Target Audience Research

R U ok UK? My report on Total Viewing in The UK sparked a bit of debate. https://lnkd.in/ehBAPVTf Including a lively conversation under this post by Thinkbox CEO Lindsey Clay. https://lnkd.in/eKbXTwiX THAT was THE intent of my collab with Barb Audiences. It was THE goal of this report: To start an important chat about the state of UK TV & Film. What's incontrovertible: UK's TV ecosystem is in a GREAT state of flux and this is due in large part to free-falling interest in traditional TV among younger audiences. In the home, Brits under 34 now spend more time on YouTube than BBC, ITV, Channel 4 & Channel 5 - combined. As to disagreement on the data: Some say that this data does NOT represent "share of time spent on TV." They're right. It doesn't. It DOES represent time spent across FOUR devices: TV, mobile, computer & tablet. What the "time spent on TV" response fails to recognize: To anyone born in the last 40 years, video time spent *in the home on ANY of these devices* IS TV TIME. That 'the olds' don't consider YouTube or TikTok "premium" does matter a whit. "Premium" is in the eyeballs of the beholder. To British #Millennials, #GenZ & #GenerationAlpha YouTube & #TikTok are FAR MORE important to their TV diet than "the Beeb." Why it matters: UK broadcasters have a mandate to educate & inform the UK public. Increasingly, people under 35 get "news" from YouTube & TikTok. If the UK Public Service Media refuse to embrace these platforms for their long-form news & information content, they cede these audiences to the bad actors & misinformation artists on those media. Why THAT matters: According to the UK Office for National Statistics just 27% of Brits have "high/moderate trust" in the UK gov't; just 24% trust Parliament; only 19% trust the UK news media. Look at the charts below. Do YOU think that trust in the news media or the gov't will GROW or SHRINK in the next decade? Think about what THAT means, as these generations become the largest share of UK tax payers and decide whether OR NOT to support Public Service Media. WHY I RING THE ALARM: Data from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) shows a direct correlation between the health of a country's Public Media & the health of its democracy. SEE: America, which The Economist's Democracy Index now rates as a "Flawed Democracy." There is room for nuance in how each of us interprets the data. But THIS data IS the voice of the UK audience. Viewers under 40 are telling us LOUD & CLEAR that THEY have less & LESS room for traditional TV, regardless which screen on which it is viewed. The question is: are those who run UK TV actually listening? Have thoughts? Join the debate at a Royal Television Society event this Tues 10/29. Info here: https://lnkd.in/eKwDQYQY #television #UKTV #streaming #socialvideo

If someone asked you to prove that your blog content was actually resonating with readers, what would you show them? Page views? That just means the page loaded. Engagement rate? That's a session-level metric, not a page-level one. We pour time into creating content, but the default metrics in most marketing analytics platforms can't answer the most basic question: did anyone actually read it? That's why I built content consumption tracking. It combines two signals: dwell time (were they there long enough to read it?) and scroll depth (did they make it to the end?). If both conditions are met, the content was consumed. What I love most is how it breaks down into four behavior types: Consumers (they read it), Skimmers (scrolled fast but didn't read), Tab Collectors (stayed but never finished, you know who you are), and Bouncers (neither stayed nor scrolled). My guide includes full steps to implement this on your website, including a WordPress plugin and a GTM approach for any other platform. If you've ever wondered whether your content is actually working, this one's for you! #ContentMarketing #GA4 #Analytics

This week brought more evidence of the rapidly changing media landscape, highlighted through a fascinating lens: the US political sphere and how its players are engaging diverse, key audiences. As presidential campaigns often serve as harbingers of communication trends, their approaches are worth noting for anyone in the field. In just two days recently, Vice-President Harris appeared on five major media platforms: from traditional outlets like 60 Minutes and The View to podcasts like Call Her Daddy and the Howard Stern Show, and finally, late-night TV with Stephen Colbert. This blend of traditional and newer media points to an essential evolution in how leaders think about audience reach. Harris' appearances on platforms like Call Her Daddy and Howard Stern—channels that skew younger and often different from traditional news outlets—are not accidental. They reflect a deliberate strategy to meet diverse, influential audiences where they are. Former President Donald Trump also has mixed traditional and direct media, in particular when he's been focused on reaching young men. He's showed up on the Logan Paul podcast, as well as Theo Vonn and Tim Pool, and is scheduled for Joe Rogan this week. This is a key lesson for us as communicators: Reaching decision-makers today requires an evolving media mix that includes creators, influencers, and platforms that resonate across generational lines. It’s easy to assume these channels serve only consumer audiences. But let’s remember: Millennials and Gen Z aren’t just consumers—they’re BDMs, developers, and CxOs, as well as customers of products like GitHub Copilot and Microsoft 365. Many of them aren’t consuming traditional media like CNBC or The Times of India daily. So, if we want to reach these future decision-makers, we need to engage them where they already are, from TikTok to niche podcasts. As communicators, it's vital that we continually refresh our media consumption habits to match this new reality. Start conversations about what your audience is listening to, watching, or reading—whether it’s newsletters, podcasts, or even news on social platforms. It’s one of the best ways to understand the shifting landscape and ensure we’re telling the right stories in the right places. Let’s continue to challenge ourselves to think about the evolution of media, ensuring we’re balancing traditional outlets with the dynamic, influential platforms of tomorrow. In communications, evolution isn’t just an option; it’s a necessity.

