Strategy | Target Your Audience

We’ve spent some time looking at the Sweet Spot, which is one way to pinpoint a broad vision for the future.

At Crossbridge, we also spend a great deal of time helping clients define their primary target audiences.

Why? Because these are the people and players crucial to success.

It’s essential, therefore, to understand who they are, what they do, and what they want, need and expect from you and your organization.

How do you define target audiences? They fall loosely into four categories:

• Customers – People who pay for your products or services
• Partners – Vendors, suppliers and collaborators who contribute to your success
• Organization – People who manage, make or deliver products and services
• Stakeholders – People who have a vested interest and investment in your success

We use a variety of methods to profile these four groups in some depth. As you know, we work in both business and industry, and in either arena, it’s vital to understand the capabilities and point of view (POV) of the people involved.

Target audiences can be internal or external. Many organizations define the organization (employees) as their only internal audience.

This is a common but avoidable mistake. We define internal target audiences as all distinct groups that play an active role or have an investment in a client’s overall success.

As a result, in our model, we assume partners, employees and stakeholders are to some degrees insiders. This varies by organization, and target audience roles frequently change based on the specific effort underway.

Customers are often the only fully external audience, and even that isn’t always accurate. Organizations that have a close, cooperative, win-win relationship with customers and clients could and should define this audience as partly external and partly internal.

Ask yourself: Who are my target audiences? What are they like? Where do they operate? Are they internal or external? What do they want from me? Expect from me? Need from me?

Defining your Sweet Spot is a powerful way to visualize what you want to do and where you’re headed today, tomorrow and long term.

To refine that picture and take it to the next step, pinpoint your target audiences. These are the people or groups who are pivotal as you pursue any vision for success.

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Related
Strategy | Where's Your Sweet Spot?
Strategy | The Sweet Spot in Action
Strategy | Find Your Customers' Sweet Spot
Strategy | Target Your Customers' Sweet Spot
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