When I went to college, public speaking was a required class my freshman year. At the time I had no idea how important this class would be to my future. What I did know was that the instructor was just plain boring. Kind of ironic for a class, considering we were there to learn how to speak dynamically and engage with our audience. The instructor even had a pet label to describe the condition of a captive audience in front of a boring speaker – MEGO, which stood for “Mine Eye Glazeth Over.” Sitting in that class, I can tell you I my eyes glazed over a lot! Boring the audience is something that you can’t get away with unless you have some kind of monopoly-like ownership of your audience. In the marketplace, your audience does have other options and will flee at the first twinge of MEGO. Let’s look at 2 keys for captivating the attention of your audience.
You can’t afford to bore your audience.
Frame of Reference
The first challenge of a speaker is to understand the audience. This key applies not only to public speaking, but also, and perhaps more importantly for you, to all your written communication with your target market. Understanding the audience is absolutely essential for meeting them where they are and engaging with them. This understanding forms the basis for the message to market match, which is at the core of all great marketing.
This is about tailoring your message to your market. It is much easier, and more profitable, to adjust your message to suit your market than it is to change your market to fit your message. Essentially, this is about putting your self in the place of your target audience and trying to see the world through their eyes. It is important to remember that your frame of reference is different than that of your customers. This makes it all the more important for you to spend the time necessary to really get into your customer’s head. Engaging your audience from within their frame of reference begins with understanding how they came to see you.
How they Arrived
One of the really cool things about Google Analytics is that you can see exactly how people came to find your website. Did they come from somebody else’s website, from an email message, from Facebook, or from a search engine? Knowing how they arrived at your website gives you great insight into what they are looking for and what their expectations were when they arrived on your website.
Although Google recently made it more difficult for you to see where people came to your site from, the right Internet marketing partner can unlock these valuable insights for you. The information that is now knowable about how your actual customer, not just web visitors, came to your website is essential for maximizing the profit potential of your advertising efforts.
Knowing how people arrive on your site is essential for meeting their expectations and engaging with them as quickly as possible. Without this insight, you run the risk of boring them with a message that doesn’t pertain to exactly why they came to your site and what they’re looking for right now.
Engaging with your audience is essential to help them move as quickly as possible from being strangers to loyal customers who will refer their friends to you. Technology now makes it easier than ever before to gain insight into who’s coming to your website and why. This gives you the ability to precisely calibrate your message to meet the needs of your market. Remember, unlike the boring college professor, you can’t afford for your audience to suffer from MEGO.
