The Myth of the General Public
Think about a change you see in a project you are working on, one you want to share with others. Is it a positive shift, and you hope to get support for your efforts? Maybe it’s negative, and you want to spark action. Who do you want to share the message with – everyone?
Before you start sharing what you’re seeing, there are two essential questions to ask yourself.
First, “What do I want to accomplish by sharing this message?” This uncovers what you hope people will think, say, or do once they find out about the information you want to share. Responses to this question often include:
I hope that people will change their attitude or feel a certain way.
I hope people will donate, volunteer, sign up for something.
I want people to change their behavior or take action.
I want people to recognize this as an important issue.
Second, you need to ask, “Given my goal(s), who is my target audience?” A common answer is “everyone,” which is where we regularly get stuck on the desire to target the ‘general public’. We often think the more people we reach, the better it will be for our work. But what’s wrong with trying to target the ‘general public’? Consider this definition:
It’s probably safe to say that most of us don’t know anyone that fits the criteria in that definition. Everyone belongs to some group, such as their community, political affiliation – or lack thereof, their generation, or their gender identity.
All people have some sort of special knowledge. This knowledge may not be related to your particular work, but everyone knows something about something! And we know that everyone is important in their way. Just the fact that you are trying to reach them means they are important to you and your efforts.
So, when it comes to sharing information or messages with a goal in mind, your audience will never be the ‘general public’. It’s a myth, and here are some reasons why…
Why your audience is never the ‘general public’
Messaging for the ‘general public’ isn’t likely to help you achieve your goal. When we create messages or share information with a goal in mind, being overly general in who we want to share that information with can water down what we are trying to get across. We can't be everything to everyone all the time, and we wouldn’t want to be.
You are more likely to get results when the messages 'meet your audiences where they are’. The results are what matters most, not necessarily the sheer amount of people that come across what you have to say.
Creating overly general messages may turn off the audience that matters most. If your target audience has a certain level of knowledge about the issue, you should tailor your messages to reflect that. If the way you share the information isn’t ‘on their level,’ they can sniff that out. If your audience doesn’t know anything about the issue, an academic or data-heavy presentation may not resonate with them if they can’t understand the underlying story of why it should matter.
Presenting an overly general message to your target audience runs the risk of falling flat, or even worse, coming across as offensive, out-of-touch, or pretentious. When you try to craft a message that will resonate with everyone, you may miss an opportunity to connect with the people you want to engage the most.
Overly general messages do not consider the needs and goals of the audience. Your messages can appear 'tone-deaf' if you aren't framing them with what people care about. People come to the table with unique abilities, needs, values, and passions. Understanding these as best you can, and then framing your message from their point of view is key to honoring your audiences' needs and your own.
The power of a tailored message
Creating tailored messages does require some extra work to speak to your audience from their point of view, but we promise it’s worth it. To practice, start analyzing messages you see in advertisements or emails you receive. Ask yourself, “Did they have me in mind when they created this?” You can uncover the answer by reflecting on your response, such as, “Wow, that looks good!” or, “Hmm, that’s interesting,” or, “Uh, that makes zero sense.” If it works for you, there are good reasons why. Think about what made it appealing to you. Was it the language used, the imagery, or something else that spoke to you?
If you aren’t likely to buy, donate, volunteer, change your mind, or take actions they are promoting, maybe you weren’t their target audience. Or, perhaps you were, and they missed the mark on how to really appeal to you.
You can see a striking difference between encountering a message that resonates and one that doesn’t. To uncover the reasons why, dig deeper and ask, “What could they have said or done differently that would cause me to change?” Use your reflection to consider how you can tailor what you say to resonate with the audiences you want to reach - to get the results you wish to achieve.
Want to know more?
Messaging for Impact is a one-hour workshop where you can dive into the social science behind powerful messaging, and learn more about how to share and present information in a way that achieves results. Registration is now open!
And check out our other blogs in the Impact Lab:
