What Fragmentation Means In PR
January 14, 2009 by ShannonCherry
Filed under Marketing
Media used to be a solid thing: newspapers, TV, radio.
Now, with the Internet, and Web 2.0, it’s all beginning to blur. I’ve seen it. You’vve seen it. And now, someone has quantified it.
Ketchum and the University of Southern California Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center recently released thier survey results which says that media isn’t quite as solid as it used to be. And because of it, target markets are fragmenting.
Shannon Nelson (the other great PR Shannon, who happens to be from Pierce Mattie) tells us that education and creativity is key in helping PR firms and their clients reach these fragmented markets.
I couldn’t agree more. But I’m finding a lot of people resistant to admitting that they need to really get to know who they are targeting on an (almost) intimate level. Probably because that takes a lot of work.
One suggestion I have is to create an perfect client/customer profile, that is create a bio for that one perfect customer, including what their daily routine is like. Then, it will be easier to find him/her and reach him/her directly.
The problem is the time. However, I’m going to pull from advertising agency Sensis (www.sensisagency.com), which recently sent out the following tip:
“If you haven’t used personas to guide decisions about Web site features and navigation, as well as advertising and communications strategy, you might be missing out on a powerful tool to understand and predict the reactions and desires of your key audiences. Personas are archetypes representative of actual groups of users and their needs. Well designed and data-backed personas bring customer needs to the forefront and create a shared vision of key users.”
I think it applies well to PR efforts as well.
For full disclosure, Sensis is one of my clients. However, sometimes they are more of an educator for me than anything else. You can subscribe to the agency’s Tips on its Web site.
Shannon,
While the internet poses a new fragmentation issue, it also provides the solution:
You can get to know your customer profile better through the community aspects of the web than any other way.