Target Group Survey

Before launching your media project, it is a good idea to conduct a target group survey. Here you can find out why it helps to know a lot about your target group and how best to conduct this survey.

Before you start your new media project, it is crucial to understand your potential target audience. A thorough target audience analysis will help you tailor content and formats to the needs of your community and build a strong relationship from the start.

Why conduct a target audience survey? 🤔

Knowing your target audience means more than just having a rough idea of who you want to reach. It's about finding out specifically:

• Who do you want to address? What age group, what information behavior, what interests?

• What expectations does your target group have? What topics are relevant to them? What are their questions or needs?

• Which channels and formats do they prefer? Is it email, social media, podcasts, or messenger services? Do they like to read in-depth research or watch short videos?

• How does your target audience currently get their information? Which media and other sources of information do they already use and why?

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Methods of target group analysis 🔧

a) Online surveys 🖥️

One of the easiest ways to gain initial insights is through an online survey. Here are a few tips for setting one up:

• Create a survey using tools such as Tally, Typeform, or beabee.

Tool overview

Tool	Function	Link
Typeform	Typeform offers many different templates for your surveys. From the user's perspective, it is not overwhelming, as only the current question is visible at any given time.	typeform.com
Tally	The Tally interface is very similar to the Notion organisation app. Those who are already familiar with it will have an advantage here.	tally.so
Youform	This relatively new tool has an intuitive interface for simple forms.	youform.io
beabee	The beabee tool developed by CORRECTIV is tailored precisely to community-centered media projects. With the integrated CrowdNewsroom, teams can conduct complex crowd research and create simple surveys.	beabee.io

Google Forms is the most familiar tool for quickly creating surveys, but there are now better tools available that are hosted and developed in Europe.

• Keep them short and concise (max. 10 questions).

• Use open and closed questions to gain both quantitative and qualitative insights.

• Be sure to test different wording for different target groups.

Sample questions for a survey:

• Which topics are you particularly interested in? (Multiple choice)

• What are your most important sources of information (for local issues)?

• How often do you consume (local) news and on which channels?

• Which formats do you prefer? (Text, audio, video, interactive formats)

• What do you currently find lacking in the media landscape?

• What are topics (in your area) about which you currently receive no information?

b) Interviews, conversations, and focus groups 🎤

Personal conversations provide deeper insights than surveys.

• Conduct qualitative interviews with potential users.

• Organise focus groups with different age and interest groups to stimulate discussion.

• Organise roundtable discussions with specific groups of people to discuss local information needs and gaps.

The foundation: Collect email addresses from the start

The target group survey shows once again why it is so important to collect email addresses right from the start. This makes it easier to contact your target group. It helps if you ask for email addresses directly in all surveys. You'll need them sooner or later anyway, whether for segmenting your target group, for a newsletter, or for monetization. So the easiest thing to do is ask for them directly.

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Define your target group and create an interview guide 📓

The next step is to define your target group as precisely as possible and create suitable personas (2 to 4). As you progress, you will become increasingly aware of the specific niche you want to address. The most important goal: Find out what your users want. Where are there gaps/needs?

Identify information deserts and so-called 'underserved communities'.

Possible questions for your interview guide

The following questions can serve as a starting point for your questionnaire with potential users:

• How would you describe your community?

• How do you stay informed?

• What do you like about your community? Why?

• How can media coverage improve your community?

• What topics are not covered by other media here?

• Which channels do you use most frequently and enjoy using?

• Which media offerings (newspapers, newsletters, podcasts, Instagram channels, etc.) do you already use to stay informed—and why?

• When do you consume media? In what situations do you consume media?

• Which media services do you pay for?

Once you have completed your questionnaire, conduct at least four to six qualitative interviews lasting 30 minutes each with potential users or people you have defined as your target group. Especially at the beginning, it may also be useful to interview one or two opinion leaders or multipliers. However, you should definitely not only talk to friends or acquaintances.

Most important: Listen

You need to develop an understanding of your community. You need to really understand what concerns them, how they get their information, and what they feel is missing. So listen and ask questions. Ultimately, it's about creating something that people really want and are willing to pay for. That means finding topics that resonate with them and spark their interest.

Don't forget demographic information

• Name

• Age

• Place of residence

• Occupation, if applicable

Think about what else is important to you in order to address and engage your target audience

Consider what information might help you in the future to address people with specific questions or expertise. This depends, of course, on your strategy, such as the topics you focus on. Here are a few examples:

• In larger cities, neighborhoods are usually interesting. For example, if you are doing research that concerns specific neighborhoods. Or to analyse over time which neighborhoods you reach and who is not yet represented.

• Are you in a commuter town? Ask if people live and/or work there. This may reveal different topics of focus and areas of expertise that you can tap into.

• If you want to focus on education issues, ask whether the person currently attends school, works in the education sector, has school-age children, etc.

Once you have collected all the information, evaluate it and consider whether you need to make any adjustments to your original idea and what these adjustments might look like. This is known as an iterative approach, i.e., an approach in which you gradually move closer to the solution.

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Distribution of the survey 📢

Targeted distribution is crucial to obtain as many relevant responses as possible:

• Email newsletter: If you already have contacts, inform them directly.

• Social media: Promote the survey on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

• Collaborations: Ask local organisations or influencers if they would share your survey.

• Multilingualism: Consider whether you should offer your survey in several languages to reach diverse groups.

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Community events and analog surveys 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Direct exchange is particularly valuable for local journalism.

• Organize information evenings or discussion groups.

• Use mobile coffee stands or pop-up events for direct conversations.

• Post feedback slips in central locations in the city (e.g., libraries, cafés, universities).

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Digital participation 🌐

In addition to traditional surveys, you can actively involve your community even before the launch:

• Use social media surveys (e.g., Instagram Stories).

• Try out crowdsourcing models to gather topic ideas (e.g., CrowdNewsroom, Google Docs, or Slack groups).

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Conclusion 📝

A thorough target audience survey not only helps you better respond to the needs of your community, but also creates a closer bond between you and your potential readers right from the start. It is the first step towards a successful media start-up in the long term.