Every company says they listen to customers. But most just hear them. There's a difference. After spending years building feedback loops, here's what I've learned: Feedback isn't about collecting data. It's about creating change. Most companies fail at feedback because: - They send random surveys - They collect scattered feedback - They store insights in silos - They never close the loop The result? Frustrated customers. Missed opportunities. Lost revenue. Here's how to build real feedback loops: 1. Gather feedback intelligently - NPS isn't enough - CSAT tells half the story - One channel never works Instead: - Run targeted post-interaction surveys - Conduct deep-dive customer interviews - Analyze product usage patterns - Monitor support conversations - Build customer advisory boards - Track social mentions 2. Create a single source of truth - Consolidate feedback from everywhere - Tag and categorize insights - Track trends over time - Make it accessible to everyone 3. Turn feedback into action - Prioritize based on impact - Align with business goals - Create clear ownership - Set implementation timelines But here's the most important part: Close the loop. When customers give feedback: - Acknowledge it immediately - Update them on progress - Show them implemented changes - Demonstrate their impact The biggest mistakes I see: Feedback Overload: - Collecting too much data - No clear action plan - Analysis paralysis Biased Collection: - Listening to the loudest voices - Ignoring silent majority - Over-indexing on complaints Slow Response: - Taking months to act - No progress updates - Lost customer trust Remember: Good feedback loops aren't about tools. They're about trust. Every piece of feedback is a customer saying: "I care enough to help you improve." Don't waste that trust. The best companies don't just collect feedback. They turn it into visible change. They show customers their voice matters. They build trust through action. Start small: 1. Pick one feedback channel 2. Create a clear process 3. Act quickly on insights 4. Show results 5. Scale what works Your customers are talking. Are you really listening? More importantly, are you acting? What's your approach to customer feedback? How do you close the loop? ------------------ ▶️ Want to see more content like this and also connect with other CS & SaaS enthusiasts? You should join Tidbits. We do short round-ups a few times a week to help you learn what it takes to be a top-notch customer success professional. Join 1999+ community members! 💥 [link in the comments section]

From the Journal: For years, #media executives built their pitches to advertisers around the idea that they could reach younger audiences, with viewers 18 to 49 years old drawing a big premium and those 25 to 54 offering the greatest appeal to news advertisers. But there is a hard reality these days: Most people watching #TV are older than those groups. Among cable channels, the median age for TNT and Bravo viewers is 56, for HGTV it is 66, and even the once-youthful MTV’s median-age viewer is 51, according to Nielsen data. The cable news audience is even older, with MSNBC’s median age at 70, Fox News Media’s at 69 and CNN’s, 67. Among broadcasters, CBS’s median age is 64 and ABC’s is 66. Now media executives are embracing a new sell. They are focusing more on the mass-market reach of TV, and playing down the importance of age for advertisers. What really matters, they say, is whether your ad is reaching people who are likely to buy your product, whether they are 37 or 67. “Everybody uses credit cards and buys paper towels and buys insurance and buys phone plans, so those are not age-specific things,” said Colleen Fahey Rush, chief research officer at Paramount, owner of CBS and cable channels such as MTV and Comedy Central. The approach hasn’t stopped the overall erosion in spending on TV ads, as marketers turn to other venues—from Amazon to TikTok to Google—to reach consumers, especially younger ones. The media companies have pitched their #streaming services—NBCUniversal’s Peacock, Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max, Paramount’s Paramount+, The Walt Disney Company’s Disney+ and Hulu—as ways to reach younger audiences. So far, though, the influx of ad dollars into streaming hasn’t been enough to offset the decline in TV viewership, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The goal for media companies is to make the most of the TV audience they do have—and cushion the blow of the industry’s decline. “For decades, we have transacted on age and gender, like adults 25 to 54, as if everyone in this whole segment is the same person buying the same products at the same time,” Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal’s global #advertising and partnerships chairman, told advertisers in the room. The goal, he said, should be to find “people who are in the market for your product.” The median age of an “Abbott Elementary” viewer is 61 on ABC and 36 on streaming services, according to Nielsen data. For “The Bachelor,” the median age of a viewer is 60 on traditional TV and 32 on streaming. For all the talk from media executives about how the age of viewers is now irrelevant—how reaching willing buyers is all that really matters to advertisers—the ad business has been slow to modernize. A lot of ad sales are still happening the old-fashioned way, with networks promising to reach viewers in particular age groups. “Revolutions are hard for these large entities,” Liguori said of media companies and advertisers. “This is going to happen faster and faster.”

