Market-driven news can be an effective way for companies and marketers to communicate with their audience. Although market-driven journalism gets a bad rap, it doesn’t have to be a negative thing. In fact, there are some good examples of market-driven journalism that are actually useful to the consumer, as well as a tool for the company behind the news. In this article, we will be discussing market-driven news and market-driven journalism in detail.
The Definition of Market-Driven News
The first thing that you have to do is define market-driven news. Market-driven news and market-driven journalism are for the most part interchangeable. The term refers to journalism that is targeted towards a specific audience, usually combined with advertising that is targeted towards that same audience. Obviously, this can sometimes mean that the content and purpose of the news being reported is either consciously or unconsciously intended to convince or convert listeners to the products or services being advertised.
A good example of market-driven news, also sometimes called market-driven media, is the trade magazine. Trade magazines are targeted towards specific audiences within a certain industry, and those that are published by companies within that industry that have products or services to sell, can sometimes read more like a sales pitch than an actual news story. But some of the time, the news content is actually relevant and useful to the reader, and it is news that they would likely not be getting from another source because it’s so industry-specific.
Advantages of Market-Driven News
There are actually a number of advantages to market-driven news. Generally, market-driven news is targeted towards a specific demographic, including a certain age range, gender, income level or geographic area. This is the market that is being targeted by the company that has products or services to sell. Companies may try to produce or influence news to appeal to that market, but this can be beneficial for the consumers of the news as they may be getting information that they might not have gotten elsewhere. In addition, since it may be being produced by someone within the industry, it will have a lot more relevance to the consumer.
Disadvantages of Market-Driven News
But the problem with market-driven news is that it is created with that target audience in mind, and that can lead to a very narrow point of view. In addition, if there is a product or service being indirectly promoted by the news, consumers may not get all of the available information or options. In other words, there is a tendency for market-driven news to be biased, both to appeal to that particular target market as well as to promote certain products.
Conclusion
The good news is, for marketers this type of news can be extremely beneficial. Because information is being selected and customized for that target audience, they are going to be more receptive to messages that are contained within that news, which means that marketers can use it to influence potential customers or become introduced to those customers.
