1 of 20Information DisseminationAudiences and Markets

IMARK Investing in Information for Development

Information Dissemination

Audiences and Markets

© FAO 2005

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At the end of this lesson you will:

identify the necessary components to develop an effective information dissemination plan;

be aware of how to analyze: - your audience(s) and their needs, - your competitors, and - your “comparative advantage”.

Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives

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Most organizations produce information.

IntroductionIntroduction

However, often the information they produce is not disseminated effectively.

Why does this happen?

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Three common constraints to effective disseminationThree common constraints to effective dissemination

Organizations do not undertake systematic market research on their audience(s) and clients.

Organizations do not undertake systematic market research on their audience(s) and clients.

They do not have procedures in place for continual analysis of their products, services, and dissemination

mechanisms.

They do not have procedures in place for continual analysis of their products, services, and dissemination

mechanisms.

They do not plan for the introduction of new information technologies, new audiences, new media, and new types of

products and services.

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What could be a solution? The development of an information dissemination plan. It should include descriptions of:

Dissemination plansDissemination plans

1. Audience(s)1. Audience(s)

2. Products and services2. Products and services

3. Resources of the organization and its

partners involved in dissemination of products

and services.

3. Resources of the organization and its

partners involved in dissemination of products

and services.

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The plan should define the following aspects of products and services offered by the organization:

DESCRIPTIONDESCRIPTION

PRODUCTIONPRODUCTION

CHANNELSCHANNELS

MARKETINGMARKETING

FINANCIAL ASPECTS

FINANCIAL ASPECTS

Dissemination plansDissemination plans

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2. Assessment of your information competitors and your “comparative advantage”

2. Assessment of your information competitors and your “comparative advantage”

4. Evaluation of your current and future capacities for effective information dissemination

4. Evaluation of your current and future capacities for effective information dissemination

3. Description of current information products and services

3. Description of current information products and services

1. Identification and analysis of existing and potential audiences

1. Identification and analysis of existing and potential audiences

Here are the preparatory tasks to design a dissemination plan:

EXTERNAL factors

EXTERNAL factors

INTERNAL factors

INTERNAL factors

Dissemination plansDissemination plans

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1) Identification of your existing and potential audience(s).

Who are they?Who are they?

Where are they?Where are they?

What types of information products and services do they need?

What types of information products and services do they need?

How will they gain access to these products and services?

How will they gain access to these products and services?

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Your audience(s) profilesYour audience(s) profiles

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The key questions to analyse your audience(s):

1.What types of people make up your audience(s)?1.What types of people make up your audience(s)?

3.What is the level of expertise and capacity of your audience(s)?3.What is the level of expertise and capacity of your audience(s)?

2. What types of organizations make up your audience(s)?2. What types of organizations make up your audience(s)?

4.How are these audience(s) changing?4.How are these audience(s) changing?

Your audience(s) profilesYour audience(s) profiles

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The needs of the audience(s) determine both the content to deliver and the medium used for dissemination.

Therefore, you should move to a detailed analysis of audience(s) needs.

Start by finding out the current use and impact of your present products and services.

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Your audience(s) needsYour audience(s) needs

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Consider the different types of content needed by your audience(s)

Find out, for each audience, the degree of use of each kind of content.

Assess the importance of each kind of content for each kind of audience

In order to identify what kind of content is relevant to what kind of audience:

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Your audience(s) needsYour audience(s) needs

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Now, identify what kind of medium is more useful to each audience. You can build a matrix like this:

xxx= most useful; xx= useful; x= not so useful

Medium of service/product delivery

Type of audience

Researcher Extension worker Journalist Farmer

Leaflets x xxx x xxx

Books/Hardcopies xx xxx x

Websites xxx x xx

Digital documents xxx xx x x

Your audience(s) needsYour audience(s) needs

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Here is another issue common to many organizations: audiences are often very diverse.

Consequently there is a broad range of “needs” that require distinct information products and services.

Therefore, it is important to set priorities.

Dynamic prioritiesDynamic priorities

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In order to set priorities, three criteria are most important:

Setting priorities between audiencesSetting priorities between audiences

1. Which audience(s) are most central to the mandate of your organization?

1. Which audience(s) are most central to the mandate of your organization?

2. Which audience(s) can you reach most effectively?2. Which audience(s) can you reach most effectively?

3. And on which audience(s) are your products/services likely to have the greatest impact?

3. And on which audience(s) are your products/services likely to have the greatest impact?

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What else can you do to set priorities?

1. Identify the audiences which are presently well served, and which ones need greater support.

2. Then define the top priority groups (perhaps three or four) that are most important to your objectives.

Initially, you should only concentrate on these groups; later, you may be able to add a few more to the list. Initially, you should only concentrate on these groups; later, you may be able to add a few more to the list.

Setting priorities between audiencesSetting priorities between audiences

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2) Analysis of the market trends and environment affecting the demand for your information products and services.

AUDIENCEAUDIENCE

AUDIENCENEEDS

AUDIENCENEEDS

YOUR SERVICES

YOUR SERVICES

COMPETITION PRODUCTS/SERVICES

related to these elements

COMPETITION PRODUCTS/SERVICES

related to these elements

TARGET of YOUR

ANALYSIS

TARGET of YOUR

ANALYSIS

The competitorsThe competitors

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Look not only at your competitors, but also for new opportunities of needs as yet unfulfilled by any service provider.

While analyzing your competitors, keep in mind the analysis you previously conducted of your audience(s) and their needs.

The competitorsThe competitors

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If there are other organizations interacting with your audience(s), and offering information products and services similar to those of your organization, you should further examine:

THE CONTENTTHEY PRODUCE

THE CONTENTTHEY PRODUCE

THE VARIETY

OF MEDIA USED

THE VARIETY

OF MEDIA USED

WHO IS PRODUCING

THESE SERVICES

WHO IS PRODUCING

THESE SERVICES

THE COSTS FOR

ACCESSING THEIR SERVICES

The competitorsThe competitors

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The key issue is differentiation of your products and services from others. These are the questions to ask:

Are you providing unique products or services? Are you providing unique products or services?

Have you identified some sub-groups of audiences that are not well serviced?

Have you identified some sub-groups of audiences that are not well serviced?

Have you avoided certain products and services?Have you avoided certain products and services?

Are there possibilities of partnerships and collaboration to share both the costs and the benefits?

Are there possibilities of partnerships and collaboration to share both the costs and the benefits?

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The competitorsThe competitors

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SummarySummary

o To build an information dissemination plan, there are two kinds of analysis you should do: “external” and “internal”.

o Analysis of your audience(s): their identities; their characteristics; their specific needs; the kind of content; the type of medium; and priorities among them.

o Analysis of the market trends and environment affecting the demand for your information products and services.