Part I. Developing a Watershed Outreach Campaign Plan

Step 2: Identify and analyze the target audience

Once you've identified the driving forces, goals, and objectives for your outreach plan, you will need to identify the audiences you need to reach to meet your objectives. The target audience is the group of people you want to reach with your message. You must break down your target audience into the smallest segments possible that still retain the characteristics of the audience. If your audience is too broad, chances are you won't be able to develop a message that engages and resonates with your entire target audience. Be creative in defining and developing perspectives on target audiences and in finding out what makes them tick.

Segmenting your audience

Target audiences can be grouped several different ways depending on the objective being pursued. Some common groupings include the following:

• Geographic location
• Demographics
• Occupation
• Behavior patterns