Audience and stakeholders
Audience primarily includes a particular section of population interested in your products and service. Stakeholders include people, groups, or organizations whose actions affect a company or who are affected by a company’s activities. Stakeholders are divided into; Primary stakeholders and secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders have a direct interest in a company, for example, customers and employees. Secondary stakeholders have a reasonable influence on the company; for example, competitors and people living within the vicinity of a business. Audience can also be stakeholders.
Creating a persona for a target audience is essential because it influences a company’s products or services demand and sales in the market. Conducting research for a target audience is therefore necessary. A company can consequently conduct the following analysis:
- Target market; age, gender, locations, and interests.
- Level of demand for the products or services offered by the company.
- Previous customer experience in order to improve the quality of products and services
- Products and services offered by competitors. Which ones do the clients prefer?
Stakeholders can be identified in the following ways:
- Conducting interviews with employees, customers, and creditors or sponsors.
- Identifying the people or organizations that directly impact the performance of the company.
- Ability to replace the stakeholders; are they easily replaceable?
Audience and stakeholders have different needs, and it is, therefore, important to separate the needs of these two groups. Identifying stakeholders’ needs is essential because they help in the performance of a company. In the case of creditors and sponsors, identifying how often they need to meetings with the organizations helps in building trust hence creating a reliable funding source for the company. Some organizations emit toxic waste, and as a result, affect people living around the area. A company may therefore, reduce emissions upon the resident’s request. Failure to do so may lead to the closure of the company if the residents petition against the company. Lastly, it is important to meet employees‘ needs because they primarily help to run the organization.
In summary, it is essential to differentiate the target audience of a business and the stakeholders. Balancing and meeting the needs of each group helps in the smooth running of any business.
References
Graham, K.(2014). Five Questions to identify Key Stakeholders. Harvard Business Review.