To a writer, what is the difference between the primary and secondary audience?

Inexperienced business writers often forget to think about who will -- or can -- actually read what they've written, and in so doing they either blow or miss useful opportunities to strengthen their messages via the actual corridors of power.

So, when we write, we should identify ALL possible audiences:  Who are ALL the people who may eventually want or need to read your document?

Primary Audience (s): This is (or these are) the audience you most likely think of first and actually intend to reach.

Normally, this is the audience with the power to implement or act on your request.

In some scenarios, this may also be the audience least likely or last audience to receive your document.

Consider, for example, if you have a complaint concerning your living situation (the dorms, a fraternity or sorority, married student housing...) and you think that the President of the university can solve it; how many people are likely to read and filter the document before it actually reaches the President? How likely is the President to actually ever read it?

Secondary Audience: This audience is likely to be asked by the Primary to read, comment on and perhaps respond to your document. 

This audience is also likely to be multiple: it may be another office, a committee etc., or your document may pass through many hands before landing on the right desk.  Among other considerations, you should think about not insulting anyone of this audience and, even better, trying to consider building goodwill with them, as well as your primary audience.

Initial and Gatekeeper Audience or Audiences: This is the first person to read your document -- perhaps a secretary or assistant -- and he or she will route it to your Primary Audience. This may also be your superior or boss or committee members who asked you to write the document, and they may want to read it before passing it on. Even if they don't read it first, however, they may have a stake in the document.

Consider that although Initial Audiences such as secretaries often do not command respect or have a great deal of prestige, they do control a good deal of power and may well determine when and if your document ever reaches its destination.

This is a good place for stories about students who actually get into my class even when they are full.

Watchdog Audience: This is an audience with political, social or economic ties to your message and document.  They may have a stake in your message or may become legally involved.

For example, requests sent to educational superiors (university presidents, school principles, departmental chairs etc.) will wind up on the desks of school board members, legislators, committees etc.); requests within any corporation will likely wind up in accounting and finance departments etc. or later by auditors.

The most powerful watchdog audiences include:

1) The press. What if your document winds up on the front page of the newspaper?

2) Lawyers. What if your document winds up in court to be used either for or against you?

3) Political and Economic Competitors: What if your enemies get ahold of the document?

4) Yo' Mama: Will she slap you if she reads it on the front page of the newspaper when it is the key finding in a legal case? If so, reword it.

Considerations Based on the Above:

Use You Attitude that will work with all possible audiences:

1) Put things in your documents that will make all possible audiences happy.

2) Remove things from your documents that might make a possible audience unhappy.

Consider your communication format: Communicate personally or legally damaging material thru secure channels. The more sensitive the information is, the more secure the communication mode must be.

1) Destroy incriminating "paper trails" (including hard drive trails).

2) Leave supportive paper trails: in touchy or possible legal situations, document, document, document.

When you think of all the people you want to reach with your SBCC program, they could fall into two groups: primary and secondary audiences.

SBCC programs should recognize the importance of key secondary audiences and seek to identify them and devise ways of actively engaging them to promote the desired behaviors in the primary audience.

When identifying secondary audiences, consider the following:

• What groups or individuals have the most influence over the behavior of the primary audience?
• How do they exert that influence?
• What benefits would the secondary audience receive from serving as a program intermediary?
• What might be the barriers to involving them in the program?
• What is their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding the SRH issue?

Using our cast of characters, some secondary audiences might include:

Primary AudiencesPotential Secondary AudiencesTeenage males, in- school, middle to high socio-economic status

Think of: Etienne

• Social and sport clubs, like semi-pro football teams (local)
• Influential adults, like fathers and football coaches, like Thomas
• Friends and peers

Young females, low socio-economic status, without regular school attendance

Think of: Awa

• Household and family members, like Awa’s mother
• Friends and near-peers, who might encourage Awa to have sex or advise her on how to avoid men’s advances

Older adolescent females, some school, unemployed, middle to low socio-economic status, with a child/children

Think of: Nadia

• Adult family and household members, like her older sister and her sister’s husband
• Parents in the village
• Friends
• Older men who are in relationships with younger girls
• Boys of the same age
• Health service providers working with youth, perhaps like workers at the Bright Star Clinic

Definitions

The primary intended audience is the population whose behavior you want to change.

The secondary intended audience is the population that interacts with and influences the primary audience.

Reminder!

Even when you are trying to improve the health of urban adolescents, they themselves may not be the primary audience. For example, an SBCC program might want to increase communication between parents and their children. In this case, the primary audience would be parents and the secondary audience would be the children. For a program to prevent teachers from engaging in sexual relationships with students, teachers and school administrators might be the primary audience and female students the secondary audience.

Resources

If you want to learn more about the topics covered in this section, visit the Resources section for Essential Element 3.

Why is it important to know the difference between primary audience and secondary audience?

What is primary and secondary audience examples?

What is primary audience in writing?

What does secondary audience mean?