Knowing Your Audience: What Sports PR Professionals can do to Communicate Effectively

One of the most important things for public relations professionals is to know their audience. What I mean is that you have to be aware of the characteristics of the group, what television programs they watch, what music they listen to, and where they get their information. For example, you would use different messages and communication strategies if you are talking to college athletes compared to sponsors. There was an interesting article that appeared on PR News Online about connecting with one particular group, Gen Y. In Gen Y, these individuals are into the new technologies, social networking web sites such as Facebook and YouTube, and they are a large group.

In terms of sports PR, how do we reach and relate to these individuals? What is the most effective way to get our key messages out? There are several things that we can do.

Be aware of these social networking web sites: It is important for athletes to understand that what is up on these web sites is for everyone to see, and this includes coaches, parents, employers, and fans. They can post and participate on these web sites, but they have to be aware that this information is out for everyone to see.

Have messages in multiple mediums: In order to reach Gen Y, you can’t have your message be transmitted through one communication channel. This group is very tech savy, so you have to see what works best for this audience. For example, if a university wants to reach the Gen Y group, they might want to have plenty of video blogs, podcasts, and other channels. PR professionals have to be adaptive! 🙂

Research, research, and more research!: I would have to say that research is very important to find out the different characteristics of your audience. What Sports PR professionals can do is conduct their own primary research (ex. interviews, surveys, and focus groups). It is important to also fit the right research tool for the right audience. For example, students may be more inclined to fill out a survey instead of participating in a focus group compared to a booster. It really all depends on the person.

Monitor Today’s “Culture”: What I mean is that an effective PR professional has to be able to effectively communicate to their various audiences, but how are they going to do this if they don’t know what the culture is for the specific group? For example, if a Sports PR professional wants to be able to understand an athlete, they have to be one with the Wii, iTunes, ESPN, YouTube, shopping (:)), and etc. These are just a few examples, but they are specific to a particular audience. So– watch the consumer trends, be aware of new technologies, and talk to people you know that are in this particular audience group!

Technology is changing everyday, and information is very easy to get. But to be the most effective in PR campaigns, we have to know who we want to target and be able to relate to them. These are just some of my thoughts! 🙂 Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,