Purpose - Audience - Channel

We need to communicate strategically by thinking about the purpose of the communication, then the audience, and finally the appropriate channels to use.

Transcript

Purpose - Audience - Channel

I read a discussion on LinkedIn last week. It was about a job as a digital marketer at a care home. An important requirement in the job description was experience using TikTok. Let that sink in for a minute. 

I was reminded of the mantra I instil in my PR apprentices: Purpose - Audience - Channel. It is a simple formula that works for a single online post to a complex communications campaign. It can be scaled up. Let’s unpack the mantra for a minute. 

Firstly, Purpose. Why are you communicating? What do you want to achieve regarding providing information, changing opinions or attitudes, or getting a specific action or behaviour change? What impact is intended for your organisation?

Secondly, the Audience. Who are they? Can you describe them in demographics, psychographics (interests and motivations), and media consumption (where they prefer to get news and information)? What might they want from your organisation? 

And last of all, Channels. That’s plural. What would be the most appropriate (I use that word carefully) channels - online and offline - to reach and engage those audiences?

The formula has to be in that order. Not starting with the channel (TikTok), then thinking about who might watch our content on that platform, and finally thinking about any benefits to the organisation. In the example described at the beginning, the care home may get some amusing TikToks of residents at their care home. It might even get published in the media if nothing else happens that day. But does it help the care home’s business of selling places at the home, the Purpose? Nah! People in their 60s and 70s would be looking for facts and information to compare and eventually choose their care home. So would their children, let’s say in their 40s and 50s. The TikToks may come across as disrespectful, even degrading to the home's residents. The channel would, therefore, not be appropriate. Anyway, research data shows that TikTok is insignificant to older demographics and not so popular with the 40 - 60 group either. The older demographic is the biggest user of websites for gleaning information. Check the latest OFCOM report for up-to-date statistics.

I’m reminded of a leaflet that gets put in my post box every year. It’s from the Coop and has a simple message: ‘Time to start planning for your funeral?’. I laugh and also get annoyed. The leaflet is posted to all 4000 residents of Long Melford. It’s a bit hit-and-miss, isn’t it? By thinking of the simple mantra, Purpose - Audience - Channel, we can be more effective with our comms.

[Image: Olivier Bergeron on Unsplash}