Brand rhetoric is increasing in importance. There is no shortage of marketing messages, and if your message isn’t speaking to your audience directly, it’s going to be ignored. One of the most important principles of rhetoric is targeting your audience effectively. That means building an understanding of your key demographics, and creating a specific message for those demographics.
The days of using a single, generic message is over. But even if you know your ideal audience, it can be hard to come up with ways to speak with them directly. Try these simple exercises to build your communicative abilities and improve your focused audience communication.
Sentence Altering
Start with a single, generic sentence like “The weather is hot today, and ice cream sounds good.” Then, rewrite that sentence in different creative ways based on different audience types—you can even experiment with audiences outside your typical demographic as a way to flex your content marketing muscles. For instance, targeting an audience of young children could lead to a sentence like, “It’s so hot! Doesn’t a colorful helping of ice cream sound delicious?” while a demographic of middle aged mothers could be something like “With weather this hot, you deserve a little indulgence. Cool off with some ice cream and forget the calories.”
Product Research
Take a given product, inside or outside your industry, and research different companies that offer it. Take note of the different ways each company communicates the product to their specific audience, and see what tactics might fit with your product or service.
Imagine a Conversation
Instead of trying to force the style of a tagline or single message, build out a conversation in your head. How would you speak directly to a teenager about your product? How about a wealthy businessman? Getting a visual image of your ideal audience is often beneficial in creating a targeted message.
Try these basic exercises to build your content marketing range and direct all your messages to only the most appropriate demographics.
