Targeting audiences

Targeting Audiences

Who reads newspapers?

Fewer people are reading newspapers than ever before, but 29.1 million people a month still read British newspaper, which is greater than the population of Australia! (PAMCo, 2018)

So, undeniably, newspapers still have a mass audience.

Mass audience: refers to largest and most diverse group of audience categorisation.

Millennials: also known as Generation Y, are the demographic cohort that includes individuals who were born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s.

Demographics

Demographics is a way of categorising audiences by their income and job status. AB are the upper-class professionals, ABC1 are the lower-middle class, and C2DE are the working / non-working classes.

Men are more likely to read newspapers than women, but by a small margin - 51% are male and 49% are female.
Those aged 55+ are most likely to read a newspaper.
57% of millennials are also likely to read a newspaper. That’s two in five people every week.
Both the middle (28%) and working classes (27%) read daily newspapers.

Disposable income: money left over to spent on luxuries after paying mandatory expenses.

Psychographics

Psychographics refer to the study of people's lifestyles, values, attitudes, beliefs, and interests.

The Guardian readership tends to be more liberal and left-leaning, with a focus on social justice and environmental issues.
The Times readership is more conservative, with a focus on business and finance, and a tendency towards traditional values.
The Daily Mail readership tends to be older, more traditional and conservative, with a focus on celebrity news and human interest stories.
The Sun readership is younger, more working-class, and tends to be more interested in sport, entertainment, and popular culture.
The Daily Telegraph readership tends to be older, more conservative, and traditional, with a focus on political news and commentary.

Target Audience

The Guardian

Whilst The Guardian’s circulation sales have decreased significantly over the past few years, it still holds a mass audience and a loyal readership.
44% of their core readership are 55+.
50% are female.
Approximately 75% fall into the ABC1 socio-economic demographic.
Typically, their audience have champagne socialist values - a term used to describe pro-liberal readers with a sense of hypocrisy as they are very rich themselves.

The Daily Mail

Second best-selling UK national daily newspaper after The Sun - the Daily Mail has a mass audience and loyal readership.
59% of the audience are middle-class female and their average age is 59 years old.
62% of their audience fall into the ABC1 socio-economic demographic, with the largest group falling into C1.

Task: Read the extract and explain each of the below ideas, relating to clear examples from The Guardian / Daily Mail.

News story selection
Use of newspaper website
Use of social media
Sponsorships

audience targeting for website.pdf

Possible answers

News story selection

Reflect the viewpoints / ideologies of the newspaper. E.G. Daily Mail = conservative / right-wing (traditional representations such as monarchy / royal family etc.) and Guardian = pro-liberal / left-wing (progressive, pluralistic representations such as me too, BLM etc.).
Encourages partisan readers who value brand loyalty.
DM = Supported Johnson during partygate – TG = Investigated the scandal and reported both sides of the story. The Guardian often covers stories that are underreported in other mainstream news, which helps to attract a more informed and engaged readership.

Use of newspaper website

Allows to reach a large, global audience in other countries. Allows for ‘news sorting’ making it easier to navigate. Websites also features content such as videos, podcasts, and below-the-line comments which appeal to a younger and more tech-savvy audience. Allows for live news reflecting ‘now culture’ and a development in news production cycle.
DM = clear target audience in US, especially gossip (stereotyping female identity?) – TG = Culture tab, US and Australian news suggest a culturally savvy audience.

Use of social media

Newspapers must have a strong social media presence, with active accounts on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Mostly used to engage its audience, and promote the newspaper to different audiences. Shareable content, with headlines and captions designed to capture attention and spark conversation among followers are key. Snapchat offers digestible snippets of stories.
DM = much more image-driven, clickbait-style stories – TG = An extension of the identity from online, gears audiences to check the website.

Sponsorships

DM = Global savings group, use of popular brands and product placements e.g. The Gap
TG = Appeals to millennials through partnerships with festivals e.g. Glastonbury

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