How To Alienate Your Audience in 3 Easy Steps PDF  | Print |  E-mail
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Written by Paula Pollock   
Thursday, 27 August 2009 14:55

After talking, reasoning, consulting, questioning, advising, arguing and offering to help a local membership organization with their MarCom (pro-bono, I might add,) I have decided to share this case study: How To Alienate Your Audience in 3 Easy Steps.

Choose Media Based on Personal Preferences – Years ago, a printed newsletter was about the only way

you received regular communications from a company. Now, consumers choose how they want to receive information. If you only like calling clients and they have caller ID blocking, you may never get your message heard. A multiple media approach is today’s way to combat the overwhelmed consumer and grab them where they prefer to be – well, grabbed. If you choose for your prospect you are in essence saying, “My way or the highway, buddy.”

Expect Your Audience to Hunt For Information – When a prospect is searching for information, whether meeting minutes or product details they will become frustrated if they cannot find the information quickly. Before giving up the search, they are probably muttering a few choice words under their breath. Is this what you want associated with your product? Instead, make it easy for them to find information and answers. Anything less will be met with contempt and reduced conversion.

Interpret Lack-of-Comment As Agreement – When you have truly engaged your audience they will comment – good and bad. The trouble begins if there are no comments at all. If you aren’t getting comments, you aren’t resonating with the audience. Sure, sometimes it’s negative but it’s your chance to start a conversation – communicate. Very few transactions occur without communication, even if it’s opposition. People have gotten fired up about some of my posts. I always engage them and most will come away with the sense that they were being heard. What “no comment” means is your topic is not interesting to your audience or your writing is not entertaining. Remember, you are competing for their attention with iPhone applications, TV, Mafia Wars, etc.

As I’m a member of the organization above, I appreciate your allowing me to make lemonade from lemons. Their top-down, we-know-whats-best-for-all will haunt them and affect more than they know. When the core mindset of any organization is not concerned with the welfare of the target audience, a domino effect will ensue. This foundational failure to communicate will go far beyond marketing and have long ranging influence on everything from bottom line to employee moral. Please: Don’t Try This At Home (or Work).

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Ethan Rotman  - CEO, Trainer, and Creative Genius     |71.116.113.xxx |2010-05-30 01:33:04
Getting audience feedback is critical, and you are correct - even disagreement is better than silence. That at least shows they are listening and that they understand what you are saying. I find audiences rarely disagree but they may question, again, a good thing.

Let's see how many responses you get to this article!
Nicholas Burman  - Home is Work is Home     |70.75.221.xxx |2010-06-16 02:52:21
"Don't try this at home" You ain't kidding!
These tips work just as well with interpersonal relationships as business ones.

It's funny how people forget to communicate with businesses. Is it that they forget that they're talking to people? Business to business is really person to person.
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