Entertainment fills many niches, which makes it especially crucial to understand the audiences you want to reach. While there is almost certainly an overlap of interests, sports enthusiasts may not respond to marketing for concerts, nor will music lovers necessarily respond to ads for every concert type. That's why it is imperative that you thoroughly research and carefully segment your audiences and then curate your content to engage them.
When presenting entertainment options that resonate, understanding who you want to communicate with is paramount to your success. Think of it as starting a conversation and cultivating a relationship. A great conversation starts with finding common interests. Appropriately segmenting your audience lets you personalize your content to create engaging, entertaining, and effective marketing.
Effective marketing is essential for business growth, and one of the best ways to generate impact with your marketing is to package it as entertainment. Entertainment marketing can help you engage with your audience in compelling ways while conveying your core message loudly and clearly. It can also fill many niches, making it especially crucial to understand the specific audiences you want to reach.
Let's discuss how segmenting your audiences is a powerful tool for supercharging entertainment marketing in terms of both your target demographics and the platforms you use.
Segmenting Your Entertainment Company Audience
Your audience and tactics depend on your specific type of entertainment. Your entertainment marketing content should reflect your niche to resonate with like-minded consumers. Inadequate segmentation could result in an audience that is too broad, ending up with content that misses the mark and wastes money. For instance, if you are promoting concerts, what type of music do your target customers prefer?
Classic rock lovers likely will not be interested in the latest heavy metal bands, though if they have teens or tweens, they may also be interested in Taylor Swift's or Harry Styles's latest tours. Likewise, you want to know if your football fans are partial to NFL games or what we refer to in the States as soccer. Once you've narrowed down your audience segment, the next step is meeting them where they spend their time and are most likely to encounter your ads.
Understanding Your Entertainment Type
When developing your entertainment marketing strategy, you’ll also have to narrow it down to a specific type of entertainment. Your audience, tactics, and entertainment type are interconnected and must be properly aligned if you want optimal results.
Consider what type of entertainment would work best for your brand and budget, and gear your creative development accordingly. Do you want to share ongoing brand stories or offer consumers a glimpse "behind the scenes" of your company? Maybe video marketing would work best. Whereas, blogs may be more helpful if you want to share information and resources. Regardless of your decision, your content should be relevant to your core audience and feasible for your available resources.
Selecting the Platforms You Want to Use
Once you know your segment and entertainment type, it’s time to select the platforms you’ll use for marketing. It's essential to narrow down the platforms your customers frequently use so that you can develop plans to segment and market to audiences on those platforms. Common platforms include:
Common platforms include:
- Social media. This broad category caters to both old and young or professionals and consumers alike. Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are the most popular social sites.
- Video. This could be through an OTT channel or directly through your company website. YouTube is also a great way to reach your targeted audience, improve SEO rankings, and drive them to your website.
- Email marketing. Yes, email marketing can include entertainment! For instance, you can incorporate a joke, anecdote, or brand story within the email or embed a link to your entertainment content. Don't forget that many consumers will opt-in to emails for reminders about their favorite events.
- Display ads. Drive traffic to your site and increase conversion with banner ads, shoppable ads, and many others. These can be programmatic or native and will vary in their screen real estate.
- OTT/CTV. If a lot of your consumers use streaming services, it may be a good idea to invest in OTT/CTV marketing. Streaming TV is in almost every home, which is another opportunity to reach your segment.
As you refine your segments, you can narrow down the platforms your customers use and develop more specific plans for marketing to your audiences on those platforms.
Segmenting Your Entertainment Marketing Audience
Break down your audience according to pre-set segments, which you can use to share media people will relate to. There are several factors you should take into account when segmenting your audience, which include:
- Demographic data encompasses age, race, location, gender, income level, and education level, giving entertainment audiences insight to match marketing media to audience life experience. You want your entertainment content to match consumer demographics based on their life experience.
- People's jobs, habits, or purchase behavior tell you how people act and can be valuable insights into how best to reach and engage with them.
- This is probably the most relevant factor in terms of entertainment marketing. What is your audience interested in? What would they find entertaining? These are vital questions to answer if you want your efforts to leave an impression on them.
- It's helpful to understand your consumer base's typical personality, values, opinions, attitudes, and lifestyle. For example: are they homebodies, or are they adventurous?
- Audience size. Finally, what is the scope of the audience you intend to impact? Are you trying to reach a particular niche group or a broader customer segment?
Breaking audiences into these understandable groups will put you in a prime position to share media that will truly resonate with your consumers.
Match Your Marketing to Your Customers
Review your entertainment offerings and match them to the customers who will most likely enjoy what you offer, whether it's music, shows, podcasts, or a venue. This is where the pre-set segments can help tremendously. While your audience may love sports, for example, if they are homebodies, they likely prefer streaming opportunities and podcasts discussing their favorite sports, coaches, or athletes. Others may be open to going to live events but may only want to attend games in their local arenas.
Once you've considered the factors mentioned above, develop entertainment offerings that will most closely match your audience's platforms, interests, and preferences. Periodically review your content to see whether customers enjoy it, whether it includes traditional ads or music, shows, or podcasts. Remember: it's the combination of the right marketing presented to the right people in the right way that produces good results.
Personalize Ads by Finding Their Voice
Remember that engaging with your ideal customer means finding common ground. That extends not only to interests but also personality. Create ads that match your audience's voice, whether it's how they want to receive information or their sense of humor. Personalizing it by making it sound like them helps show that you understand who they are and are giving them what they want. You don't want to use the same language with gamers, for instance, that you would with opera enthusiasts.
Research indicates that over half (56%) of customers expect their interactions with a brand to be personalized to them. With that in mind, do everything you can to create ads matching your audience's "voice." It could be in terms of how they receive information (such as social media vs. display ads) or the tone of a particular ad (e.g., whether it matches your audience's sense of humor). It is essential to demonstrate to your consumers that you understand them and deliver personalized content.
When In Doubt, Consult the Experts
You must select your entertainment type, choose the platforms you'll use, define your target audiences, and personalize your messaging to the extent possible. Of course, this is easier said than done, as learning what makes an audience tick takes time and expertise.
However, with the help of an experienced media partner, you can successfully segment your audiences and personalize your entertainment marketing. With a deep local audience and national reach, we enable local businesses and national advertisers to connect with their target audiences in local markets and across the nation. McClatchy’s team of experts can help you clearly define your target audience and develop ad creative that matches them perfectly. Reach out to our team today to learn more.
