How did you attract/address your audience?

Attracting my audience

I have attracted my target audience for my magazine through:

• Headings• Colours• Free giveaways• Price• Articles• Social networks and app• Subscription option• Writing style• Images

By using each of these things, I have helped to attract the target audience for my magazine.

HeadingsThe headings used in my magazine help to appeal to the audience as I have made them sound interesting which helps to catch their attention and bring them towards the magazine.

By saying “What’s new!” for my contents heading, it helps to attract them to my magazine as it sounds like there is something brand new every issue. This helps to make the magazine more interesting to them as they will believe that they are getting new information which they won’t get in other magazines and it will be up to date, current information which makes it even more appealing.

I have used a pull quote for the heading of the double page spread which will attract the audience as they will want to see why they said that and will make them want to read more to see the rest of the article and what the band said.

ColoursThe colours used in my magazine help to attract the audience as they are consistent throughout all of the pages which I have made. They also stand out clearly on the page and do not represent one specific gender which helps to appeal to my audience for the magazine.

I have used red throughout my magazine as the staple colour. This is so the audience will not only associate the red with my magazine but it is also not a gender specific colour so it appeals to a much wider audience.

By using the colours that I have, it has helped me to attract my audience as they stand out on the page - due to the other colours on the page generally being quite neutral and using them to highlight important details which help to attract the audience to my magazine.

Free giveaways and competitions

In both my survey and in my magazine research, I found that free giveaways, competitions and posters were a big selling point for the audience.

As I found this out, I decided to include both a competition and free posters on my front cover to help attract my audience towards buying my magazine. The banner at the bottom advertises that the posters are free and gives a few examples of the posters that they will find inside. This will help to attract the audience as they will be encouraged to buy the magazine because they will be getting free posters to put up in their rooms (which is something typical of my audience).

I also included a competition in my magazine to help attract my audience. I made sure that it was coloured brightly and would stand out clearly on the page. It is also positioned quite high up on the page so it will be clearly seen when stacked with other magazines. By saying that they can “win a signed” CD just by buying the magazine, it helps to attract my audience as they only need to buy the magazine and enter the competition to have a chance of winning the prize. As it is a signed CD by a popular band, it is much more likely to appeal to them as they will want to have the latest albums from the newest bands before their friends do.

PriceThe price of my magazine helps to appeal to the audience as it is £3.50 which is something that most of my audience would be able to afford.

My magazine comes out weekly and costs £3.50 per issue (which is similar to many other music magazines out right now). As my audience will mainly be for people aged between 16-24, so they will not have much disposable income to spend each week on a magazine. Because of this, the price of my magazine is quite low so that my audience will not be put off buying it the price is too high for them.

By having a lower price, it also means that I can include more adverts in my magazine so that it encourages the audience to buy other items relating to the magazine as they have been advertised in my magazine.

Articles and writing style

The articles and text in my magazine is written in an informal manner which would commonly be used by the audience buying the magazine. I have tried to make the cover lines interesting to read by including words like “Exclusive” which help to attract the audience towards the magazine by making it seem like they are getting something extra by buying this magazine as opposed to another one.

In the small article on the contents page I have ended the article with an exclamation mark. This helps to address the audience as the exclamation mark suggests excitement and energy which both relates to what the article is talking about and how much energy my audience has.

My double page article has also been written in an informal manner and the way that the people in the band speak helps to address the audience as it is the typical way that they will talk to one another. This helped to address the audience as they will talk in a similar way to how the band members spoke during the interview.

Social networks andmagazine app

On my contents page, I included social networking sites and the magazines app to address my audience.

I have included social networking as it is something which my audience are very familiar with and they are associated with a lot due to them being in the generation where it started to become a big industry. In my survey, I found that all of the people who took my survey were on at least one social network (generally more than one) so it is a good way of addressing them in my magazine.

I put in the images of three of the biggest social networks around right now where the can get “exclusive” extras by liking or following the magazines pages. I also included a YouTube symbol as they can find extra interviews and music videos on the channel. This attracts the audience by letting them get extra by finding the magazine on different media platforms, and addresses them by including something which they are all familiar with and use regularly.

The app which has been made for the magazine allows the audience to get a “sneak preview” of the magazine and find extras which aren’t available in the paper version. By doing this, I have attracted the audience towards the magazine as they can get it on different media platforms and they can receive extra by using the other platforms as well as the magazine. It also addresses the audience as they are commonly associated with being up to date with the latest technology and will want to get the app for the phones or tablets so that they can access it anywhere.

ImagesThe images used in my magazine help to both attract and address my audience.

The image on the front cover (which is the first that my audience will see) is of a girl who is a similar age to what the audience will be. This allows the reader to relate to the audience and see them as someone who is like them which attracts them more towards the magazine. It also addresses them though by using someone who would be a part of my audience and who the audience would act like most days.

She is also making eye contact with the camera which will draw the audience in closer to the magazine and encourage them to buy it.

In my double page spread, I have used images of men this time who are still inside the age brackets of my target audience. This is so that it still relates to the audience and attracts them towards the magazine as they are very similar.