How to win over your target audiences
Written by NIKI JUHASZ
I have a friend who cares deeply – and I mean deeply – about college football. Despite graduating from a huge football school myself (War Eagle), I…do not.
If you only have those facts, you may think we don’t have much in common on fall weekends.
However, if you dig a little deeper, you find a shared value: we both love being outdoors. On many a weekend, you can find us sitting *outside* with the games on a big screen, enjoying the sun. Everyone’s happy.
The key takeaway?
If you try hard enough, you can find something in common with – a shared value – with your most important target audiences. (And I do mean any audience. You just have to look for it!)
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When you identify those commonalities – and create a communications strategy that highlights them – you win campaigns.*
*Okay, okay, we know you won’t win *every* campaign. But this approach sure is a great start on that road to victory!
How do i find shared values?
So how do you do it? Here are the three steps we take to make sure we’re speaking directly to our audiences and what they care about.
Get to know your target audience – and what makes them happy. Start with research on what matters to your audience. Even a couple of hours with you, a cup of coffee and the internet can build a better understanding of “who” they are and what they care about. Then, have conversations with members of your target audience. This can be as simple as a few quick phone calls with a thoughtful list of questions, or as in-depth as running a series of focus groups and surveys. Finally, put yourself in their shoes. Ask questions such as:
What does their day look like?
What are their responsibilities?
What is expected of them? Who expects it? Why? (For example, a mayor would answer to to their city’s citizens.)
What motivates them? Why?
Figure out what may *stop* them from doing the thing you want them to do. In my experience, sometimes we think about our “opposition” as the “bad guy.” That isn’t the case most of the time! For example, a business leader may agree with you that we need cheaper child care options – but they may feel like ensuring families can access affordable child care simply isn’t their job. It’s up to us to show them how they would benefit by overcoming their barrier.
Determine what you have in common – and why you want the same thing! I promise you can find at least *one* thing you have in common with your audience – but likely more. Think through all the things you have in common and make a list. This can be as simple as “every member of our target audience has kids” to “a strong economy is important to all of us.” Then, think through which ones will make the most powerful message.
Can you give me a real-life example?
I thought you’d never ask. Here’s a great, real-life example from one of my favorite campaigns.
Let’s say you’re working on the child care crisis. You care deeply about families having high quality, affordable child care. You’re building a campaign around this topic, and you KNOW your state’s business leaders are a critical audience in making it happen, because policymakers listen to business leaders.
And don’t forget to use the data!
In this campaign, we were able to show business leaders that when parents and caregivers can’t access high-quality child care, businesses lose about $507 million in business revenue annually.
By connecting what your audience values with what you’re trying to accomplish, you can build a powerful campaign.
Now, let’s go find those shared values and advocate for the win!
