Connecting With Audiences
Hint: It’s about more than clicks or likes
Perhaps the most common truism and cliché in communications is “know your audience.” That little phrase drives the start and end of all communication strategies. If your messaging strategy doesn’t resonate with your audience, are you even communicating? It is such a core principle of communication that every company, service, or app dealing with customer outreach will always have a phrase about helping you connect better with your audience—it is the bedrock upon which all other efforts are built.
But what does it mean, and how does knowing your audience help you communicate better? The second part of the question, how does it help you communicate better, is where the magic happens. The first part is easy; you need to know who you are talking to and who you want to connect with to ensure your message is structured in a way that resonates with your intended target. For example, if you are trying to engage a customer base as a cosmetic company, and your messaging is centered around sports and tech metaphors, you might reach a peripheral audience, but you will exclude most of your potential customers.
The magic happens when knowing who your audience is meets speaking to them in a way that taps into their emotions. When you do that well, you open the door to phenomenal results. This part rarely makes it into promotional videos or one-line marketing materials. The formula to pull this off successfully is far more complicated than one sentence can convey.
Understanding audiences is part science (yes, actual science) and part art. The two meet in the middle to create a concoction of neuroscience, social behavior, experience, and emerging trends. When done poorly, the message falls flat, and a great idea can die right out of the gate. When done well, messaging can move people’s hearts and minds to take action, jump on a new idea, purchase a new product, or engage with a worthy cause.
How, then, does one know if the advice and counsel they receive about connecting with audiences is good? Ask questions, lots of them. These questions should be broken into three main categories:
How do you know these are the right audiences?
How do you know these messages will resonate?
What is the plan to measure efficacy?
Anyone presenting a strategic communications plan should be able to answer these questions with specificity, not generalizations. The right audiences should be based on something specific, measurable, and articulable. The right messages should be designed to resonate with those audiences based on how people process information and what they should do with it when it resonates. In a world of KPIs and instant analysis, measuring efficacy must be based on a detailed set of metrics that move beyond getting more likes, clicks, and increased engagement. This is really important. It’s very easy to drive traction and increase engagement—but if your engagement isn’t leading to sales or action, then it doesn’t mean a thing.
To learn more about Connection Point and how we can help you develop the right audience outreach strategy, please visit: teamcp.co/services
