Find out how and why you should listen to your audience
"If you make listening and observation your occupation, you will gain much more than you can by talk." - Robert Baden-Powell
It's easy to get caught up in telling your audience -
- Who you are…
- What you do…
- Why you're the best at what you do…
- How they can find out more…
- How much your services cost…
This is useful information BUT if you don't LISTEN to what they're saying or what they're asking, how will you know if you're telling them what they want or need to hear?
Listening doesn't just mean responding to their FAQs:
It means being in the places where they spend time.
Join in and engage with what they're saying.
Answer their questions and ask more questions.
GET THE CONVERSATION GOING.

This
will help to build a thorough and clear understanding of your target audience in terms of their interests, their
hobbies, their problems and the language they use. Create a conversation with your customers
and clients; dig deeper, get the detail, understand the nitty gritty. This will
build relationships, trust and add value to your offering.
If
they're on LinkedIn, spend time there, connect with them, look out for the
conversations they engage with, the questions they ask and the polls they
create.
If
they're on Facebook, join the groups they're in, follow the pages they follow
and again, observe and listen.
If
they're on Instagram or Twitter, follow their pages, their hashtags and connect
with them in conversation. Watch for the questions they ask and understand the
information they're trying to seek.
You
will learn so much more when you listen. When you talk you are only sharing
what you already know or what you think you know and that is fine but things
change, people change, markets change and audiences change. If you start by
listening so that you can build your brand to suit your audience, you need to
continue to listen. If you treat it as a one-off task your messages and
approach will become outdated and stop hitting the mark. Your investments will
be wasted and you won't see the ROI you want.
Listening
not only helps to shape your content but it also helps to ensure your brand
personality and tone of voice are hitting the mark. You can't decide on a tone
and personality based on your personal preference, it has to be relevant to
your target audience. It has to speak to them on a level, appeal to them,
relate to them and make them want to listen to what you have to say. This is something that you can best
understand by observing them in their own ‘space’, in their comfort zone, among
their peers. When you’re using their language
to discuss their
topics
, they will tune in.
Meeting
your audience's needs is a constant and ongoing task of adjustment and
readjustment. It's like an infinite task of titration to hit the sweet spot and
get your messaging just right.
Listen.
Adjust.
Listen.
Readjust.
Repeat.


