Audience: the heart of the matter

Are you missing the mark? Are you spending a lot of time wondering how your marketing needs to change in this new environment?

Are you holding on by your fingertips to the idea that you need to "control the message"? 

Relax. You don't need to do that. In fact, thinking that you can is wasting valuable time. 

Today, I came across a well-reasoned call to communicators in the form of an article by Roger D'Aprix in CW Bulletin, the magazine published by the International Association of Business Communicators (full disclosure: I'm a member.). Roger's talking about the economic crisis, but really what's he's talking about is the very foundation of good communication and strong messaging. It's at the heart of your marketing conversation. Or it should be. He writes:

At the heart of all of this is a fundamental communication principle: Any communication strategy must be based on the communication needs, assumptions and beliefs of the intended audience. The starting point should always be the audience, rather than our need to control the story and potentially deliver messages that miss the mark.

Read the full text of Roger's article here. 

Whether you do it through social media outreach, focus groups, market research, surveys, a regular habit of getting out and meeting your clients and customers face-to-face, or by some other means, a solid grasp of who you're talking to is critical to your success.

Yet too many businesses and nonprofits spend more time evaluating their messages-- and the words and vehicles they use to convey them-- from a strictly internal point of view. If you do nothing else in 2009, try starting every project with one assumption:

You-- and the people sitting with you around the table-- are not necessarily your target market.

Think about it.