(By Marc Greenspan) There is a wealth of information about radio station listeners in which we can create basic profiles of our audience. So how do you determine what type of information to include in your profile?
At Research Director, Inc. we are experts at finding the right nuggets to profile your audience. In our last article, we focused on quantitative data. In other words, the “how many” aspects of your audience. Today we will focus on the qualitative aspects that help us document the “quality” of your audience. Whether you subscribe to The Media Audit, Nielsen Scarborough, or any other dataset, you have a plethora of information from which to select for your profile. We suggest the following to include:
- Socioeconomic characteristics. Who are they? Describe your listener by age, gender, education, household income, household size, number of kids, employment, etc. Look at all of the characteristics and determine what represents the majority of your listeners. You might want to write a typical listener statement such as “Our typical listener is an Adult 25-54, who is college educated, married, with kids in the household, employed full-time in a managerial and professional occupation with an above-average household income.”
- Consumer Behavior. What are they buying? Start with looking at categories that have “plan to buy.” This will give you a prospecting list for sales. It can also give you a picture of their stage in life. Are they young adults who are in the gathering mode (buying their first home, etc.) or are they empty-nesters who might be downsizing and spending more time with leisure activities? Knowing What items or services they have bought in the past year also help to describe your audience.
- Leisure Activities. What are they doing? What activities are most prevalent? Do they attend concerts, theaters, museums, sporting events, etc.? Or maybe they play the lottery or go to casinos? These are also lifestyle characteristics. This will also give you some ideas for promotions and contests.
- Media habits. How do we reach them? Analyze other media usage beyond radio. Are they listening to podcasts? How much time do they spend with other media? What type of TV programs do they watch? You will gain a sense of what your listeners are all about and how to best reach them.
Need a little help with your profile? We are here to help – just give us a call. This is what we do best.
This column is part of a series titled “Growing the Radio Pie.” To view past articles, visit The Ratings Experts at Research Director, Inc. online here.
Marc Greenspan is the CEO and founding partner of Research Director, Inc. He can be reached at 410-295-6619 x11 or by email at [email protected]. Research Director, Inc. offers consulting services to media companies to help them grow their audience, ratings, and revenue. Read Marc’s Radio Ink archives here.
