The term Designated Market Area (DMA) in marketing refers to the particular geographic areas where people typically watch or buy one television channel. Some individual stations are owned by major television networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox.
However, these networks divide their coverage areas into what is known as the local broadcast market in order to sell advertisements at various prices because they need to appeal to huge numbers of people in various geographic locations. As a result, for instance, advertisers typically pay less for advertising during children’s television programming than they do for programming for adults.
- What are Designated Market Areas (DMA)?
- What is DMA in Digital Marketing?
- What does DMA Mean in Facebook Ads?
- What are DMA Ratings?
- What is the Difference Between MSA and DMA?
- What does DMA Mean in Business?
- How is DMA Used in Marketing?
What are Designated Market Areas (DMA)?
An area of the United States known as a designated market area (DMA), sometimes known as a media market, is used to describe television and radio markets. There are 210 DMAs that encompass the entire country and are typically defined based on metropolitan areas, often combining suburbs within. The Nielsen Company establishes DMAs, which have an impact on local advertising costs.
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An advertisement will cost more the more viewers there are in a given DMA. Because of this, a television advertisement in New York City is more expensive than one in Montgomery, Alabama. Understanding the DMAs you are targeting and weighing the opportunities and costs are crucial when assessing your marketing mix.
What is DMA in Digital Marketing?
A designated market area, often known as a DMA, is a geographical area that the Nielsen Company defines and updates yearly to represent particular television markets. Advertisers employ designated market areas, or DMAs, which are non-overlapping marketplaces that encompass the entire country, for multi-media planning. DMA data is used by outdoor billboard marketers to compare out-of-home advertising to other media and to spatially target marketing campaigns.
In the United States, which consists of all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, there are 210 designated market areas. Two distinct DMAs are regarded as existing in Washington, DC. In contrast, because each of New York City’s five boroughs has its own television station, those five boroughs are listed as three different DMAs (their overlapping areas are still counted as one DMA).
It’s in the Big Apple. Since each of the five boroughs in New York City has a separate TV station, there are three DMAs in the city. However, Washington, DC is divided into two distinct DMAs.
One of the top sources of data on consumer viewing habits, including market demographics, purchasing trends, and television ratings, is Nielsen Media Research.
In addition to showing which DMAs are expanding or contracting in households that watch particular programs, Nielsen’s local TV ratings report also indicates which local stations deliver the highest-quality audience (in terms of size and composition) to advertisers.
The Nielsen Global Survey on Corporate Reputation, which offers insight into consumer behavior from reputation management, can be used to obtain this data. This study includes opinions about a company’s offerings, personnel, leadership, and environmental performance.
Additionally, respondents were questioned about how familiar they are with a company’s product or service, what elements would cause them to switch brands, and what considerations would motivate their initial purchase in each of the countries polled.
What does DMA Mean in Facebook Ads?
These are the designated market areas (DMAs) that you can target your ads to.
