is using so its kind of turning into a social normality.