Setting your sights to hit the target: tips and tools to help identify your

key audience

Presented by Jill Stockton

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Who is Jill Stockton?

• Award winning public relations practitioner• Communications Specialist for the Reynolds School of

Journalism• AMA Advisory Board member• High Fives Foundation Board member• Past President for Sierra Nevada Chapter of PRSA

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Presentation overview

• Setting your sights• Research• Hitting the target• Case study example• Questions

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Setting your sights

You have to aim to hit the board.

Hit the board and you score.

Hit the bull’s eye…even better.

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Setting your sights

Be Memorable

•Be

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Setting your sights

• Demographics – Age– Gender– Location– Ethnic background– Marital status– income

• Psychographics– Interests– Hobbies– Values– Attitudes– Behaviors– Lifestyle

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Setting your sights

Demographic information will help you identify the TYPE of audience member you will want to connect with.

Psychographic information goes one step further and nails down WHY that audience member may want to engage with you/your brand.

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Exercise

• What do you know about your audience?– Three demographic traits (type of audience

member)– Three psychographic traits (why they’d want to

engage with you)

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Setting your sights

• Doesn’t make sense to try and market to everyone–Be specific–Be memorable– Save time & money– Save resources (staff and

funds)

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Research

• Doing the research BEFORE you try to engage with your audience is critical

• Allows you to be better equipped to serve your audience, which helps increase success

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ResearchAbout YOU• Questions to answer:

– What is your unique selling point?

– Do your products or services solve a problem?

– How do you differ from your competition?

– What makes you stand out?

About your AUDIENCE• Questions to ask:

– Who are they?– What is their most pressing

issue or problem?– Where do they get their

information?– How can you help solve their

problem?– Who do they trust?

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Research Exercise

Answer one question about YOU– What is your unique selling

point?– Do your products or services

solve a problem?– How do you differ from your

competition?– What makes you stand out?

Answer one question about your AUDIENCE

– Who are they?– What is their most pressing

issue or problem?– Where do they get their

information?– How can you help solve their

problem?– Who do they trust?

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Research

• Tools– Understand market demands and trends– Conduct surveys– Talk to your network– Utilize social media– Conduct a focus group

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Research

• Research never ends– Stay current on trends– Stay current on

competition– Monitor audience• Have they evolved?• Have they changed?

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Hitting the target

• Build relationships with audience• Cross-promotional opportunities• Share: Sharing IS Caring!• Add value, be a part of the community• Give them what they want• Track activity and follow through

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Case Study

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Setting my sights

• What is Dear World?• Dear World Nevada had four

components where an “audience” was needed.– Private VIP shoot– Pizza with the Dean event– Open shoot– Keynote address, portrait release

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Research

• Audience identification– VIP: campus and community

influencers; local celebrities– Pizza: Reynolds School

students, faculty and staff– Open shoot: University and

Reno communities– Keynote: photo-shoot

participants, university students, faculty, staff, community members

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Hitting the target

VIP shoot– Leveraged existing

relationships– Established shoot as cross-

promotional opportunity for participants to work with nationally recognized photographer

– Portraits are shareable content– Create/enhance sense of

community on/off campus– Track activity, “buzz,” on social

media

Pizza with the Dean– Social media– Video boards– Faculty– Email listserv– Posters

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Hitting the target: VIP Shoot

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Hitting the target: Pizza with the Dean

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Hitting the target Open shoot• Broad audience

– Used public relations efforts/campus and community relationships to drive audience participation to this event

– Outreach to University groups, clubs and org.’s• ASUN, The Joe partnership

– Leveraged portraits from VIP shoot to build interest, grow awareness for open shoot

Keynote, portrait release• Broad audience

– All participants – VIP/Open– Reno-Tahoe community,

campus community– Reno community looking for a

humanities-type of event– Local media

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Hitting the target: Open Shoot

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Hitting the target: Keynote, portrait release

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Results & Participation

• VIP Shoot: 60• Pizza with the Dean: 60 • Open Shoot: 200+• Keynote, portrait release: 200+ with overflow• Bonus: Silver and Blue Feature, local media

coverage

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Questions & Discussion

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Thank you!Jill Stockton

jbstockton@unr.edu775-784-4783@jbstockton

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