Audience

Effective communication is all about knowing your audience. When I begin a writing project, my first question is always, "Who is going to be reading this?" Why? Because you present the same information in different ways depending on who you are trying to talk to.

Corporate communications, for example, can be very different depending upon the audience. Say you are going to launch a new product. Let's take an Animal Health product as an example.

What do the people inside the company need to know?
Employees need to understand the product, where people can buy it, how to use it, and be encouraged to promote it. They might need to know how to field questions and know any challenges the product might present and where to get more information.

What do people outside the company need to know?

Well, that depends.

You may have a primary customer, who then resells to target customers. In this case, it would be a veterinarian. They would need to know the benefits of the product for their patients, what conditions it treats, if it is safe, and the science behind it. They also need to know why they would choose this new product over their current treatment plans. Finally, they would need to have support in marketing the product.

A final customer in this case would be an animal owner. They would need to know it is safe and can help improve the life of their pet. They would want to know when to go see their veterinarian, who most owners rely upon for effective medical treatment.

If it is a new product, you might want to write articles to gain the support from the scientific community. They would want to know all about the research behind it, how effective it is, how that was measured, the chemical makeup, and potential adverse events.

Every target audience is going to respond to a different tone of voice in your communications. You want the communication to speak to them and their needs. A general customer would want easy to read, supportive language that ties them emotionally to their pet. A scientist would want a very high level, data specific presentation, with no fluff. You need to put yourself into the "shoes" of the audience and think - what would I want to know? Do I want quick and easy, or detailed with examples? In some cases, you need to write for a combination of these "listen-fors."

It is amazing how you can take the same basic pieces of information and present it in different ways to cause your audience to move to action.

If you ever need help in your communications, feel free to reach out to us at www.HollandManagementService.com or email me directly at [email protected]