Identifying and Targeting your Audience

Who are these people, anyway? » Internal audiences, also known as primary audiences, feel personally connected to your organization, and their enthusiastic recommendation will recruit wider audiences. » External audiences, or secondary audiences, include the general public — anyone from people who are familiar with your organization but have never interacted with it to people who have never heard of you.

It's very important for your organization to identify your audience. These are the people who believe in and support your organization as well as subscribe and attend your events. These are also the people who should be among your believers, but who haven't made a connection yet.

Most arts organizations prioritize the faithful internal audiences, relying partially on them to inspire others to get involved.

But reaching out to potential audiences is also important — you do need to reach out to grow your audience.

Stakeholders
Key stakeholders should be identified to ensure the plan will address the communication needs of the organization's most important audiences. Primary audiences are the most important to identify and target. Secondary audiences are additional stakeholders who should be given attention; however they are secondary in importance to the primary stakeholders.

Audiences can be identified by demographic factors, location or other grouping techniques. They can also be identified as internal and external organized groups, current and potential members of various groups and more. Internal audiences are usually primary audiences because they not only have a vested interest in the organization but also serve as an organization's best ambassadors for other audiences. The media are usually not a primary or secondary audience but a means to communicate with primary and secondary audiences.