Communicating with your target audience is not always an easy task, particularly for those of us who are not as experienced with talking to the media.
To ensure you get your point across it is essential to establish your key messages before any communication with the media or your target audience.
Key messages are the core messages you want your target audience to hear and remember. They create meaning and headline the issues you want to discuss. They allow you to control communications, enhance relationships with your target audiences and are an important feature of a PR campaign.
- What to consider when writing your key messages
- Is it believable? – Make sure your core message is supported by evidence.
- Is it easy to understand? – Make your language concise, professional, and to the point.
- Is it positive? – be positive and use active language.
- Is it purposeful? – make sure your message represents your agenda appropriately.
- Keep it simple
Remember your key messages should be short and specific. Make sure you work out the most important core messages that you wish to portray and write simply but with enough interest to provoke your reader.
- Targeted messaging
Consider your target audiences. What do they need and want to hear from you? Do you have multiple target audiences? If so, ensure you tailor your target messages to each individual group.
- Controlled communication
Quite often, what we say is not always interpreted or heard by the receiver in the same way. Influencing the perceptions of other people is not an easy task. However, developing key messages that are clear, concise, honest and positive puts you in control of the information that is ‘out there’ and allows you to influence your audience in the most effective way.
- Review and refresh
Always be aware that your key messages are not static. Everything changes over time so reviewing your key messages regularly is vital in making sure they are still relevant and reflect your core business messages.
So when creating your key messages, think, are they; relevant, positive, and consistent? If you can tick all these boxes, it won’t be long before your target audience identifies you as an expert in your field and come to you for industry information!
Have you created your key messages? Tell us about how you went in the comments below.
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