Establish Who Your Target Audience Is

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About this lesson

Once a company has established that there is a threat, it needs to identify the target audience to finalize their communication strategy.

Quick reference

Establish Who Your Target Audience Is

Once a company has established that there is a threat, it needs to identify the target audience to finalize their communication strategy.

When to use

When a company is under threat.

Instructions

The key to identifying the target audience is to ask yourself who will be affected by the crisis:

  • Reputation threats are likely to affect the image of the company and/or specific individuals within it.
  • Financial viability threats are likely to affect various stakeholders, such as owners, staff, investors, as well as the image of the company.
  • Threats to human life could affect staff and their families, the local community, suppliers who are due to deliver on that day of the accident, customers locally and abroad could be affected if a faulty product is sold internationally.

To remember the necessary elements of a press release for crisis management, you can use the 9 Cs model:

  1. Provide the details of the crisis
  2. Show that the situation is under control
  3. State what is being done to contain the damage
  4. Consider the consequences of the crisis, if any
  5. Show concern and care
  6. Provide the contact details of a person
  7. State your message clearly
  8. Be concise
  9. Be confident
  • 00:05 When there is a crisis, we also need to establish who our target audience is.
  • 00:10 Once a company has established that there is a threat,
  • 00:12 it needs to identify the target audience so
  • 00:15 that they can finalize the communication strategy particularly for them.
  • 00:20 So we want to know, who is affected?
  • 00:25 Depending on the type of crisis,
  • 00:27 there are different groups of people that can be affected.
  • 00:30 Reputation threats are likely to affect the image of the company,
  • 00:34 and some specific individuals within the company.
  • 00:37 Financial viability threats are slightly different,
  • 00:40 they are likely to affect various stakeholders, like the owners, the staff,
  • 00:45 the investors, as well as the image of the company.
  • 00:48 And of course, we've got the threat to human life, which can affect the staff,
  • 00:51 their family, as well as the local community.
  • 00:54 If for example, there's a technical fault or a fire, that can be quite serious.
  • 00:59 Suppliers who are due to deliver on that particular day can also be affected.
  • 01:04 Now if there's a problem with one of the company's products,
  • 01:07 customers in the country, and
  • 01:09 even abroad, can be affected, because the product might be sold internationally.
  • 01:15 Now, let's imagine that there's a fire on the premises, and
  • 01:18 it's during working hours, during the day.
  • 01:21 So the fire brigade will have been called, and
  • 01:23 the premises would have been evacuated, and employees would have been sent home.
  • 01:28 Now your staff will be notified via internal communication as to whether
  • 01:32 they'll be needed at work, for the next couple of days, or
  • 01:35 whether there'll be a change in working hours.
  • 01:38 However, some other stakeholders, like the people in the community and
  • 01:42 investors, they might be wondering, how will the event affect them?
  • 01:47 This brings us to the press release for crisis management.
  • 01:50 In order to preempt the questions and to reassure the stakeholders,
  • 01:55 the company should send the press release to the local, and
  • 01:58 also to the national press, depending on the talk of the audience.
  • 02:02 Now among other things, an effective press release in this case,
  • 02:06 is going to contain information about what happened.
  • 02:09 So here, we are going to say what caused the fire,
  • 02:12 and if there are any injured people, and if the situation is under control.
  • 02:17 You can mention that the authorities have intervened successfully,
  • 02:20 if that is the case.
  • 02:21 We can also state what measures have been taken to ensure safety.
  • 02:26 And whether the company will continue to operate as per normal,
  • 02:31 or how long will be effected for a reassuring and
  • 02:35 a caring statement from one of the executive team members.
  • 02:38 Let's imagine it's on the lines of saying, the safety of our employees and
  • 02:44 the community is an absolute priority, and we're doing all that we can.
  • 02:49 Such statements can be quite difficult to obtain when there's a crisis, so
  • 02:53 you might have to use a pre-existing statement.
  • 02:58 Perhaps there's one in your emergency correspondent toolkit, and
  • 03:02 then, of course, the last thing we want to include,
  • 03:04 is the number of the person that can be contacted.
  • 03:08 Now, to remember all the necessary elements of a press release for
  • 03:12 crisis management, we're going to recommend to you to the nine Cs Model.
  • 03:17 The first C stands for crisis, so we provide details of the crisis.
  • 03:21 The second C is for control, show that the situation is under control.
  • 03:26 The third C stands for
  • 03:28 contain, so we state what is being done to contain the damage.
  • 03:32 And the fourth C stands for consequences,
  • 03:35 so we're gonna mention the impact of the crisis, if there is any.
  • 03:38 The fifth C stands for concern and care, so
  • 03:42 we show sympathy, empathy, and that we care.
  • 03:46 The sixth C stands for contact, so
  • 03:48 we provide contact details of a person who can be contacted for further information.
  • 03:54 The remaining three Cs stand for clear, concise, and confident.
  • 03:59 And this really refers to the message,
  • 04:01 the way in which we state it, namely, we're clear, concise, and confident.

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