Don’t spray, stay or stray. Understand your audience
So you have some interesting knowledge and insights to share? That’s great, but don’t risk it falling flat because you haven’t found or understood your audience.
Social media technologies have made it easy for us to share whatever we want, with whomever we want, whenever we want. It happens in an instant and can feel enormously gratifying. Yay!
The problem is:, in this hyper-connected world many people are acting without considering their audience. They are engaging in a practice I like to call “spray, stay or stray”:
SPRAY: You shout into a megaphone and hope someone will hear your voice. You don’t know who your audience should be, so think everyone should hear your message.
STAY: You limit your voice, unsure of who will value what you know. You have something of value to share, but are unsure where to find your audience.
STRAY: Your voice is confused and chaotic. You are unclear what you want to say, so you bombard your audience with multiple, mixed messages.
While it can be tempting to just get your ‘stuff’ out there, it’s worth pausing and considering who you want to share what you know with.
Here are four questions to ask yourself to help you define and find your audience.
1) Who will gain the most value from what I know?
Write down who’ll be interested in your subject matter. This could be colleagues in your organisation or people who do similar work to you elsewhere. Depending on the insights you want to share, your audience might be completely unrelated to your day job. That’s OK.
2) Why is this the right audience?
You cannot be all things to all people, so prioritise your audiences. They should sit at the intersection of the insights you want to share and your professional and personal objectives. Ideally, you’re learning from your audience at the same time that you’re sharing what you know.
3) Where is my audience?
Find where the ‘party’ is already happening and join the conversation. Research hashtags related to your topics in target platforms. While LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional platform, don’t overlook your company’s enterprise social network if your audiences are internal. Attend relevant events. Say ‘yes’ if asked to present on your subject at an event.
4) What do I want to tell my audience?
To avoid ‘straying’, be clear about what you want to tell your audience. If you’ve done the work upfront to identify the core insights you want to share, this step involves crafting 2 or 3 bite-sized messages carrying knowledge, opinion or advice (or a combination) aimed at each audience. These will sit at the heart of what you communicate. Mobilise your writing around these messages in your post, article or presentation.
Sharing your voice with an audience isn’t a performance. The reality is: connecting with your audience is more like immersive art. When you get it right, it’s mesmerising and engaging, and your audience will feel part of something important.
I took the photo featured in this post at THE LUME Melbourne, a multi-sensory digital art gallery, which opened last year with Van Gough Alive. Immersed myself in Van Gough’s world while perched at his ‘Night Café’ drinking bubbles with my partner. Connection with the audience well and truly nailed!
Sharing what we know over time builds our impact and influence. If you’re absent from social media or your profile is unprofessional, how does this reflect on your value proposition and personal brand? If you’d like to build your credibility as a socially engaged leader, get in touch.
