Many years ago I visited the spokesperson of top financial institution in The City. This man, let's call him John, was very clear about the target market and the best media to get to them.
He said if he had a piece of information to put out he would bend over backwards to ensure the wire services -- Reuters, Dow Jones, Bloomberg and with the m the Financial Times understand his message and get it absolutely right. If he achieved that then for all practical purposes his work was done.
As bonus he would put out his message to the quality broadsheets, but wouldn't feel too bad if they misplaced a comma or question mark.
As for the tabloids, if they never heard about it he would not lose sleep and if they got it wrong anyway, it would be okay because his target market did not go to them for financial news.
You may wish that you could reach all your target market, but that is practically impossible.
The next best hing is to find those people/institutions in your target market who act as the disseminators of information. They are normally located at the intersection or center of many in your market, are credible, believed by your target market.
In an earlier blog about Jesus as a master communicator we alluded to this in his choice of disciples. The potency of his message is indisputable but his effectiveness in getting the message out, is still felt 2000 years down the road.
And that is why the media is powerful medium for sending out messages. The media by design is a powerful node in a country or community's communication network. It can be leveraged to get your message out to your preferred audience.
Employing it will take an understanding of how it works and who its target audience is.
You can try banging on every one of the doors of your target market, to get your message across, but it is much more efficient to find those nodes of influence, develop relationships and that you work with with to reach the larger group.
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