Meaning & use
secondary audience
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Meaning
nouncountable
The group of people who are not the main readers or viewers but still receive a message.
Grammar: Countable; often used with 'the' or 'a'. The main group is the 'primary audience'.
Patterns
- the secondary audience for something
- reach a secondary audience
- a secondary audience of something
The report was written for managers, but investors were an important secondary audience.
Advertisers often target a secondary audience of parents when selling children's products.
Although the primary audience is students, the website also attracts a secondary audience of teachers.
Word forms
| plural | secondary audiences |
|---|
Common combinations
- reach a secondary audience
- The podcast reaches a secondary audience of language learners.
- target a secondary audience
- The campaign targets a secondary audience of young professionals.
- the secondary audience for
- What is the secondary audience for this manual?
- primary and secondary audiences
- Good writers think about both primary and secondary audiences.
Synonyms and how they differ
- indirect audience
- 'Indirect audience' is less common and more technical; 'secondary audience' is the standard term in media and writing courses.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: secondary audience or target audience?
secondary audience vs target audience
'Target audience' is the group you mainly aim at; a 'secondary audience' is an additional group you also reach.
Practice
In 'The guide is for new employees, but customers may also read it,' who is the secondary audience?
Choose one answer.
The main readers are new employees (the primary audience), so the customers who may also read it are the secondary audience.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “secondary audience”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.