Know Your Audience or Ask Your Mother

Would my mother approve? From age 13 to about twenty-nine-and-a-half, one of my favorite tests before I tried something new was to stop and ask that question. If the answer was no, I would unhesitatingly go for it. Today, my response is quite the opposite, but the test itself is still useful. And I would recommend it for communications folks – and everyone else.

Before your organization selects a hunky model to promote healthier eating choices, stop and ask if they’re the right face for your campaign.

Before you Tweet out your support of pajamas for pigs, stop and ask if that’s what your organization really stands behind.

Now, the above might be the exact right choice for your organization, but stopping and asking yourself is half the battle won, because if it is right, you know you’ve made the right decision.  And not much beats that. And if it isn’t right, well, you’ve just avoided an embarrassing and/or costly mistake.

But what if you aren’t sure of the answer? Two suggestions to approach this problem:

First, and this is especially true for any messaging you put out, refer to your organization’s brand guide (what we call the Brand Bible) – the document that spells out the words, tone and visuals that best reflect your organization. This will help you stay on-message and remind you of why your gut told you that the extra-large typeface on that mailer was a perfect choice.

Second, whenever possible, try out the idea before you go all out. Build in mini-polls on your website to test the waters of what your audience is likely to respond to or be turned off by. If you have clients who visit your offices, ask them to answer a few questions.  If you can afford it, hire a market research firm or conduct focus groups, interviews and surveys to get real solid data on what your audience will respond best to.

And if you want to be extra sure: ask mom. If she’s your demographic, she’ll tell you exactly what’s wrong with it. And if she’s not, she’ll ignore it.