Is it best to continue to target the people that buy our category or to reach non-category buyers? Our brand has to date targeted women of certain age group and we have currently chosen media to exclude males but now thinking maybe we should widen to non-buyers as maybe they would buy if reached. We are such a small brand so we don’t have access to large resources, access to data etc so need to make the most efficient use of our spend.

First you do need to check who actually buys. You may think it is only women or age-group but often brands find they appeal to broader group – just like their competitors. There will be some categories that are bought more by certain demographics – female tampons etc but always good to check these assumptions because many product categories are not so heavily skewed nor as skewed as assumed.

You need to look at reach and cost of media choices – you may find that using mass media hits people you don’t think are in your category (i.e. ‘wastage’ – paying to reach non category buyers) but when reviewing options it may be cheaper/more effective overall to use a mass media option than specialist, more-targeted media options. Non-category people will just screen out the communication anyway. Even category buyers will screen out so that is not the issue – it is reaching the multitude of light (extremely light), non-frequent buyers through media choices is what is needed. There is also a difference between category buyers and category users. As but one example, older demographics do still buy products from categories that are dominated by youth demographics, like for instance kids lollies, since buying for other reasons like gifting (grandparents buying for children etc). Depending on the category these instances of ‘off-plan’ buying might be more prevalent than you assume, and worthwhile catering for. The point being, you need to know – which takes number crunching – don’t just assume.