COM 227 (Campus) Public Relations
Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. They conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. They do not take policy positions.
Look at the tabs across the website banner and click on Topics. There you might select Generation X, Generation Y, Millennials, Baby Boomers, Social Media, Digital Media or other related topics. You may also use their search box and type in key words. In the first row of tabs, you might select Hispanics or Social Trends to learn more about your target audiences.
Media & Social Media Platforms/Tools
Once you identify and research the target audience(s) for your client's service/initiative/product/event/etc., and craft messages that will resonate with them, it’s time to match those up with appropriate media outlets, social media platforms and tools to convey that message to them.
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5 Steps to Finding the Right Media Outlets for Your Message This link opens in a new window (from Interprose, by Laurie Davis, March 17, 2020)
Use these databases and resources to select media and social media platforms that best match the target audience data for your client's products/services.
Muck Rack
The in-class demonstration by the MuckRack representative gave an overview of the information that can be gleaned about various media outfits, specific journalists, pitches, PR budgeting, success measurement in PR, tech and tools being used, and much more including their podcasting survey of podcasters' challenges and preferences.
- Muck Rack This link opens in a new windowLog in here to your Muck Rack account created using your snhu email address. Only members of the PR class will be able to have these accounts.
SRDS
Shapiro Library Subscribes to certain platforms within SRDS which you may access from the link below or from the A to Z Database List on the library home page. Once on the search interface, clicking on the tabs across the banner: Digital, Magazines, Newspapers, Broadcast, Direct Marketing, Claritas 360, and Influences will show a dropdown where you may access any of the items that do not have a green lock next to them.
For example, you might investigate a popular consumer magazine for where you target audience is located and find out more about that media outlet's target audience to see if it matches yours and might make it worth pursuing messaging in that publication.
Example: Boston Magazine
Type Boston into the search box, and you will immediately see some basic information like circulation figures and ad page costs.
Clicking on Enhanced Data Available, you will be taken to a page listing many other types of additional information and links including: General Information This link opens in a new window, Contacts & Reps This link opens in a new window, Circulation This link opens in a new window, Rates & Policies This link opens in a new window, Issues & Specs This link opens in a new window. It also links to: View Audience This link opens in a new window information provided by this media which will contain detailed information about that publication's audiences (print and online audiences) to match up with your target audience. The example below shows Boston Magazine's Media Toolkit page about their online readers:
You might also check out their page about their print readers to decide if their readers match your target audience, to determine if this is an appropriate media outlet for your client.
Statista
Use the Social Media button beneath the search box on the interface, or search for individual platforms: Meta (Facebook), X (formerlyTwitter), Snapchat, etc. to see user information and match to your target audience data.
Examples:
- Social Media Usage in the United States
- Target audience: Millennials in the United States (2023)
- This link opens in a new windoMost used social media platforms by type in the U.S. as of June 2023 his link opens in a new window
Look up major social media platforms:
- Facebook Statistics & Facts This link opens in a new window
- X (formerly Twitter) - Statistics & Facts This link opens in a new window
- Instagram - Statistics & Facts This link opens in a new window
- LinkedIn - Statistics & Facts This link opens in a new window
- Snapchat - Statistics & Facts This link opens in a new window
- Pinterest - Statistics & Facts This link opens in a new window
- Spotify - Statistics & Facts This link opens in a new window
- YouTube - Statistics & Facts This link opens in a new window
- Tiktok - Statistics & Facts This link opens in a new window
- Statista This link opens in a new windowStatista is one of the leading statistics companies on the internet. With a team of over 200 statisticians, database experts, analysts, and editors, Statista provides users with an innovative and intuitive tool for researching quantitative data, statistics and related information.
eMarketerPro
There are a variety of ways to use the many resources available through eMarketerPro.
General Search
You might use the initial search box to look up reports they have on a particular target audience. For example a search for "target audience" yields this report: From Gen Z to boomers, how to connect varies channel to channel This link opens in a new window (Sponsored by Data Axle) which links to a report about Generational Shifts in Marketing Preferences (see document below).
- Generational Shifts in Marketing Preferences [PDF] This link opens in a new windowDecades ago, many consumer brands relied on middlemen to get their products into the hands of their customers, however
high-speed internet and overnight shipping changed all that. Enter D2C, which bypasses retailers and other middlemen to sell directly to specified target audiences. This report discusses generational preferences for marketing communications and channels, as well as how marketers can engage their target audience.
Search for specific Media Outlets or Social Media Platforms
Look up individual media outlets/social media platforms by name:
- Limiters in the left margin to narrow/focus your results
- Select Forecasts in left margin under Content Type, usually by country, so select for example: TikTok, US. (This gives projections for the next 4-5 years for users, revenues, etc.) You may then select further limiters such as Age, Generation or Gender.
- You may limit to Article or Report, click on them and read the intro or the table of contents for relevant information.
Example: TIKTOK
Browse the Drop-down Topics
Select a topic from the banner beneath the search box at the top of the eMarketer search interface. Selecting from any item in the drop-down menu will lead to further, more specific sub-categories until there are no more specific possibilities. These lead to pages with reports or report summaries to help you decide whether to take the time to download the report.
- eMarketer.PRO This link opens in a new windoweMarketer provides access to market data, reports and analysis, company information, and more.
RKMA
Click on the link below and scroll down to the Table of Contents, select appropriate sections, noting page number; scroll down to that page.
- RKMA Market Research Handbooks This link opens in a new windowShapiro Library subscribes to a number of consumer behavior and marketing research handbooks in sports, leisure, entertainment and travel.
Sample source from RKMA
Scroll through the extensive table of contents to utilize the information you need to support your recommendation for particular social media for select populations as target audiences for your client.