How did you attract/ address your audience?
Within my magazine production I involved my target audience in several different ways throughout, allowing them to have an input and help me get my magazine to its final stage, ensuring that it appeals to my audience and meets their wants and needs. I did this through methods such as, Facebook & Social Networking comments/feedback, Questionnaires and also Focus Groups as well.
Questionnaire:
I began by making a questionnaire for members of my target audience to answer. I did this very early on in the research and planning stage and this therefore enabled me to find out what things they wanted me to include in my magazine, what magazines they already read, what bands they liked, what type of rock music they listened to, how often they attended festivals and gigs, how much they’d pay for my magazine and additional questions on font styles and colour too.
By completing this questionnaire I was able to make sure the information I included in my magazine was what my target audience wanted to see. It also allowed me to address the appearance and layout of my magazine, taking into consideration what my potential audience wanted it to look like. Here is a link to the questionnaire results I obtained: https://emilyyharrison.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/music-magazine-questionaire/
Focus Group:
Another stage within my research and planning I held a focus group containing three members of my target audience – male and female aged between 16-19 years old. I pitched them the basic layout and idea for my magazine and asked them what their opinion was, on the name, layout and content as well. They compared my magazine drafts to already existing magazines of the genre (Kerrang!) and asked them what they liked about each and what they thought could be improved to make it better/ more professional.
By holding the focus group it really helped me find out exactly what my audience wanted in and from my magazine, additionally what they wanted the layout to be and what they wanted to find within it too. I took into consideration what was said during this focus group and tried my best to address all of their comments too.
Here is a link to my focus group:
https://emilyyharrison.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/magazine-focus-group/
Here is a link to my focus group findings:
https://emilyyharrison.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/focus-group-key-findings/
Facebook & Social Networking Feedback:
Once I had completed my magazine drafts using found images I sent the images too some members of my target audience via Whats App and received feedback on what they liked and what could be improved. Therefore, when creating my final product with my own images I made sure I addressed all their suggestions and feedback to make it better and more professional.
Once I had completed my final product I then uploaded my front cover, contents page and double page spread to Facebook and different members of my target audience commented what they liked and what they thought could be improved to make them better. This was the feedback I received from my target audience:
How my magazine appeals to the ideal reader:
How does the front cover appeal to you?
“It shows someone of a similar age as the cover model, representing them positively, it also gives an insight into what is included within my magazine e.g. interviews, reviews, articles, competitions, quotes etc which are things I am interested in and things that I want to see.”
How does the contents page appeal to you?
“The contents page gives me more information on what is included and instantly I can see that all the things included are things I want to see and read about. The colours used are intriguing and eye-catching and the layout is simple and easy to look at”
How does the double page spread appeal to you?
“It looks professional and eye-catching, this is due to the colours used and the layout chosen as well. There is not too many pictures/the picture does not take up too much room and therefore the focus is the text. It is very informative, yet the language used is not too complex, it’s got a sense of humor too. I like the image used too”
Overall, I have included all the different aspects that my target audience wanted, I have also stuck to what they liked about the layout and content and I made my product look as professional as possible, therefore I believe that my product attracts my target audience of 16-26 year old teenagers/young adults.
I have attracted my audience by including a flash which offers them free information which acts as a unique selling point as well as including a footer which also includes a WIN feature. These both attract the audience to my magazine because they involve them and they feel as if they’re getting things that they wouldn’t with other magazines. Furthermore, I included a subscribe feature offering the readers discount on the magazine and I also included the content that they asked for.
I included interviews and reviews as well as free content and gig guides as well. This was what my target audience wanted when I held my questionnaire. Also, the colours used and the fonts used were ones my audience informed me they wanted and would look good on my magazine. Moreover, the photographs are eye-catching and bright and they reach out to the audience immediately. They are of bands and artists within the genre of music that they like and therefore it addressed them and their needs.
emilyyharrison 