Evaluation - Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

My front page will be the main incentive to attract my audience. The masthead is funky and girlie which fits in with the main image as they are seen to be girlie and cute. The main image identifies with my target audience as they are both young girls who are in their mid-teens. They are also seen as not the typical teens as one of the girls have an eyebrow piercing. This means that this magazine can also relate to the ‘unusual’, not typical young teens which means my magazine relates to almost every young teenage girl out there wanting to buy my music magazine.

On the front page, I have included free giveaways and competitions. I used the competition of winning 2 tickets to see Justin Bieber and a free giveaway of a make-up set picked by Katy Perry.  This is a way of attracting my target audience in order for them to purchase my magazine. I chose Justin Bieber and Katy Perry because they are very popular music artists at the moment and my audience like to listen to both of their songs. The promotion suggests that they can win the tickets. This will help my target audience engage with my magazine and use synergy. Due to the advancement in technology, the internet is more accessible to young children now compared to 30 years ago. As shown by figures by the ONS 77% of households have internet access. Also, I have found that 45% of internet users used a mobile phone to connect to the internet, and as more young people are getting mobile phones (smart phones) then the number of young children using the internet will be increasing.

Creating a user account on twitter and creating a fan page for my magazine will help my audience engage with the magazine using different social media platforms. I will also create an actual website where all stories and things on the printed magazine will be on the website. This helps in attracting my audience as most young teenage girls own a laptop and would rather use the internet than go out and buy a magazine.

Another way in which I have tried to attract my target audience is by the models and main images I have used in my magazine. It also links in with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as the main images are off to best friends which will attract my audience as they see friend ship to be the most important thing to them. Also, my magazine shows that dreams that we aspire to can come true. This suggests that my magazine is giving a sense of ‘Self-actualization’ as my magazines give the target audience a sense of believing that they can achieve their dreams and aspirations. This will make my demographic more likely to buy my magazine because they feel like they have a need to.

The Uses and Gratifications theory explain why we use the media. I have used this to attract my audience because we use the media in order to entertain ourselves and provide ourselves information. I have used this in my magazine in order for my demographic to feel entertained by the stories covered in the magazine, which also allows them to be provided with information about their aspirations. The magazine gives an escape from everyday life, and instead helps to be indulged by the stories and pictures on the magazine. As the article is an interview, it helps the audience get lost in the copy as it makes them feel as if they are asking the questions.

Personal identity is also another aspect of the Uses and Gratifications theory where the audience find reinforcement for personal values and finding models of behaviour. The people that I have used in my magazine are models for young teenagers. Integration and social interaction is used in my magazine to attract the audience as it is enabling the readers of my magazine to connect with society through reading the magazine.