| DMA code | DMA name |
|---|---|
| 500 | Portland – Auburn |
| 501 | New York |
| 502 | Binghamton |
| 503 | Macon |
| 504 | Philadelphia |
| 505 | Detroit |
| 506 | Boston (Manchester) |
| 507 | Savannah |
| 508 | Pittsburgh |
| 509 | Fort Wayne |
| 510 | Cleveland – Akron (Canton) |
| 511 | Washington, DC (Hagrstwn) |
| 512 | Baltimore |
| 513 | Flint – Saginaw – Bay City |
| 514 | Buffalo |
| 515 | Cincinnati |
| 516 | Erie |
| 517 | Charlotte |
| 518 | Greensboro – H. Point – W. Salem |
| 519 | Charleston, SC |
| 520 | Augusta – Aiken |
| 521 | Providence – New Bedford |
| 522 | Columbus, GA (Opelika, Al) |
| 523 | Burlington – Plattsburgh |
| 524 | Atlanta |
| 525 | Albany, GA |
| 526 | Utica |
| 527 | Indianapolis |
| 528 | Miami – Fort Lauderdale |
| 529 | Louisville |
| 530 | Tallahassee – Thomasville |
| 531 | Tri-Cities, TN-VA |
| 532 | Albany – Schenectady – Troy |
| 533 | Hartford & New Haven |
| 534 | Orlando – Daytona Beach – Melbourne |
| 535 | Columbus, OH |
| 536 | Youngstown |
| 537 | Bangor |
| 538 | Rochester, NY |
| 539 | Tampa – St. Pete (Sarasota) |
| 540 | Traverse City – Cadillac |
| 541 | Lexington |
| 542 | Dayton |
| 543 | Springfield – Holyoke |
| 544 | Norfolk – Portsmouth – Newport News |
| 545 | Greenville – New Bern – Washington |
| 546 | Columbia, SC |
| 547 | Toledo |
| 548 | West Palm Beach – Fort Pierce |
| 549 | Watertown |
| 550 | Wilmington |
| 551 | Lansing |
| 552 | Presque Isle |
| 553 | Marquette |
| 554 | Wheeling – Steubenville |
| 555 | Syracuse |
| 556 | Richmond – Petersburg |
| 557 | Knoxville |
| 558 | Lima |
| 559 | Bluefield – Beckley – Oak Hill |
| 560 | Raleigh – Durham (Fayetteville) |
| 561 | Jacksonville |
| 563 | Grand Rapids – Kalamazoo – Battle Creek |
| 564 | Charleston – Huntington |
| 565 | Elmira (Corning) |
| 566 | Harrisburg – Lancaster – Lebanon – York |
| 567 | Greenville – Spartanburg – Asheville – Anderson |
| 569 | Harrisonburg |
| 570 | Myrtle Beach – Florence |
| 571 | Fort Myers – Naples |
| 573 | Roanoke – Lynchburg |
| 574 | Johnstown – Altoona – St. College |
| 575 | Chattanooga |
| 576 | Salisbury |
| 577 | Wilkes-Barre – Scranton – Hazelton |
| 581 | Terre Haute |
| 582 | Lafayette, IN |
| 583 | Alpena |
| 584 | Charlottesville |
| 588 | South Bend – Elkhart |
| 592 | Gainesville |
| 596 | Zanesville |
| 597 | Parkersburg |
| 598 | Clarksburg – Weston |
| 600 | Corpus Christi |
| 602 | Chicago |
| 603 | Joplin – Pittsburg |
| 604 | Columbia – Jefferson City |
| 605 | Topeka |
| 606 | Dothan |
| 609 | St. Louis |
| 610 | Rockford |
| 611 | Rochester – Mason City – Austin |
| 612 | Shreveport |
| 613 | Minneapolis – St. Paul |
| 616 | Kansas City |
| 617 | Milwaukee |
| 618 | Houston |
| 619 | Springfield, MO |
| 622 | New Orleans |
| 623 | Dallas – Fort Worth |
| 624 | Sioux City |
| 625 | Waco – Temple – Bryan |
| 626 | Victoria |
| 627 | Wichita Falls & Lawton |
| 628 | Monroe – El Dorado |
| 630 | Bi630, Birmingham (Anniston and Tuscaloosa) |
| 631 | Ottumwa – Kirksville |
| 632 | Paducah – Cape Girardeau – Harrisburg |
| 633 | Odessa – Midland |
| 634 | Amarillo |
| 635 | Austin |
| 636 | Harlingen – Weslaco – Brownsville – McAllen |
