In the simplest of terms, media fragmentation is the breaking up of media channels into categories and sub-categories. Before, media referred only to television, radio, and print publication. Now we have the word wide web. Furthermore, each of these media channels are also being fragmented. Television for instance has all sorts of categories like free TV, cable TV, satellite TV, etc. Newspapers are breaking down their pages into more and more sections. We now have digital radio, satellite radio, and internet radio. Magazines are becoming more and more focused on a niche. We now have magazines that solely tackle bird-watching or coin collecting or making toy airplanes. The internet is probably the most fragmented of them all.
With that said, it's interesting to learn how all these are affecting the marketing industry. The marketing industry is directly connected to the media so it's just natural that it's among those who are affected the most by all the media fragmentation that's been occurring. After all, the main reason why media channels break up and take new routes is to find ways on how to effectively market a product or a service to targeted consumers.
If you are to look into the big picture, media fragmentation actually benefits marketers overall. There are of course huge negative effects but these are nothing compared to the opportunities and advantages that all these new media channels are bringing to the table. And let us not forget that all these things are meant to happen. This is what technology and development is all about. For us to seek new ways in doing and accomplishing things. Imagine if we have no internet today and that we're still stuck to getting our news from radio, TV and print mediums. This doesn't sound too encouraging, is it?
Now, if you are a marketer, how will all these affect your marketing strategies? The first glaring benefit to marketers is the fact that you now have more venues to conduct your promotion activities. If for instance radio marketing is your main cup of coffee, then there's the added opportunity of advertising whatever it is you are selling to audiences from all over the world via internet radio. And this is not to mention the fact that only are you advertising to more people, the advertising fee is often much less as well compared to traditional radio advertising.
The biggest component of media fragmentation is probably the arrival of the internet. The internet literally revolutionized how marketing is done. This is not to say that it signals the end for other media channels like radio, print, and TV. It instead offers more opportunities for them to showcase their content. This is where you as a marketer comes in – to show to them how they should go about promoting and marketing their content online. There are TV shows who are able to ramp up their viewer ratings due to their online presence.
As we stated earlier, media fragmentation has its own share of ill effects. But don't let these take your eyes off the big picture and lose sight of the many benefits and advantages if can provide for your marketing strategies.
