Content writing - 25/04/2023 03:47 EDT

Recently, I participated in an online debate about using “the general public” as an audience for an association. It’s not uncommon for nonprofit organizations to use broad terms to describe their audiences – and to an extent, they’re right. Mission-centered organizations do serve a greater good, and that appeals to most people. But when you create an engagement platform, like a website, you’re more likely to see meaningful outcomes if you start with insights about specific audiences. You may already define your audiences by groups like “members and non-members” or “young professionals.” Those are good starting points, but each group represents a broad range of individuals. If your goal is to affect a behavior, like enrolling in a program, then a more granular view of your audience will lead to insights that help you build a more effective strategy. Start with a deep dive into data about your audiences. Surveys and focus groups are great for learning about their perceptions and needs. In addition, you’ll want to look at data about your current site to understand audiences’ online behaviors. You can uncover a lot by looking at the paths people take on the site and search data will expose their interests. Once you’ve gathered data, take a step back to see if patterns emerge that help you group audiences differently. For example, we used insights from data analysis to help a program for “nurses,” define multiple user personas representing different segments like “Tara, the mid-career private practice nurse” and “Diego, the recent RN community hospital nurse.”