How to target niche audiences through linear TV campaigns

Linear TV is often wrongly perceived as limited when it comes to audience targeting. As a traditional mass reach channel, the TV audiences that are bought and sold are broadly inclusive. However, using coverage reach and frequency data (CRAFT) from BARB, we can build into our TV plans a wider range of niche audiences. Incorporating household economics, consumer lifestyle statements and media use and more. Increasing our capacity to plan and evaluate linear TV activity at a higher level of targeting, which is advantageous when budgets are tight, and wastage is a concern.

Listed below are a few examples of audiences that can be pulled from CRAFT:

• ‘Read the Evening Standard yesterday’
• ‘Has a private pension plan’
• ‘Exercises frequently’
• ‘Pet owner’ (broken down by pet type- dog, cat etc)
• ‘Holidays frequently outside of Europe’

We can then analyse this level of detail down to a specific programme, e.g.

• Last month, out of the top 10 most-watched programmes for dog owners on Channel 4, 5 were films, with Crocodile Dundee delivering the greatest conversion from adults! (3.00)
• Whereas ‘The Yorkshire Vet’ was only watched by 1% of pet owners, delivering a .27 conversion from adults!

Using this data when planning a TV campaign, means we can make station recommendations, based on the capacity to deliver strong reach and conversion to the audience most relevant for the product. We can isolate this by time band, day of week or programme (as per the above) to give our TV plans further reach efficiency.

Retrospectively, we can use this information to evaluate our TV campaigns. We can provide a conversion from adult to the target, to show how efficient the TV plan was in reaching these niche audiences. We can even compare efficiency to the competition. As we have the ability to run CRAFT reports for all brands on TV, giving clients another means of scrutinising the plan and holding our selves at a higher level of accountability!

All Response Media viewpoint

Using these insights when planning and evaluating linear TV elevates the level of targeting, we can offer through traditional media. This helps us challenge newer more targeted channels e.g. BVOD and Sky ad smart, which are more expensive due to the level of audience targeting on offer. Although planning to an index versus buying an audience must be evaluated case by case, how we utilise and implement this data could mean we avoid the 5x premium that comes with the likes of ad smart and gives our TV planning a further unfair competitive advantage.

 These CRAFT audiences insights help give an added layer to our TV planning, and when combined with the other various data touchpoints in terms of performance (ARMalytics, Google Analytics) and market intel (YouGov, AdIntel) this helps us build a recommendation that is superior for brands wanting to target more niche audiences.

Read more information on our TV services.