market insights, not assumptions
Your organization’s success depends on how well you communicate your value. But the biggest mistake organizations make is building their strategies around what they want to say rather than what their audience actually wants or needs to hear.
Audience research closes this gap. It gives you actionable insight into motivations, hesitations, and perceptions so your marketing reflects reality, not assumptions.
You Are Not Your Audience. Read That Again.
Even the most mission-aligned teams have blind spots. What you highlight internally may not be what your audiences (e.g. members, families, donors, staff) value most. Audience research helps you uncover what:
People say about you when you’re not in the room (this is your brand, like it or not)
Influenced a constituent’s decision to choose (or not choose) you
What frustrations or hesitations shaped their experience
What they wish were different
Your focus group questions that include asking about strengths, weaknesses, community reputation, communication, and decision-making are perfect examples of how to surface these perspectives. This information becomes the foundation of a stronger messaging strategy.
Research Reveals What Actually Drives Enrollment, Giving, and Participation.
People make decisions for emotional and practical reasons. Audience research helps you understand both. When you gather insights through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and digital data, patterns emerge:
Your true differentiators
The stories (or themes) that your audiences retell most often
Pain points in the decision-making process
The language your audience(s) naturally uses
Barriers that keep people from engaging
Stronger Messaging Begins With Understanding.
These insights and sentiments can then be translated into compelling messaging that reflects your audience’s real priorities. From a tactical lens, you can then:
Keep messaging consistent across departments
Tailor communication for different segments
Strengthen storytelling with relevant audience language
Messaging becomes more human, more accurate, and more persuasive because it’s tied directly to your audience’s lived experience.
Meet Your Audiences Where They Are. Not Where You Want Them To Be.
Various constituencies all view your organization from different angles. There is no one size fits all approach. You must understand:
What each group cares about
How much detail they need
What motivates or reassures them
Which channels they prefer
In addition to conducting research for your organization, look at generational trends across the board including how each digests information and where you can reach a broad swath of individuals. As a result, your communications become targeted and more effective.
How to Start.
Host focus groups based on a list of questions that you’ve first drafted and then used AI to massage.
Conduct surveys to capture broader sentiment.
Review digital behavior (website, social, email).
Determine what aligns, what needs updating, and what new themes should lead your strategy.
Audience research ensures your marketing is grounded in truth. When you understand what your community truly values, you communicate with confidence and clarify…and you build a brand people trust.
