What are the most effective ways to analyze your audience for business reporting?

1 Identify your primary and secondary audiences

Your primary audience is the main decision-maker or influencer who will use your report to take action or make a judgment. Your secondary audience is anyone else who will read, review, or refer to your report, such as managers, peers, clients, or regulators. You need to identify who belongs to each group and what their roles, responsibilities, and interests are. This will help you determine the purpose, scope, and tone of your report.

2 Research your audience's background and context

To tailor your report to your audience's needs, you need to research their background and context. This includes their level of knowledge, expertise, and familiarity with the topic, the terminology, and the data sources. It also includes their expectations, assumptions, and biases about the report, the problem, and the solution. You can use various methods to research your audience, such as surveys, interviews, observations, or feedback from previous reports.

3 Segment your audience by characteristics and preferences

Another way to analyze your audience is to segment them by their characteristics and preferences. This will help you adapt your report to their different styles of learning, processing, and engaging with information. For example, you can segment your audience by their demographic factors, such as age, gender, education, or culture. You can also segment them by their psychographic factors, such as personality, values, attitudes, or motivations. Based on these segments, you can choose the most appropriate language, format, and visual aids for your report.

4 Assess your audience's information needs and goals

Once you have segmented your audience, you need to assess their information needs and goals. This means identifying what they want to know, what they need to know, and what they already know about the report topic. You also need to understand what they want to achieve, what they need to do, and what they can do with the report information. Based on these needs and goals, you can select the most relevant content, structure, and recommendations for your report.

5 Anticipate your audience's questions and concerns

A good way to analyze your audience is to anticipate their questions and concerns. This will help you address their doubts, objections, or challenges that may arise from your report. You can use various techniques to anticipate your audience's questions and concerns, such as brainstorming, scenario planning, or SWOT analysis. Based on these questions and concerns, you can provide clear explanations, evidence, and arguments for your report.

6 Solicit feedback from your audience

The final way to analyze your audience is to solicit feedback from them. This will help you evaluate the effectiveness, clarity, and accuracy of your report. You can use various tools to solicit feedback from your audience, such as surveys, ratings, comments, or follow-up meetings. Based on this feedback, you can improve your report and your business reporting skills.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?