Who’s Your True Audience?

by Douglas Karr

Tuesday, April 06, 2010 at 06:55 AM EDT

As you’re writing your content or joining in conversations via social media, are you aware of who might be reading, observing and taking notice? Many of the corporate blogs and personas I see in social media are transparent, but perhaps a little too forward.

It’s important to keep in mind that the primary audience isn’t your entire audience online. Your primary audience might interact with you and hold conversations with you on a daily basis – but they are the minority. Your secondary, invisible audience is actually the majority. They’re reading quietly, taking notes and judging whether or not to step forward or not.

Your Audience Might Be

• The next company or entrepreneur evaluating whether or not to hire you.
• Industry professionals determining whether or not you’re a leader.
• The competition.
• Conference leaders measuring you for the possibility of a speaking engagement.
• Perhaps a book publisher determining if your content could be book material.
• Your boss and coworkers.
• Your friends and family.
• A curious onlooker interested in your products and services.
• A perspective employee or business partner.

What is the message that you’re trying to communicate to each of these audiences? Do you have a path to engage with each type of audience? Are you distancing yourself from some audiences? I was on a LinkedIn thread a few weeks ago when the moderator belittled one of the members publicly. I knew then I didn’t ever want to do business with the moderator. He probably doesn’t even realize it.

Be aware of your environment, your reputation and your audience as you engage. You may be inadvertently closing your next lead or destroying your next business opportunity. The primary audience you engage with isn’t the true audience, they’re simply the ones letting you know they’re there. It’s the ones you don’t see that you need to aware of.

This article originally appeared on Marketing Technology Blog.