| 637 | Cedar Rapids – Waterloo – Iowa City – Dubuque |
| 638 | St. Joseph |
| 639 | Jackson, TB |
| 640 | Memphis |
| 641 | San Antonio |
| 642 | Lafayette, LA |
| 643 | Lake Charles |
| 644 | Alexandria, LA |
| 647 | Greenwood – Greenville |
| 648 | Champaign – Springfield – Decatur |
| 649 | Evansville |
| 650 | Oklahoma City |
| 651 | Lubbock |
| 652 | Omaha |
| 656 | Panama City |
| 657 | Sherman – Ada |
| 658 | Green Bay – Appleton |
| 659 | Nashville |
| 661 | San Angelo |
| 662 | Abilene – Sweetwater |
| 669 | Madison |
| 670 | Fort Smith – Fayetteville – Springdale – Rogers |
| 671 | Tulsa |
| 673 | Columbus – Tupelo – West Point – Houston |
| 675 | Peoria – Bloomington |
| 676 | Duluth – Superior |
| 678 | Wichita – Hutchinson Plus |
| 679 | Des Moines – Ames |
| 682 | Davenport – Rock Island – Moline |
| 686 | Mobile – Pensacola (Fort Walt) |
| 687 | Minot – Bismarck – Dickinson (Williston) |
| 691 | Huntsville – Decatur (Florence) |
| 692 | Beaumont – Port Arthur |
| 693 | Little Rock – Pine Bluff |
| 698 | Montgomery – Selma |
| 702 | La Crosse – Eau Claire |
| 705 | Wausau – Rhinelander |
| 709 | Tyler – Longview (Lufkin & Nacogdoches) |
| 710 | Hattiesburg – Laurel |
| 711 | Meridian |
| 716 | Baton Rouge |
| 717 | Quincy – Hannibal – Keokuk |
| 718 | Jackson, MS |
| 722 | Lincoln & Hastings – Kearney |
| 724 | Fargo – Valley City |
| 725 | Sioux Falls (Mitchell) |
| 734 | Jonesboro |
| 736 | Bowling Green |
| 737 | Mankato |
| 740 | North Platte |
| 743 | Anchorage |
| 744 | Honolulu |
| 745 | Fairbanks |
| 746 | Biloxi – Gulfport |
| 747 | Juneau |
| 749 | Laredo |
| 751 | Denver |
| 752 | Colorado Springs – Pueblo |
| 753 | Phoenix (Prescott) |
| 754 | Butte – Bozeman |
| 755 | Great Falls |
| 756 | Billings |
| 757 | Boise |
| 758 | Idaho Falls – Pocatello (Jackson) |
| 759 | Cheyenne – Scottsbluff |
| 760 | Twin Falls |
| 762 | Missoula |
| 764 | Rapid City |
| 765 | El Paso (Las Cruces) |
| 766 | Helena |
| 767 | Casper – Riverton |
| 770 | Salt Lake City |
| 771 | Yuma – El Centro |
| 773 | Grand Junction – Montrose |
| 789 | Tucson (Sierra Vista) |
| 790 | Albuquerque – Santa Fe |
| 798 | Glendive |
| 800 | Bakersfield |
| 801 | Eugene |
| 802 | Eureka |
| 803 | Los Angeles |
| 804 | Palm Springs |
| 807 | San Francisco – Oak – San Jose |
| 810 | Yakima – Pasco – Richland – Kennewick |
| 811 | Reno |
| 813 | Medford – Klamath Falls |
| 819 | Seattle – Tacoma |
| 820 | Portland, OR |
| 821 | Bend, OR |
| 825 | San Diego |
| 828 | Monterey – Salinas |
| 839 | Las Vegas |
| 855 | Santa Barbara – San Mar – San Luob |
| 862 | Sacramento – Stockton – Modesto |
| 866 | Fresno – Visalia |
| 868 | Chico – Redding |
| 881 | Spokane |
What are DMA Ratings?
DMA, which stands for “designated market area,” is also sometimes referred to as a media market, media region, broadcast market, or under a few more names that are similar. Media markets are ranked according to the size of their TV and radio audiences using the DMA rank methodology. Marketing experts can use the data to support how and when to buy ads, while PR professionals can use it to target particular geographic areas for news and awareness-related outreach.
