Audiences & stakeholders
A deliberately focused audience strategy distinguishing new recruits, trusted intermediaries, and already-trained observers.
Audience roles approved • Motivations and constraints partly hypotheticalThree audience roles
Primary · Active recreational reef divers
Eligible Southeast Florida reef divers who may complete BleachWatch training. Potential motivation includes turning existing reef recreation into useful conservation participation; personal motivations still require validation.
Intermediaries · Dive businesses
Dive shops, instructors, divemasters, guides and charters may connect students/customers with training, and some individuals may be observer candidates themselves. Specific willingness and reach are unverified.
Secondary · Trained observers
Already-trained local BleachWatch observers are relevant to a conditional reporting reminder, not the same recruitment action. Actual reporting opportunities and response barriers are unknown.
Audience insight and evidence limits
- Priorities. Active divers are the recruitment focus; dive businesses are a high-priority access route; trained observers form a separate conditional activation group.
- Capability. Training knowledge and other barriers cannot be inferred for all divers; observers already trained should not be labeled incapable.
- Opportunity. Time, verified training access, dive opportunities and staff capacity may matter, but no campaign-specific survey establishes their frequency.
- Motivation. Conservation contribution, learning and dive-related relevance are plausible, research-informed appeals, not observed responses from the target audience.
The campaign workbook records evidence and hypotheses for each audience. Marine citizen-science research and existing program and dive-shop materials inform possibilities, but do not prove what Southeast Florida divers will do.
Different audiences, different actions
- Prospective divers. Find the verified training route, register and ultimately complete training.
- Dive-business intermediaries. Share credible recruitment information and, where appropriate, refer interested divers to approved program channels.
- Existing observers. When appropriate conditions occur, make relevant post-dive reports using official instructions.
- Program and scientific reviewers. Validate program facts, training/reporting instructions and scientific language; this is a proposed technical verification role, not a claimed actual approval workflow.
Working sources and review status
Traceable working material
BleachWatch workbook: 3 Audiences Messages (audience profiles rows 6–8 and briefs rows 28–29), 10 Audience Map, and decision index C03, C05, C06, C16. These are independent practice decisions and research notes, not DEP-approved arrangements or actual 2027 program results. The campaign strategy is substantively complete for this portfolio exercise; the remaining work is final presentation polish and production of selected communications assets.
Selected working notes
Selected wording from the original BleachWatch planning workbook, retained as working notes rather than final portfolio copy. The full material is still in the workbook.
Priority audience roles
- Active recreational reef divers in Southeast Florida
Primary recruitment audience They already spend time on the reef, can complete observer training, and offer a larger reachable recruitment pool through existing dive-community networks.
- Dive shops, instructors, divemasters, guides and charter operators
High-priority intermediary audience; secondary recruitment segment if not already trained They have repeated trusted access to recreational divers and can connect customers/students with BleachWatch training. Their regular reef exposure can also make untrained professionals valuable potential observers.
- Existing trained Southeast Florida BleachWatch observers
Secondary activation audience They are already capable of the desired reporting behaviour and can contribute observations during elevated thermal-stress periods.
Audience-specific action and message
- Active recreational reef divers in Southeast Florida
Turn time you already spend enjoying Southeast Florida’s reefs into a meaningful conservation contribution. Complete BleachWatch observer training
- Dive shops, instructors, divemasters, guides and charter operators
Your position in the Southeast Florida dive community gives you a high-leverage opportunity to strengthen reef monitoring by connecting active divers with BleachWatch training. Share/promote the approved BleachWatch training route with customers and students; secondary invitation: become trained yourself if needed
Relevant audience evidence
- E16
A peer-reviewed survey of scuba-diver marine citizen-science participants found leading reported motivations included interest in the subject (82%), making a contribution (80%) and science (77%). Potential participants cited time/distance, limited knowledge of citizen science and lack of promotion; they specifically wanted better direct engagement, access through dive centres and training opportunities.
- E17
A broader conservation citizen-science study found environmental values/contribution and learning/understanding were the strongest motivations for both systematic and opportunistic contributors.
- E18
DEP’s BleachWatch Instructor Guide directs instructors arranging in-water training to identify a dive charter company to host the training and includes an advertising step once date/location are confirmed.