Audience listening guide

• Identify which listening method to use to gain a deeper understanding of your audience.

• Get a better understanding of what your audience is thinking to help you focus on the content and style of communication for the messaging.

• Combine multiple methods depending on the level of existing audience understanding.

Method	Resource intensity	Best used for	Pros	Cons
Using existing relationships for knowledge	Low – time to contact people and gain their understanding of the situation.	Getting inside scoop on a particular challenge. Shortcut to the potential problem for further investigation.	Honest feedback. Credible source. Quickly get a sense of the situation.	No formal data. Scope limited to existing relationships.
Seek existing insight	Medium – identifying existing information. Some effort is needed to find and interpret information to apply.	Shared challenges across multiple functions.	Reliable and accessible information. Easy to create buy-in based on internal data.	Information may only show one perspective.
Quantitative survey or data collection	Low – quick poll of the sample group with simple descriptive data.	High-level understanding of the challenges of a large group. Focus on the problem areas.	Access to large amounts of data. Objective insight. Evidence for a business case.	Identify symptoms, not causes. Need time and expertise to create.
Focus groups	Medium- Time to select 12-15 participants and runs sessions.	Understanding the reasons behind a particular behaviour. Brainstorm potential solutions. Gut checking multiple potential options.	In-depth understanding of the audience. Flexibility to go deeper when something interesting comes up.	Moderator biases. Time and effort. No formal data.
Social media monitoring	Medium – informal monitoring of known sites. High – comprehensive monitoring with analysis by third-party.	Understanding unprompted stakeholder perspective on critical issues. Identifying key influencers.	Easy access to stakeholder point of view. Proof showing stakeholder views.	Volume of information can be overwhelming. Noise potential distraction.
Observations, ethnography, shadowing individuals	High – shadowing the target audience is time intensive.	Understanding how a target audience behaves and thinks. Uncover hidden assumptions, consumption patterns and motivations.	Real picture of audience behaviour. A holistic picture of behaviours and context.	Time intensive. Requires skills or practice or a vendor.