It is crucial for PR professionals to have access to the 2020 Nielsen DMA rankings since they will enable them to more precisely target regional campaigns across various regions. Furthermore, localized campaigns heavily rely on the DMA. Large radio markets can be harder to break into than medium and small markets since they are frequently overrun by pitches. You may efficiently get your message into the metro market and incorporate it in your results by pitching stations that “ring” the metro area of a DMA.
Stations that were previously solely available via terrestrial transmissions have gained new listeners as a result of the proliferation of streaming and digital devices.
In order to adequately account for and incorporate these listeners, who in some cases include people who are far from the market that generated the material, agencies must continuously update their reporting methodologies. For instance, if you have a computer or mobile device that can stream their signal on-demand, it’s simple to listen to a Los Angeles radio station from anywhere.
The main objective of your campaign should still be to reach as many (appropriate) listeners as you can, even if those listeners are in small and medium-sized areas. PR practitioners must comprehend the underlying geographic and demographic advantages of accessing DMA information in order to accomplish this within the time and financial constraints that frequently go along with campaign strategies.
DMA data can be used to restrict a campaign’s outreach parameters, which can actually strengthen the campaign because the demarcation lines work as a focal point for focusing the campaign’s outreach on high-quality leads.
Distributing a focused, controlled message to the largest audience feasible without sacrificing cost effectiveness or diluting the message is one of the main objectives of public relations. The modern PR professional disseminates messages using social media, TV, and print. Public service announcements (PSAs), audio news releases, and radio media tours (RMTs) are just a few of the tools that are essential to the success of many campaigns.
The right media outlets must be targeted in PR campaigns in order to make the most of these radio instruments. The most common path to ideal placement involves Nielsen DMA rankings because they give a PR expert a close-up view of a region’s population. The most precise and recent representation of the current radio and television markets is provided by the 2020 Nielsen DMA rankings.
Based on the population of each examined market region, Nielsen calculates DMA rankings. Listenership may occasionally overlap in particular regions. For instance, some listeners in Milwaukee might be able to hear Chicagoans’ radio stations.
The DMAs, on the other hand, are made up of whole or divided counties that do not overlap, covering the whole US mainland, Hawaii, and parts of Alaska; they are often concentrated in the region with the biggest metropolis and extend outward from there. This is due to the fact that city is typically the most populous in the area, making it significant for media purchases and PR operations.
What is the Difference Between MSA and DMA?
For local area identification, several media companies are linked to a Designated Market Area (DMA) or a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). This information, along with the ZIP codes that correspond to those regions, can be found in Luminate Online’s media database.
By mapping a 5-digit advocate’s ZIP code to a DMA or an MSA and using this mapping information, Luminate Online may connect that advocate’s local media with their 5-digit ZIP code. Advocates responding to the LTE warning will be paired with their local media outlets when Constituent Matching is enabled.
Anyone is eligible to participate in the alert in national newspapers (such as USA Today) and online media; ZIP code matching is not used. The MSA is typically used by daily newspapers. The DMA is used in place of the MSA if the data does not contain it.
| Area | Description | Used for Matching with Media Type |
|---|---|---|
| DMA | A Designated Market Area is a group of counties in the United States that is covered by a specific group of television stations. The term was coined and trademarked by Nielsen Media Research. There are 210 DMAs in the United States. These market areas are also used to define restrictions on rebroadcasting of broadcast television signals. | Radio Stations Television Stations Daily Newspapers (if MSA is unavailable) |
| MSA | Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, is used to designate a United States metropolitan area. | Daily Newspapers |
What does DMA Mean in Business?
Direct market access, or DMA, is a term used to describe access to the electronic resources and order books of stock exchanges that support regular securities transactions. The complex technology infrastructure needed for direct market access is frequently held by sell-side firms. Some buy-side firms employ direct market access to execute deals directly, as opposed to depending on market-making companies and broker-dealers to do so.
