The myth of the target audience

A summons for jury duty is that piece of civic responsibility that never seems to arrive at a moment when you’re wondering what you’ll do with all your free time.

Your chances of participation depend on whether or not you appear to have a preconceived notion of the likely verdict, along with the gut feelings of the attorneys who play a role in deciding who gets to populate the jury. Trying to increase their odds of being correct, attorneys are turning to jury polling, database investigations and, believe it or not, handwriting analysis. Yes, how you dot each “i,” cross each “t,” and check each box says a lot about your personality and, in turn, your likelihood of being a juror favorably inclined to a certain position.

Paula A. Sassi, a certified graphologist (yes, there are such experts), says that those whose check marks – either an “x” or the traditional check symbol – stay within the confines of the box are analytical, and will, therefore, likely dissect each minute detail of a case. Those whose marks go well outside the box are driven, and will want to take charge and get the matter over with quickly. Those who stay within the box, but whose marks have more rounded edges are amiable, and will rely more on their feelings than on facts. And, finally, those whose marks have angles or curves – as if written in haste – are expressive. They will be the “salespersons” of the jury.

Therefore, attorneys who subscribe to this branch of science seek out individuals whose handwriting suggests they would be more likely to side with their client. Of course, all this ignores the fact that most people at least modestly adapt their behavior to the group in which they find themselves – particularly a group of strangers. So, an ideal set of seemingly like-minded individuals may turn into something completely different in the jury room.

So it is with communicators seeking to reach out and speak to their so-called “target audience.” They pinpoint demographics, psychographics, buying habits and all manner of characteristics trying to narrowcast to the people who would be most interested in what they have to say. Yet, no matter how scientific we get, the audience still consists of individuals whose interests, pleasures, stresses and such go well beyond anything we can document with certainty.
Does that mean we give up? Not hardly. It just means we need to keep the following front and center:

• Simplicity. The more you say – even if you say it well – the more you shrink the list of those who might be interested in your message. That doesn’t mean that you try to be all things to all people. Rather, focus on easy-to-express benefit statements that speak to the people most likely to be interested.



• Repetition. You’ll get tired of what you have to say long before it makes a meaningful impression on those you are trying to reach. And your boredom shouldn’t be a compelling factor in updating your communications strategy. Unless you know your messages are not working, stay with them.



• Variety. Remember that “paperless society” prediction? Keep that in mind when you get the idea that you can put all your eggs into any one communications basket.

The message? By all means, reach out to the most likely suspects. But spend your energy polishing your message and its delivery, not on audience analysis paralysis.