Cable TV is dead to young athletes. Only 50% of tweens watch live games anymore. The other half? Living on TikTok and YouTube. This isn't a trend. It's a reset. Gen Z and Gen Alpha don't consume sports. They experience it through screens they control. 85% check social media for sports content weekly. 25% do it every single day. Here's what they actually want: • 30-second trick shots that go viral • Behind-the-scenes locker room access (authentic, not polished) • Motivational clips they can share with teammates • Meme-able moments that feel like inside jokes Your tournament highlight reel on Facebook? Invisible. That same content sliced for Reels? Game changer. Youth sports orgs are responding with "create once, publish everywhere": • Game footage becomes Instagram highlights • Player interviews become TikTok content • Trending sounds amplify organic reach The data backs this shift hard. 90% of Gen Z watches sports content on social. Instagram engagement is 4× higher than Facebook for youth sports. This isn't about chasing trends or vanity metrics. It's about understanding where your community actually lives. The market has shifted beneath our feet. What worked five years ago doesn't work today. What works today won't work in three years. Organizations that adapt will stay relevant to families. Organizations that don't will wonder where everyone went. The message isn't complicated: Meet young audiences where they actually are. Mobile-first. Social-first. Authentic-first. Not because it's trendy. Because it's where the next generation lives. ___________ Follow for youth sports insights, marketing strategy, and what’s working (and what's not) as we build the first +$1B Youth Sports Ecosystem. 👉 Kylee Renouf

Micro-Trends going over Mega-Brands. Understanding that Gen Z is not loyal to brands, they are loyal to moments, can save your business. Instead of building long-term relationships with mega brands, they move rapidly between micro-trends, driven by TikTok, creators, and cultural shifts that can rise and fall within weeks. +72% of Gen Z consumers say they discover new beauty brands through social media, not traditional channels. +68% are more likely to try a new brand if it’s tied to a trending aesthetic or viral moment. >>Micro-trends over mega-brands<< Trends like “clean girl,” “mob wife,” or “latte makeup” don’t just influence purchases, they replace brand loyalty entirely. Products are no longer the focus. Relevance is. +53% of Gen Z beauty consumers switch brands frequently based on trends rather than sticking to one. +47% say they purchased a product specifically because it was part of a viral trend. >>Speed over consistency<< Mega brands are built on consistency. Gen Z moves at the speed of culture. By the time a traditional brand reacts to a trend, it’s already over. Emerging brands win by launching fast, adapting faster, and riding micro-trends in real time. +2.3x higher engagement for brands that react to trends within the first 72 hours. +60% shorter product life cycles compared to previous generations. >>Niche is the new scale<< Small, highly focused brands are outperforming large ones by owning specific aesthetics, communities, or cultural moments. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, they go deep into one identity, and win attention there. For Gen Z, relevance doesn’t come from size. It comes from specificity. Strategic takeaways: +Move at culture speed, not corporate speed. +Design for trends, not just timelessness. +Launch fast, iterate faster. +Build for a niche before scaling. +Turn products into content that fits micro-trends. The brands winning today aren’t the biggest. They’re the fastest and most culturally aligned. #beautybusiness #genzmarketing #trendforecasting #beautyindustry #brandstrategy #marketingtrends #luxurybeauty #GenZ

User Feedback Loops: the missing piece in AI success? AI is only as good as the data it learns from -- but what happens after deployment? Many businesses focus on building AI products but miss a critical step: ensuring their outputs continue to improve with real-world use. Without a structured feedback loop, AI risks stagnating, delivering outdated insights, or losing relevance quickly. Instead of treating AI as a one-and-done solution, companies need workflows that continuously refine and adapt based on actual usage. That means capturing how users interact with AI outputs, where it succeeds, and where it fails. At Human Managed, we’ve embedded real-time feedback loops into our products, allowing customers to rate and review AI-generated intelligence. Users can flag insights as: 🔘Irrelevant 🔘Inaccurate 🔘Not Useful 🔘Others Every input is fed back into our system to fine-tune recommendations, improve accuracy, and enhance relevance over time. This is more than a quality check -- it’s a competitive advantage. - for CEOs & Product Leaders: AI-powered services that evolve with user behavior create stickier, high-retention experiences. - for Data Leaders: Dynamic feedback loops ensure AI systems stay aligned with shifting business realities. - for Cybersecurity & Compliance Teams: User validation enhances AI-driven threat detection, reducing false positives and improving response accuracy. An AI model that never learns from its users is already outdated. The best AI isn’t just trained -- it continuously evolves.

