A company must communicate with its customers; however, whether these communications are valuable to the audience is another question.
A company’s content is often influenced by the individuals who internally surround the document rather than the external target audience, which forces technical communicators to sometimes release content that does not accurately reflect or meet readers’ needs. This type of content creation process can lead companies to measure their content’s success by how it satisfies internal (often managerial) opinions rather than how well the document fulfills the content needs of the intended audience.
Luckily, technical editors have the power to correct this corporate messaging problem by championing readership interests, needs, and sensitivities during document creation and review process—safeguarding the audience from irrelevant, insensitive, or burdensome content.
Being proactive in connecting with and understanding the needs of an audience can assist editors in building a reader-centric lens through which to measure the relevance of company content. This approach empowers editors to become audience advocates regarding the readers’ knowledge, interests, sensitivities, and vulnerabilities. This includes awareness of audience circumstances, such as what types of information different audiences are seeking, how the audience will receive the information, if they are asking for or expecting the information provided, what is happening in the audience’s current situation, and whether the language used will resonate with or alienate readers.
But how can editors develop and hone that lens of sensitivity to readers’ needs when editors often do not communicate directly with their audiences? Here are four questions to ask yourself when approaching a document to help cultivate and evaluate content through an audience-centric lens.
1. How is the audience accessing this content?
This question is particularly important to ask when examining what sensitivities might need to be considered in how the audience is receiving content. Does the language accurately reflect the situation of the majority of readers accessing the information? Based on the readers’ access or experience path, is the content missing any critical information or overlooking possible audience sensitivities?
Editors sometimes jump into their task without creating a frame of reference for how the content will be accessed and by whom. The difference between a good editor and a great editor is the ability to elevate a message that will resonate with a particular audience. How that audience gets to the content plays a part in making sure that the story is accurate, interesting, and meets audience expectations and needs.
2. Is this content making assumptions about the reader?
One of the biggest misses in a communication piece is when an audience does not understand the information being presented or when members feel excluded from the readership because of the writer’s approach. The most common cause of this is when something about the audience has been assumed.
Overlooking alternate circumstances and creating content based on a single-view narrative often happens when a corporation functions on internal opinion rather than actual audience data. Be sure that there is research backing who the primary audience members are, what their true needs include, and how this content will meet those needs. A data analyst can be an excellent resource for finding out information about the demographics, interests, situations, and needs of an audience.
Another way to learn more about the audience is to go to the source of the project and get the data or reasons for the content from the requester. That will give insight into what problem the content is trying to solve and whether it is an existing problem for a specific audience or an anticipated issue for a probable audience. Or, if it turns out that the content is being driven by an individual’s opinion within the company, take time to research the ways the content could help versus hurt the current audience.
After the copy has been deemed the best solution and then created, use the editing process to check the message against that data for anything that assumes the audience’s situation, identity, feeling, or need that is not supported in the original data.
Always remember to look at content through an eye of inclusion in order to protect, not harm, readers.
3. Is there any unnecessary information or too little information for this audience?
Sometimes writers and editors at a company must craft content around bad news or a very complex situation. Often in these situations there ends up being several “cooks in the kitchen,” and it is easy for content to start getting lengthy and muddled as many people in the company offer their opinion. On the other hand, when an internal professional like an engineer, analyst, or programmer delivers the content to the writer or editor, sometimes important baseline information is left out that would help the audience understand the message or instructions. This is often done unintentionally because the employee does not understand what the audiences knows or does not know.
Whether the content is too lengthy or too brief, the solution is the same. When editing content, take a moment to reflect on the audience. What previous knowledge does this audience have when accessing the information? What do they likely not know or do they need to know more about? Are there terms or phrases in the document that are used internally but might not have the same meaning to an external audience?
Editors need to ensure that they are editing as an advocate for the audience, taking care to review the document or communication through their “eyes” to ensure the information delivered is beneficial to the reader.
4. Does this content consider situations or limitations of the audience?
This can be the toughest question to answer because it can be hard to understand an audience on this level without making assumptions. When unsure about an audience, and if there is budget for it, send out audience surveys or hold a focus group session with your target audience. Surveys and focus groups are great ways to learn about vulnerabilities within the audience and listen to their situations, wants, struggles, and emotions.
Ask your audience value-based questions, have them prioritize the benefits they perceive in different messages or documents, and listen carefully for any knowledge gaps or situational limitations in your audience that you may not currently be aware of. If there is no time or budget for a survey or focus group, online research is another great way to learn about the needs of an audience. There might be forums, blogs, or other online chatter from the target audience that will provide some insights needed to create an interest-driven, relevant message.
Researching the audience can provide editors with the tools and talking points needed in those delicate corporate situations to push back and keep the focus on the reader, the one most reliant on the document’s message.
Conclusion
Technical editors who view themselves as reader advocates will perceive their work as much more than upholding a company style or preference; rather, through advocate-style editing, they will feel empowered to prioritize and standardize the consideration of audience interests and vulnerabilities into the writing process. While it can be a challenge to recognize and/or speak up in a corporate setting, ignoring the context of the reader leads to an unsatisfied audience and ineffective content—no matter how technically correct a document may be. With every communication, remember to always approach this subtly rhetorical and persuasive medium as an advocate for the audience, ensuring that the documents give those closest to the content needs the most significance and loudest voice.