Younger Consumers Easier To Reach With Online Ad Campaigns

Although online advertising has progressed in recent years, it still seems that some consumers are difficult to reach, regardless of how efficient and engaging a campaign is.

I read recently that online marketing campaigns are most successful when tailored towards a younger demographic. However, younger consumers only represent a small share of the online population and older groups are considerably harder to reach.

Consumers aged 21-34, a group accounting for about 22% the online population, is the easiest age group to reach, according to an analysis by research group Nielsen. The most difficult age group to reach is people aged 35-54, who make up 34% of the online audience, the researcher added.

Based on the analysis of around 5,000 online campaigns, Nielsen found that precision marketing can be an effective tool, since a large number of the campaigns measured were successful in reaching a specific age group. For instance, the majority (76%) of online initiatives aimed at consumers aged 18-49 reached their intended audience. These consumers represent 51% of the online population, Nielsen noted.

The results were slightly different for the 18-34 age group, where the on-target percentage appeared to be lower at 60%. Audiences in the 35-54 age bracket were reached only 41% of the time, suggesting that advertisers could be failing to capitalise on fairly large segments of the online population.

Marketers are finding it even more difficult to target their audiences based on gender. For instance, campaigns aimed at online consumers in the 18-34 age group reach the intended audience 60% of the time. However, when seeking to engage a specific gender in this age group, the average on-target percentage falls to just 46%.