The direct link to financial market exchanges that renders a financial market transaction final is known as direct market access. Stocks, commodities, derivatives, and other financial instruments are exchanged on exchanges, which are regulated markets. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Nasdaq, and the London Stock Exchange are a few of the most well-known exchanges (LSE).
In most cases, individual investors lack direct access to the markets. Although trade execution is typically completed right away, a middleman brokerage firm completes the deal. Although brokerage businesses can operate on a market-making quote basis, since the 1990s, brokerage platforms have increasingly used direct market access to complete trades.
With direct market access, the brokerage company executes the trade during the final market transaction phase. The exchange on which the security trades accepts the order, and the transaction is then entered into the order book of the exchange.
Brokerage companies that act as intermediaries are recognized to have direct market access for executing trading orders. Diverse organizations may own and run direct market access platforms in the overall market. Direct market access is available to broker-dealers and market-making companies.
Another characteristic of sell-side investment banks is direct market access. Trading teams at sell-side investment banks use direct market access to complete trades.
An exchange’s order book and all trade orders are completely transparent to a trader with direct market access. The trading process can be streamlined for improved efficiency and cost savings using direct market access platforms and sophisticated algorithmic trading tactics. Buy-side companies can frequently execute deals at reduced costs thanks to direct market access. Due to the lightning-fast order execution, traders are better able to seize extremely fleeting trading opportunities.
In the financial markets, sell-side companies provide the platforms and technology for direct market access trading to buy-side companies who want to manage direct market access trading activities for their investment portfolios. Hedge funds, pension funds, mutual funds, life insurance firms, and private equity funds are a few examples of buy-side entities. Sponsored access is the term used to describe this type of control over trading operations.
Building and maintaining the technology and infrastructure necessary to create a direct market access trading platform can be expensive. Direct market access providers occasionally bundle this service with access to sophisticated trading techniques like algorithmic trading. As a result, agreements between owners of direct market access platforms and sponsored companies specify the services provided and the terms of the arrangement.
How is DMA Used in Marketing?
DMAs are used for gathering ratings by the Nielsen Research Group (yep, the same company that creates those dreaded Nielsen ratings) to determine which shows are kept on the air and which ones are canceled. Nationwide, there are 210 DMAs. Usually, they are divided by metropolitan areas, though rural areas are frequently combined.
Your DMA is determined by your viewing patterns. For instance, even though you could be located closer to Washington, D.C., your DMA is Baltimore if the majority of people in your county watch Baltimore television stations. There is no overlap and every area is in a DMA.
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The cost of advertising in a specific area is also determined by DMAs. Because of this, buying a television ad in Los Angeles is far more expensive than buying one in Laredo, Texas.
What does all this mean for your company?
- The larger your media market, the more competitive the market and harder it is to create earned media coverage for your brand, products, services, ideas, etc. In other words, trying to attract media in New York City is more difficult than capturing media attention in Fairbanks, Alaska.
- Larger markets have more things happening so media have to be very selective about what they choose to cover. This means that even a significant, newsworthy event can fall through the cracks.
- If you’re in those markets, generally speaking, there’s a higher cost of everything. A higher cost of living, a higher cost to employ people, plus a higher cost for PR – and PR services can be tough on any budget.
- It’s not just cities. For instance, the Philadelphia DMA covers a majority of Delaware and southern New Jersey because those areas also get Philadelphia stations. If your company is in such an area, you must consider this when purchasing advertising, planning programs and building a media list.
Increasing lead conversions and brand loyalty can be achieved by communicating with your ideal buyer persona at the correct moment. This role has gotten more difficult than ever with the rise in popularity of cable television, the internet, and social media, where individuals may watch stations and obtain news about almost any DMA they choose.
Significant adjustments to DMAs and your target audience outreach are also required as a result. In order to provide a more realistic picture, Nielsen is really trying to modify its long-standing approach to take streaming services and network radio into consideration. These activities will also have an impact on how you budget for and buy airtime.
