Identifying Your Target Audience When Executing the PIE Change Model

Darrell A. Dromgoole, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Todd Swift, Regional Program Leader for Agriculture and Natural Resources/4-H and Youth Development, South Region, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Scott Cummings, Associate Department Head and Program Leader; Professor and Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

A critical step in the  PIE Program Change Model (Figure 1) is to diagnose relevant factors including the target audience .  If our audience is not established appropriately, the educational effort will have limited effectiveness (Ripley, Cummings, Lockett, Pope, Wright, Payne, Kieth & Murphrey, 2011). Identifying the audience correctly can help narrow the program’s educational content and focus our marketing efforts (Ripley et al., 2011).

Figure 1.          PIE Program Change Model.

Before a program can be developed, Extension educators need to know who their audience is (Ripley et al., 2011). According to Seevers and Graham (2012), people in your target audience have different needs and desires concerning programming. Some needs and desires, or factors, are listed in Figure 2 (Seever & Graham, 2012).

As you read through the listed factors, think about the audience of one of your programs. Do you know their average age, ethnicity, or attitudes? These are all factors you should be aware of to accurately identify your target audience and deliver a successful educational program.

Figure 2.      Factors Influencing Clientele Needs and Desires.

Different audiences may need different approaches or levels of information on a particular subject or issue (Ripley et al., 2011).  For example, a group of crop consultants would potentially require a different level of programming than a crop producer, or, a nutrition program targeting registered dietitians could require a different level of programming than the general public. To paint an even better picture, a program designed for eight-year-old children would probably not appeal to teenagers (Seever & Graham, 2012).

To provide the correct level of educational material to your target audience, several key questions can be helpful. The questions and examples listed below, should be asked and addressed during the program planning phase of the PIE Program Change Model (Seever & Graham, 2012).

1. Who are the people affected by the problem or issue? What different audiences need to be addressed?

Examples:

A need has been identified for programming concerning water conservation. Possible audiences
to target to effectively address different dimensions of the problem are;

• Youth: Water Conservation around the home.
• Homeowners: Water Conservation in the lawn and landscape.
• Landscape Professionals: Water Conservation in the lawn and landscape.
• Row Crop Producers: Irrigation Management utilizing evapotranspiration/crop
  development simulation models.

Note: This issue could be multi-dimensional targeting multiple audiences or could focus
exclusively on one audience.

2. What are the specific characteristics of the audience that impact how to plan and
deliver programs?

Examples:

• Duel wage-earner parents of preschoolers may not be available for daytime parenting
  programs but would participate in an evening or work-site program.
• Limited income families may not be able to afford to send several children to an
  overnight camp, so the Extension Educator may need to seek sponsors for a camp.
• An educational program for Hispanic agriculture laborers regarding pesticide safety may
  be more effective if conducted in Spanish rather than English.
•  What timing factors are important to consider for various groups?

3. What skills/strengths might your target audience have that programming can
further develop and/or enhance?

Examples:

• School enrichment programming for teens on financial management could capitalize on
  their interest in purchasing their first car.
• A program targeting diabetics could include participants’ success strategies for building
  support networks.
• An Irrigation Management program could include a panel discussion of producers who
  have already adopted technology related to water conservation.

4. What timing factors are important to consider for various groups?

Examples:

• Would absentee landowners attend a wildlife management educational event during the
  middle of the week or would Friday afternoon or Saturday event be more effective?
• Would crop producers attend an estate planning workshop during planting season?
• Would attendance at a teen leadership workshop be affected if the workshop was
  conducted on the same weekend as the high school homecoming?
• Would homeowners be more interested in a workshop to learn to prune fruit trees at the
  time their trees need to be pruned?

Other factors that should be considered include the following (Ripley et al., 2011):

1. Does the clientele realize they have or is there a perception that they have the problem?
2. Who are the primary and secondary audiences?
3. Can an educational program help this audience?

These may seem like logical factors and questions that should be considered (Seever & Graham, 2012) when knowing your audience. However, if these factors are identified correctly Extension Educators can greatly enhance participation and program effectiveness (Seever & Graham, 2012).

Take Home Points

• People in your target audience have different needs and desires concerning programming.
• Factors influencing clientele needs and desires include age, gender, ethnicity, educational level, socio-economic level, knowledge of the subject, participation patterns, etc.
• Different audiences may need different approaches or levels of information on a particular subject or issue.
• Timing factors are important to consider and are linked to target audience’s characteristics.
• If these factors influencing clientele’s needs and desires are identified correctly Extension Educators can greatly enhance participation and program effectiveness.

References

Ripley, J., Cummings, S, Lockett, L., Pope, P., Wright, M., Payne, M., Kieth, L., & Murphrey, T. (2011). Creating Excellent Programs.  Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Publication. E-345.  Retrieved from http://agrilifecdn.tamu.edu/od/files/2010/03/E345.pdf

Seevers, B., &  Graham, D. (2012). Education through Cooperative Extension. (3rd ed.). Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Bookstore.