ASSIGNMENT #2 – post #2

POST #2

Identify a specific target audience informed by an analysis of the Sensis data.

In accordance with my findings from the Sensis data report, I would like to target a younger age bracket being within 18-24 years of age and female. I have made this selection as the report suggests that usage and frequency of social media sites tend to decline with age, as within the past five years the number of adolescents using such sites have increased dramatically. In addition to this, females are also more frequent users as 41% of females access social media more than five times a day compared to the 26% of males.

Studies examined within earlier posts have demonstrated the significant effects of social media upon us at this time. There is an evident sustained growth in demand, as 88% of online consumers now utilise social media, being an increase from preceding years. Social media is a growing force which facilitates both the online creation and exchange of content, allowing consumers to easily communicate with others about products, services, and brands that are available within the marketplace. According to the Sensis data more than four in ten consumers (44%) are following businesses or brands via social media, also showing an increase from previous years. Moreover, this study shows that females (52%) are following brands or businesses much more than males (35%) and this behaviour tends to decline with age. Those aged 18-29 are more than four times as likely to follow brands or businesses on social media than the 65 plus age group (64% to 13%). This research aligns with my chosen target audience as young females (18-24) appear to be much more involved within the social media facilitated marketplace. 

Furthermore, young females reported more personal dissatisfaction and disordered eating than males (MacNeil & Best & Davis, 2017). This being my target audience, I would like to further examine the effects of social media based advertising as they tend to be the age group most affected by body image concerns (being relevant to my question posed in the previous post). This compliance with social pressures is what advertising groups appear to use to their benefit, whereby advertising groups employ varying marketing strategies to profit off of these false inadequacies felt by social media users within this targeted audience.