Our work generally follows the following pattern, though each audience development plan project is tailored to meet the client’s specific needs:
- Inception, review of documentation, site visit and competitor analysis
- Research & consultation
- Analysis & reporting
Inception, review of documentation and site visit
The initial starting point is an inception meeting with the client to agree the timetable and identify key stakeholders.
This is followed by a review of existing documentation and research which could include policy documents, the Local Development Framework plan and tourism / leisure strategies. This will help to set the project within the wider strategic context.
Site visits are an essential part of our working process as they help the project team to familarise themselves with the project.
It is often useful to carry out an analysis of existing competitors to identify examples of best practice.
Research & Consultation
We use a number of tools to understand the needs of current and missed audiences and barriers which prevent audiences from using services and products.
We believe strongly in a team based approach to our work and are very happy to share the tools which we use.
Some of the tools we use include:
Desk top research into demographic trends
Demographic data from National Statistics online provides trend information on the population in terms of their profile, for example, age, ethnicity, employment status, education background etc. This information is often available at a national, regional and neighbourhood level.
If appropriate we can commission demographic data to be produced for the residential population living with specific drive time radius of a site or project location. This can be very important as it can allow us to carry out an effective penetration rate analysis to help forecast future visitors/users.
Face to face interviews
Face to face interviews with stakeholder, key informants and missed audiences are a very effective way of identifying existing user groups of a product or service. More importantly they help to identify the barriers which prevent people from using a product or service.
Face to face interviews
If required we can videotape interviews and produce a summary short film highlighting key information. We have found this to be a very powerful way to communicate with clients.
Public workshop and exhibitions
Can be an effective way to engage with members of the local community ‘en-masse’ particularly if they are held in public buildings, for example, libraries.
Public exhibition
Diary studies
We have used diaries on previous projects. We produced a template diary with key headings and asked people to complete them by both writing in them but also by taking photographs using disposable camera.
We have found that these can be very useful in terms of focusing the mind of users and they are cost effective to use. We have also found that they can form the basis of face-to-face
Online surveys
In the past we have found that using ‘Survey Monkey’ is a cost effective way to create and manage an online survey.
Analysis & reporting
The analysis will:
- Identify the current and potential missed audiences
- Barriers (for example, physical, cultural, intellectual, economic and social) which may prevent people from using the product or service
- Bring forward options for improvements and development projects
- Costed action plan
We believe in regularly updating the client with progress. We usually submit a draft of the audience development plan which is followed by a meeting to agree final amendments before submitting a final report.