Australia’s media and entertainment landscape is shifting, and sports are at the heart of this evolution. Here’s what you need to know: 1. Young Audiences Are Redefining How Sports are Consumed • Gen Z prefers sports on-the-go: With 1.5 times higher likelihood of streaming on mobile over traditional TV, Gen Z is shaping a mobile-first sports culture. This shift demands a mobile-optimized approach that keeps young audiences engaged across devices. • Supplementary content is critical: Highlights, social media recaps, and behind-the-scenes content significantly influence Gen Z’s sports habits. 70% of them report changing viewing behaviour based on social media clips alone, spotlighting the power of multi-platform engagement. 2. The Rise of Women’s Sports is Transforming Fan Engagement • Interest in women’s sports, buoyed by the success of events like the FIFA Women’s World Cup, remains high, especially among younger Australians. Over 60% of Gen Z engage regularly, with two-thirds eager to see even more representation. This marks an opportunity to deepen fan engagement and drive sponsorships within women’s leagues. 3. Live Experiences Still Matter—but Fans Want More • Stadiums and live event venues are no longer just about the game. Fans crave immersive experiences—whether through upgraded digital integrations, enhanced facilities, or social opportunities. Up to 56% of fans report that improved stadium tech, like wayfinding apps, would boost their experience. 4. The Challenge of Subscription Saturation • Subscription fatigue is real: 75% of Australians express concerns over rising subscription costs, and the average household spends $63 monthly on media. Despite this, most Australians remain committed to their streaming subscriptions. The lesson? While consumers are price-sensitive, they value quality content—offering flexibility, like ad-supported options, could help manage costs. 5. A New Era of Trust (and Distrust) in Sports Media • Traditional broadcasters maintain the highest trust among Australians, yet Gen Z is increasingly influenced by content from social media and online platforms. AI-generated content and user-generated sports clips are rising, yet they remain the least trusted sources. To maintain credibility, sports brands must ensure transparency in content sourcing and quality. These shifts signal an opportunity for sports organisations to innovate, creating multi-platform strategies that resonate with Australia’s digital-first, mobile-centric fan base. Insights from Deloitte - 13th annual Australian Media and Entertainment Consumer Insights report - https://lnkd.in/g9Cf_wcc How are you adapting your strategy to reach your fans? Let's chat, that's what we do at Sports Geek

📱 I consume a lot of content directly - say LinkedIn feed, Slack posts, WhatsApp groups. Very rarely do I want to navigate away from where I am to a different website. I do that only if I am thoroughly researching a topic or there's a format easy to consume there because of limitations of social media. For anything quick, I also tend to read the search snippets and AI results provided / curated by search engines at the top. For to-do or explainers, videos are often the go-to format, again via video tab on search results. For sources I love, I also prefer consuming content from email body of the newsletters. And not by clicking in the email to go to their page. A lot of this is via hand-held mobile devices as well. --- THIS IS A HUGE CHANGE! Few years back, for most of the information, people had to visit your website / blog for consuming any content. For detailed long-format content, often downloading gated assets was the go-to action. And for enterprise buying, the best way to get more info about your product / service was scheduling some time with your rep. This is why all tactics were aimed at driving people to your website. In addition, all this was primarily done on a computer. Plus, it was relatively easier to measure traffic and engagement. --- As i pointed earlier, this has changed. So the implications of this are: More and more long posts are trendy. You see lot of good insights in the comments as well. Byte sized videos as well as nicely illustrated carousals are consumed directly in the feed. Neutral communities are thriving on slack, whatsapp as well as certain websites / forums. Search engines often answer your questions directly without the need to go to a particular website. ----- In short, content is consumed directly on a third party site with actions hard to measure. But B2B marketing is still playing the game of tracking and attribution thereby missing out on leveraging this large behavioral shift. This does not mean that you stop proven tactics like SEO, email, ads but this means that you need to go beyond attribution data and leverage unmeasurable channels which are shaping how we consume content today!