Identify your audiences

Take some time to brainstorm who your audiences are before you create a communications strategy. Each audience will have a different perspective on your work and what they need to hear from your partnership.

Groups to consider include:

• Partners: This includes those involved in your work, such as your leadership team, partnership members, volunteers, and funders.
• Potential Partners: This includes those you’d like to engage in your work now or in the future. Remember, recruitment is an ongoing process, so you’ll want to keep reaching out to organizations and community members to build additional skills, knowledge, resources, and involvement in policy and systems change.
• Most impacted: Those most impacted by your efforts or the issue you’re trying to address.
• Decision makers: Those who are in a position to decide something about the policy or program you’re working toward.
• Influencers: Those who have influence on the decision makers. Using a tool like Sphere of Influence, can help you identify this audience.
• Implementers: Those who are or will be involved in making the policy or program happen.

As you focus your efforts on specific policies or programs, you’ll also want to think strategically about who you need to persuade to achieve your objectives. Consider the following:

• Who can help move your decision makers to get what you want? Be sure you’re focusing your messaging on those you can persuade.
• While it’s important to understand who is with you and who is against you in any campaign, remember that your opposition is not your audience.¹
• The more narrowly you can define your audience, the more specific you can be with your messaging.¹