Audience research: applying audience research
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Contents |
OVERVIEW
This article is an extract from A Concise Guide to Researching Audiences. The Guide forms part of the Audience Research Toolkit produced Curtis+Cartwright Consulting Ltd on behalf of the Strategic Content Alliance and links to all the elements in the toolkit can be found at the end of this page.
The article is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
Introduction
Audience research is an aid to decision-making and not a substitute for it. Evidence from audience research can help service providers make informed decisions about spending on digitisation, new services, support for different platforms, promoting the service to new audiences etc but it is not a substitute for business planning or the political decisions that need to be made about priorities for publicly funded services.
Because distinct audience segments have different requirements, it is important to understand the relationship between them and prioritise allocation of resources appropriately. Audience analysis can provide information about audience segments, their relative size, and how they use, value and access a service, but decisions about resource allocation still depend on service priorities.
Decisions about how to develop and promote the service are still business decisions, not least because use of the service will depend on the quality of the resource, and the success of the marketing strategy. Of course, audience analysis should inform both these activities.
Audience research in context
At the conclusion of an audience research project, when the data has been collected, analysed and interpreted, and conclusions have been drawn, it is important to make sure that the full value of the research is realised. For example:
- The results of the research should be disseminated to stakeholders and other interested parties
- Everyone who helped with the project should be thanked; this includes staff who helped to carry out the research, participants and anyone else who contributed
- Consider the implications of the findings for service development and audience development
- Look at the conclusions of the research – Were the specific objectives met? What lessons can be learned for future work?
- Plan follow-up and future research
- Assess the wider implications of the work (eg are there any implications for long-term strategy?)
It may be appropriate to share some of your findings with partners in the same sector, other public sector organisations serving a similar audience etc.
It should also be noted that audience research projects will often result in change – whether it be directly to the service offered, or to the organisation itself (eg as a result of a change in company strategy). Change must be carefully managed, and will require thoughtful planning and sometimes sensitive implementation, and above all engagement with the people affected by these changes.
Sources of advice and guidance
The Strategic Content Alliance Audience Analysis Toolkit
This toolkit for public sector bodies, commission by the Strategic Content Alliance from Curtis and Cartwright Consulting provides a range of resources about how to undertake successful audience analysis. All may be found on the Audience pages of the Alliance blog. They include the following:
Guides
These offer an in-depth study of how to define your target audience, planning audience research, the various methods which are available for collecting research data, then analysing that data to obtain a useful model of your likely audience and continuing to use audience research to make sure your service responds to their needs effectively.
The Guide to Researching Audiences
A Concise Guide to Researching Audiences
Audience research: a visualisation chart
Case studies
The case studies offer in-depth studies of the audience analysis activities undertaken by ten public sector institutions to inform the service they provide. The case studies cover a diverse range of initiatives including the development of the BBC i-player, the Europeana project, the digitisation of the John Johnson collection and the JISC national e-books observatory project.
The Guide to Researching Audiences: Case Studies
The Guide to Researching Audiences: Illustrative Case Study
Presentations
These presentations are taken from a workshop held in July 2009 presenting the audience analysis work done for the Alliance by Curtis and Cartwright.
Audience research for practitioners
Audience research: why you should be doing it
Briefing papers
The briefing papers provide valuable summaries on audience research for different domains in the public sector, recognising that different audiences have different needs and expectations and summarising the key sources of support for each area.
Audience research for cultural sector practitioners
Audience research for people experimenting with digital media
Briefing paper: Audience research for education and research practitioners
Audience research for library and knowledge practitioners
Audience research for programme, service and research practitioners
Briefing paper: Audience research for senior managers
Related Digipedia articles
Audience analysis and modelling
Audience analysis toolkit
Audience research: analysing audience data
Audience research: collecting audience data
Audience research: defining your audience
Audience research: planning audience research
User needs
User testing
Harvested links to other resources
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