Despite Being A Smaller Percentage, The Younger End Of The Key TV Demo Is Easier To Reach Online [Nielsen]

Reaching precisely the right audience is the holy grail of advertising — both online and off. A new Nielsen study finds that precision targeting online is working, sort of, and that those targeting younger consumers are apt to find the most success.

Advertisers targeting consumers ages 18 to 49 (51 percent of the US online population) stand a very good chance of reaching their key consumers online. Just over three quarters (76 percent) of online campaigns targeting this standard TV demo connect with their intended audience.

Where it gets interesting is in the finer targeting efforts. The study finds that online campaigns targeting younger consumers ages 21-34 have an easier time reaching than those targeted at the older end of the demo, ages 35-54.

Online campaigns targeting consumers ages 21-34 reach their audience 62 percent of the time, compared with just 41 percent for advertisers aimed at consumers ages 34-54.

Below is a break out of the US online population by age and gender demos included in the report. The younger, easier-to-reach consumers ages 21-34 make up just 22 percent of the online population, while the older demo of consumers ages 35-54 make up 34 percent of the US online population.

The study was based on the average on-target percentage from nearly 5,000 campaigns measured by Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings.