As far as customer targeting goes, trying to connect with affluent customers is the holy grail for many marketers. Customers who make more than $100,000 per year can be a lucrative market to target. Just like any other customer group, however, targeting these customers means going where they are. Adweek surveyed a selection of these customers and found that, in general, potential customers who make more than $100,000 per year are just as likely as the rest of us to be behind the times and check MySpace, but twice as likely to be on the “early adopter” curve with new technology.

How to make use of this information

This information about media consumption in this (or any) target group should be used to inform where and how you, as a marketer, spend your time, money and effort. These numbers can help you measure the cost and opportunity cost of particular advertising media against the potential audience they can reach.

Where to put your effort

If you are trying to target the affluent niche, then this information tells you several things:

• Online marketing can be incredibly effective. These customers are early adopters, and early information about technological advances can be very helpful.
• Magazines are still widely read, but customers over the age of 45 are much more likely to see these advertisements. Print ads can be very expensive, so use them very carefully.
• Purchasing radio advertising can be effective, but the audience is limited. Drive-time is usually when the audience peaks, so purchase time carefully.