New study on the media highlights need for marketing to adapt

Tuesday, 24 August 2010 08:48

A new study by OFCOM reveals interesting new habits about how people in the UK access the media.

According to the Communications Marketing Report, the average Briton spends:

• Almost half of their waking life using media and communications.
• Seven hours a day watching TV, surfing the net and using their mobile phones.

However, the average person actually squeezes in the equivalent of nearly nine hours of media and communications by multi-tasking on several devices.

The report also suggests that traditional media is holding its own. Television still dominates people's media habits, with the average person spending around 3.8 hours watching television every day.

Other interesting information to come out of the study:

Older consumers spend most of their media and communications time using TV and radio sets, while younger people spend half of their time with computers, mobile phones and handheld devices.

Compared to people over 55, 16-24s are more likely to use the TV set or mobile phone for a wider range of activities. Phone calls represent 57% of all mobile phone use by over-55s, compared with less than 25% for those in the 16-24 age group. Text messaging and social networking together make up 63% of all mobile phone use among 16-24s.

Two-fifths of the time consumers spend on a computer is on communicating with other people. But computer use varies by age. People aged over 55 spend just under 40% of their time using a computer to communicate with others, and they are more likely to use email, not social networking. For 16-24s, over half their time on computers is spent communicating with other people, and they are more likely to use social networking.

So what does this mean for marketing?

The main point to come out of this report is that there are literally dozens of ways of hitting your target customers and you cannot put all your eggs either in the new media basket or traditional media one.

It has always been important to understand your market and use the correct communication tools to reach them. But it is even more vital now - especially when you factor in search marketing (search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising).

So, when planning your marketing campaign, do some thorough background research on how your target customers access the media and build your strategy accordingly.

And if you need any help, contact us on 01892 704272.