Sarah Fitzgerald, director, Self Communications Visit the CharityComms website to view slides from past events, see what events we have coming up and to check out what else we do: www.charitycomms.org.uk

1. Audience insight
Sarah Fitzgerald, Self Communications
10 July 2019

2. “When you speak to everyone,
you speak to no one.”
- Meredith Hill

3. You know your audiences

4. You know your audiences
• The roles they play in relation to
you and your mission
• The factors that influence whether
they are likely to engage with you,
or your cause
• Who is already engaging, and what
they’re interested in

5. What connects people to you?
Attitudes
and beliefs
Behaviours
Relevance
Influence
Values
Demographics
Adapted from The right wavelength (Eden Stanley / CharityComms 2018)
Media /
channel
use

6. You don’t know your audiences

7. You don’t know your audiences
• They are people before they are
anything else. What else is going
on for them?
• Who’s already engaging, and how,
is only one part of the story
• Audiences change

8. Keep it simple
1. You don’t have to aim for complex audience
segmentations – one or two key groupings will
give you a start.
2. Look for common ground within and between
audiences.
3. Don’t be scared to prioritise – you will still reach
others.

9. Target audiences
Target
audience
Similar audience
Fairly similar audience

10. Sourcing insights on a budget

11. No budget options
• Use your own data to generate
hypotheses
• Draw on existing research
• Accept the limitations – it’s only a
starting point

12. Get to know your community
• Survey your existing audiences to
know them better, find out what
they think of you, and spot gaps
• DIY or commission
• Make sure you’re compliant
6%
69%
25%
64% 64%
51%
45%
33%
30% 29%
20% 19% 17%
10% 10%
5%

13. Go where people already are
• Where do members of your
potential audience already gather?
• Make sure you’re welcome
• Beware of social desirability bias

14. Draw on your networks
• Ask corporate supporters to help
you
• Draw up a profile of who to involve
• Make it worth their while

15. Share your insights
• Package them up into insight
reports or audience profiles
• Share them internally
• Keep adding to your knowledge,
and plan how to bridge gaps

16. Get started
List the roles your audiences play: for you and
within your cause area
List the factors most likely to be shared among
those taking on that role
Look at who is already engaging, and how
Plan how you will gather insights on your most
important audiences
Do your research, and use the insights to help you
plan your engagement activities

17. Further reading

18. selfcomms.co.uk
Photo credits:
Chuttersnap, You X Adventures and
Plush Design Studio, for Unsplash.
Monks Walk, Beverley.