Do you really know your audience?

Do you have a firm grasp of who comprises your target audiences, and what they perceive about your company? While this sounds profoundly simple, many business owners and managers cannot answer this question. Others who do have a clear understanding, often have difficulty in crafting their communications in ways that hit home with their key audiences.

When working with clients we begin with a Situational Analysis of a company’s unique target audiences (publics). These publics must be specifically identified in order to develop communications objectives, message strategies and action steps. Publics will vary according to business and industry. In most cases, however, the first (and most important) public identified is current customers or clients. After all, the easiest sale is from someone who has done business with you already. Knowing the demographic and psychographic profile of your current customer is critical.

If, for example, your typical customer is male, age 40-65, and earns an annual income of $100,000 or higher, then your communications should reflect the beliefs and values held by folks in this group.
If you don’t already know what those beliefs and values are, there are a number of ways to find out this information through market research techniques such as surveys, prior market research in your industry, etc. Your past experience and informal conversations with a fairly large number of these individuals also provides valuable information.

Taking time to “get inside their heads” can have long-term payoffs later. How do they make purchasing decisions? Who influences them in these decisions? Why did they select your service or product to begin with? Do they refer (or are they likely to refer) others to your company? If not, why not? Where do they live and work? Bottom line: Do they still believe you can provide the best value for the product or service you offer? Knowing the answers to these and other questions is key to your future communications with this audience, and whether they will bring you additional business.

You can make a list of all your publics, with two side-by-side columns–what you want (desired behavior) and what they want (based on beliefs they have about your company and industry). Knowing what you want is usually the easy part–loyal customers who will continue to buy your product or service and refer others—for starters. What do they want? The information gained from your research and observations will help fill in the blanks. The old sales adage, “you get what you want when you give others what they want” applies here.

There are other important publics to every organization as well. Most of these will require equal attention during your communications planning. Once you determine whether you need to enhance, create or change beliefs of each of your key publics, you can then start planning consistent communications strategies that will most likely trigger desired behavior. Intentional, carefully crafted messages will influence how people perceive and value your company. In turn, it could make the difference between an average sales year or a banner year.

Need to get started? Whalin Public Relations can help you begin the process.

No communications plan…how’s that working for ya?

See if any of these statements describes your company’s current communications scenario:

“We don’t have the time or expertise to do public relations and marketing on a consistent basis.”

“We spent a ton of money on advertising, but got little results.”

“We don’t have any kind of marketing plan.”

These are a few of the most common statements we hear from CEO’s and business owners—usually with a strong hint of frustration in their voices. Amazingly, we see all kinds of businesses—large and small, in all kinds of industries—with these similar complaints. If you’re one of those, then here’s a Dr. Phil question:  “How’s that working for ya?”

For whatever reason you may not be communicating most effectively, the fact is you need a communications “game plan” for your business, just as you need a financial plan for your investments. However, most folks either don’t know where to start or have difficulty staying on task with the pressures of day-to-day business taking higher priority. The real question to ask in your company:  “Can we afford not to be communicating strategically with our key audiences?” Leave this one unaddressed at your own peril.

For a relatively small investment in communications planning you can make better use of financial and human resources for years to come—vital to any business, especially in this economy. A well-thought-out strategic communications plan can more than pay for itself through more targeted communications, resulting in significant cost-savings, less waste and increased business over time (assuming proper execution of the plan’s action steps and a consistent message strategy). Since putting the plan together involves asking lots of tough “drill down” questions, the planning process is just as valuable as the finished plan itself.

Developing a strategic communications plan begins with a systematic process based on the classical theory of Belief Dynamics. According to this theory, people behave based on how they believe. To change behavior, change belief. By identifying your key publics and their underlying beliefs, you can then develop communications objectives, message strategies and action steps to either enhance, create or change their beliefs. This serves as a communications “game plan”, which helps guide all kinds communications to your key publics. Over time, they will then begin to behave (take action) according to the beliefs you enhance, create or change through your targeted communications.

For example, let’s say you own a retail furniture store. Your potential customers must believe they can find what they need at a good price, while being treated fairly and kindly, in order perform a desired behavior (buy furniture at your store). Therefore, all communications to this target audience must be geared toward enhancing or creating this belief. Any gaps or disconnects in the process and folks may go elsewhere, because your message didn’t get through.

All too often businesses unintentionally send muddled messages either to the wrong public or perhaps to the right public, but in the wrong ways. Lots of dollars are sometimes thrown with a shotgun approach to the entire world, when a rifle shot approach might do better. Communications not on target, delivered ineffectively or haphazardly, will result in less than desirable outcomes. This may show up in the form of unrealized sales potential and lost opportunities. In worst-case scenarios, it can result in damaged relationships and lowered credibility.

A solid strategic communications plan is an investment in the future of your company or organization. It blends the best of public relations, advertising and marketing into one seamless document. Whalin Public Relations can help you get started and facilitate the entire planning process, allowing you to focus on your business.  We can then help you implement specific action steps of the plan, making sure your key messages reach your key publics in the most cost-effective manner, making it easier for people to say ‘yes’ to doing business with you.

Over the next couple of months, we will drill down into the key components of a strategic communications plan. Subscribe to this blog to get more helpful tips.