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Strategic communication

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  • Key subject:

    2. b. Understanding your goal and the role of communication

    1. About this Course1. a. Why communication often fails2. b. Understanding your goal and the role of communication3. c. Designing your change strategy4. d. Executing your change strategy5. e. Evaluating your change strategy6. f. Develop your own strategic communication project
Topics:
  • Understanding your goal and breaking it down in doable steps
  • Understanding stakeholders and finding partners for your goal
  • Understanding your target audience: what do they know, feel & do?
  • Understanding the role of communication to reach your goal

Understanding your target audience: what do they know, feel and do?

A message for everybody, is heard by no one

Your target audiences are the people whose behavior you want to change. Before you start to communicate, you first need to understand them.

Why? Because a message for everybody, is heard by no one. The message will not connect to current behavior, beliefs and attitudes.

Knowing benefits & costs of behavior and beliefs, attitudes and knowledge

You cannot influence the way people think, feel and act without understanding them first. You need to know:

  • The benefits and costs of the behavior you want to influence
  • The beliefs, attitudes and knowledge related to your goal and desired behavior change

Knowing benefits and costs

People experience benefits and costs from behavior. We are not only talking about money. Think also of:

  • Positive and negative experiences: do they enjoy it?
  • Effort of the behavior: how easy is it?
  • Status: what impression does it make?
  • Social pressure: how do their friends and family feel about it?
  • Culture and tradition: since when do they behave this way?

Do you know the benefits and costs of the behavior you try to change?

Let’s see how a lack of understanding caused Simona’s initial failure. And how she later succeeded by taking her target audiences beliefs and attitudes seriously.

OUR CASE OF SIMONA: Understanding target audiences by listening without sending

The visitors of the 1st May celebration drove and parked their cars on the Natura 2000 site and even had fun motor crossing. Simona tried to influence them by sending messages. Did Simona understand her target audiences? No!

Then Simona talked openly with visitors. Without forcing her views, just asking questions and listening. She now better understood what they liked about the 1st May festivities:

‘-it is fun and it is easy, just drive your car on the meadows of the Natura 2000 site and set up your tent!’ ‘

-it gives you status, we proudly tell their colleagues about the celebrations and our camping trip’

‘-our friends and family celebrate the 1st May festival too, we would look like a fool if we did not join because of few flowers’

‘-our parents and grandparents also celebrated the 1st May festivities on the same meadows’

But Simona also found out that many visitors were not happy with the way the festivities developed over the years: ‘less fun for families and children to enjoy nature because of chaos, traffic, noise and alcohol’.

How about the beliefs and attitude?

-Her target audiences heard and understood the message that their behavior damaged nature. But they did not agree. If this was really true, why did the police or municipality not stop them? And every year the Pulsatilla Grandis bloomed again.

-They had positive feelings about nature. But if they would have to choose between nature and 1st May celebrations, they would choose for the celebrations. Their attitude towards giving up 1st May celebration was extremely negative.

Now Simona understood her target audiences. Simona now knew she could never win the race between 1st May celebrations and nature. Sending messages with brochures, lectures and education was not enough. She could only reach her goal by providing an alternative to celebrate the 1st of May combined with communication. Her target audience was simply not willing to give up these festivities.

Simona’s conclusion after understanding her target audience: ‘The 1st of May should be a feast for nature and people!’

Do you understand the beliefs and attitudes of your target audience?

Knowing beliefs, attitudes and knowledge

  • Beliefs are what your target audiences assume to be true, for instance: ‘nature is strong enough to recover from a bit of camping, driving, motor crossing and partying’.
  • Attitudes is how they feel about it: ‘I love to celebrate the 1st May!’
  • Knowledge is what they know about: ‘The Pulsatilla Grandis is a rare protected species of great natural value.’

CHECKLIST

Understanding target audiences

  • Whose behavior needs to change?
  • What are the costs for your target audience?
  • What are the benefits?
  • What is the knowledge?
  • What are the beliefs and attitudes?
  • What are other important characteristics like age and gender?


Understanding target audiences

What do you need to know about your target audiences before you can influence their behavior effectively?

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Understanding stakeholders and finding partners for your goal
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Understanding the role of communication to reach your goal
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