How can we use public opinion research to inform our campaign?
An important tool of public interest communication is public opinion research.
We use public opinion research to:
- Better understand our audiences
- Assess whether our messages and messengers will be effective
- Access our audiences through different targeting methods
- Evaluate our impact and learn
Organisations sometimes spend lots of money on conducting something called an ‘audience segmentation’ for these purposes. These segmentation analyses allow you to ask questions of your proposed audience(s) about the issue at hand, as well as anything to help identify more about their personalities and preferences (including shopping or media habits).
The purpose of gathering this kind of data is to help make informed decisions about partnerships you might pursue, voices you might highlight, or values you might lean into. Once you can identify who is interested in your issue, or not interested, or unaware of your issue, you can start to cut the data by different groups to see how they differ demographically (age, gender, ethnicity etc.) as well as a range of other markers that give you insight into who they are.
These guidelines aim to reduce the need to spend money on audience segmentation research, by providing data-driven principles for public interest communicators to adopt. These are principles developed through years of studying public opinion, and conducting audience segmentation analyses to inform communication interventions around the world. Examples are provided of ways to use those principles in your practical work.
