The Delta Media P.R. Clinic

Three Things You Should Never Forget About an Audience

By: Bernard Gauthier, MA

It’s tempting at times to think of the people with whom we communicate as members, clients, customers or (the term I like the least) targets. In fact, those people are, first and foremost, members of an audience. I raise this point only because it brings with it important lessons for communicators. So the next time you prepare to reach out to your members or clients, remember the following three things about them:

1. Audiences have choices
To be a member of an audience is to swim in an ocean of competing messages and senders. As such, you can choose to be accessible or not. Maybe they’ll pick up the phone or buy the newspaper; maybe they won’t. Audiences also choose to pay attention or not. Sure the glossy newsletter is on their desk but will they stop everything and read? If you do manage to reach and get the attention of your audience, you’re only half-way home. They can choose to believe what you say or not. They can choose to retain what you say or not. And, most importantly, they can choose to act on what you say or not.

The lesson for communicators is to be humble. Work hard to get the attention of your audience, be brief and pleasing and make sure your call to action is backed by ample proof that the audience will benefit.

2. Audiences help shape the meaning of the messages you send
Think of “meaning” as the product of a complex process that happens when your message gets mixed with everything that is going on in your audience’s mind. That mind, of course, has codes in it and, to the extent you use the same codes in your messages, the audience will be able to understand your message. More importantly, your audience’s mind is filled with personal experience, priorities, values and biases. As those change, so does the meaning an audience will generate. Consider, for example, how the meaning of ads for oversized SUVs changed as the price of gas hit $1.15 per liter.

The trick, of course, is to understand what’s going on in your audience’s mind so you can reflect that and create messages they can understand, and messages they will feel are credible and worthy of attention.

3. Audiences talk
Social scientists long ago discovered that information spreads through communities not just through the media but also through personal networks of colleagues, friends, families and neighbours. It’s in those exchanges that we make sense together of the news, of events, of ads, of brands.

The lesson for communicators is to make the most of this talk. Make sure you reach people within your membership or client base who have more influence than others. They are usually people who are either passionate, expert, experienced or a blend of the three. Reach out also to those people who have more reach than others: reporters, educators, employers and others who can effectively transmit your messages to a large audience.

By remembering that you are communicating with an audience, you’ll have a better sense of what to expect and how hard you’ll have to work to get it right.

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