How did you attract/address your audience?

Attracting and addressing ones audience plays a huge role in the success of a magazine, I was therefore careful to attract and address my target audience effectively. I largely followed the conventions of a music magazine. I did this as I felt a visually revolutionary magazine could potential alienate members of my audience, increasing the chance of failure. My house style followed the traditional trends of my target audience. By using the colour scheme of red, black and white it aimed to attract my audience by using a style they were familiar with and have reacted positively to in the past.

This did pose a slight dilemma though, whilst embracing conventions of the rock music genre, I had to have a strong, obvious unique selling point as to attract my audience and address their interests. I soon decided the content would be my USP. With no other nationwide publication solely addressing the ever-growing alternative rock market, I felt there to be a hole in the market.

Another key point in how I attracted and addressed my audience was by simply listening to them. By properly analysing and evaluating data I collected, the framework of my magazine was already complete. I knew exactly what my audience wanted to see from my magazine, from the price they wanted to pay, to the freebies they wanted to see and the tone they wanted the publication to have. These are key factors that decide whether a magazine is a success. If one doesn’t properly research their target audience then by simply choosing the wrong tone, they can alienate a large proportion of their prospective buyers, making failure likely.

Tone, as suggested previously, is massively important. The way in which a magazine addresses its audience is pivotal to its success, and tone plays a huge role in this. My target audience expressed a desire for a semi-formal tone with an educated lexis. This fits in with my target audience being largely of university age. They wished to leave the informal, often simplistic, style of magazines aimed at teenagers, a style Smash Hits embraced before its collapse.

My entire magazine revolves around this issue and I feel I have addressed it well. My publication draws  in my target audience, subtly giving off conventions they are accustomed to, it then uses large global brands such as Foo Fighters and Iggy Pop to give suggestions of the content within. And then when the piece is opened, the grammar should address the audience, creating an effective connection.