5. How did you attract/address your audience?

In order to successfully attract my audience I had to think carefully about what they wanted and needed from a magazine. Using ‘Malsow's Hierarchy of Needs’ it became apparent that what people require in order to live are aspirations, confidence, creativity etc. all of which my magazine could offer. By displaying famous artists with undeniable talent my magazine would be giving the readers hope and fuel for their dreams and desires. Essentially when the audience buys my magazine they are buying a little piece of that dream.

By considering the ‘Uses and Gratifications Theory', there could be a number of reasons for consumers to be buying my product. The ‘Uses and Gratifications Theory’ is a theory that centres on the understanding of why people use media. It is based on the premise that the modern audience are not passive consumers of the media. Instead they choose what media to buy and how it will thus integrate into their own lives providing them either with sources of entertainment, education, social affairs, current affairs and information. The demographic buying my magazine would either wish to be entertained by funny articles/their favourite bands or wish to escape from everyday life and so immerse themselves in the images and content of my magazine. Otherwise they may simply want information, such as tour dates, album releases or details regarding their preferred artists. Also, by staying up to date with these sorts of things it helps to ensure a certain degree of social interaction. After reading up on what is going on within the rock genre it means friends can talk about bands and music together and even form a deeper relationship based on mutual likes and tastes. The final reason for buying my magazine would be personal identification. As humans we generally like to identify personally with our idols and to draw similarities parallel to them as well as aspiring to be just like them. I believe that the most important one to consider is social interaction as it not only benefits the audience but will be extremely advantageous to my magazine given that sales would increase simply due to word of mouth which is completely free advertising. A different from of interaction I can offer my reader is via exchange, which is when magazines offer readers the opportunity to contribute and interact with the text in order to make them feel like they are part of the magazine. Exchange means that we are no longer passive recipients of the text. Due to web 2.0, the public has become more interactive given that we can now upload videos to ‘YouTube’, statuses on ‘Facebook’, form playlists on ‘Spotify’ and much more which is completely free and easy to do. This means that an old media text (magazine) has to evolve to incorporate this level of interactivity in order to compete with newer magazines. Some ways to encourage exchange would be to have a competition in which reader's make their own music videos and upload them to ‘YouTube’ with a prize offered to the best one. Also, in the way of user drive content readers could submit online reviews of new albums or gigs which would then in turn get published in the next issue of the magazine if good enough. Regarding my magazine, on my contents page I have sections for competitions, live reviews and album reviews which all help boost the idea of exchange among my audience.

Due to the sheer amount of channels and radio stations now available to the audience, audiences are now fractured meaning that it is harder to target a specific demographic given how divided reader's are. However, one way to overcome this is by having a multi-platform approach meaning that various accounts for my magazine are created on ‘Twitter’, ‘Instagram’, ‘Facebook’, ‘YouTube’, ‘Spotify’ etc. Thus I will have a better chance of targeting my audience if I have some sort of form of recognition on each social media platform. If my magazine becomes successful enough, eventually like ‘Kerrang!’ magazine it could have its own music channel and radio station specifically for the niche audience that make up my demographic. Another key way to create more publicity for my magazine is by using synergy. This is when a mutually beneficial relationship is created between two texts. For example, I could have a page used to advertise another magazine and then that magazine in turn would have a page publicising my brand. This means that we would both get more fans from each other's products coming to check out something recommended by a magazine they trust and enjoy reading. One of the ways I chose to encourage exchange within my magazine was to provide a code on the contents page which can then be used online to get a free exclusive acoustic music download. This means that the reader would have to visit the magazine's site in order to actually get the download and so would hopefully spend some time on the website whilst there.

The language used would also be important in enticing my audience thus meaning that my choice of buzzwords would have to be considered carefully. Also by using colloquialisms my magazine will be seen as something informal and personal for reader's to enjoy rather than something talking down to them which would deeply aggravate my demographic given that they are teenagers. By considering this approach I am building a sense of community around my brand. I am inviting the audience to be a part of something centred on a mutual love for rock music.