A few weeks ago I wrote about “Defining The Target Audience For Your Personal Brand” which is one of the first step when it comes to communicating who you are and what you stand for. While the target audience is essential, it is also crucial to add something of relevance to the table.
Relevance is not an option, it is critical. The people you target are too busy to take a meeting or have another conversation that doesn’t add any value to their day. Value is delivered by addressing an issue that is at the top of their priority list or by asking questions that help them evaluate themself. Being relevant is often the one thing that separates mediocrity from success.
So I ask you again: How are you relevant? If you do not have a good answer to that, try working with these areas for defining your relevance to your target audiences.
Relevance of message
Every person on this planet has different interest; it could be personal interest or interests connected to business life. When I work with coaching clients, I often use the “wheel of life” as a tool to look into different areas of life for their personal development. The same circle could be used when trying to identify the interest and focus areas for your target audience. Just as you can choose what parts of your life that can be represented in the Wheel of life, you can think of what different parts could be suitable for the person you are addressing.
Relevance in space
If the message is delivered in a moment where the recipient is in the correct spot, either physical or digital, the acceptance and reaction to the message will have a significant higher probability to be in your favor. Try to think of what spots you are more probable to get the message through. It could be on the golf course, in social media or in an elevator (you have defined your elevator pitch, right?).
Relevance in time
Time is just as important as location, the right location at the wrong moment will not get the desired effect, nor will the right message at the wrong moment. The three has to work together. Please, keep in mind that in the digital space, most things will stick around for ages and that the message could be interpreted in different ways depending on when it is read. This is why it is very important to put a date on every document, post etc. for the recipient to understand when the message was created.
Even if time, space and message should be relevant, you can’t and shouldn’t wait until everything is perfect. Just as products shouldn’t be developed to perfection, you should strive to find the state of “good enough” relevance for your communication.
Do you have an example of when you achieved great results due to pinpointing the relevant factors for your target audience? Please, share it in the comment section.
- Ola Rynge (@rynge)
Ola Rynge is the CEO of The Rynge Group that focuses on market oriented small business and idea development. Please follow him on twitter for updates about how you can use Social Media and CRM² for your business.
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