Hi friends 👋🏻

This week, a look at how I like to build audience journeys. This is part of every marketing strategy conversation, and every website project I work on.

If you don't know who your audience is and what you want them to do on your website, it's hard to build a website that works.

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Knowing your audience isn’t just important for marketing.

Knowing your audience is a critical ingredient for running a successful business, a high-impact nonprofit organization, or an effective advocacy campaign.

I have an Audience Journey Mapping framework that I like to use whenever I'm starting a new project with a client. The journey starts at the bottom of the diagram at stage 1, and works up to stage 7 at the top.

Here's how it works:

Almost everyone that has an online presence — businesses, nonprofit organizations, public figures — has a primary audience. This is the group of people who are most likely to get value from whatever it is you offer.

Whenever you're trying to make decisions about your digital strategy, it helps to define that audience and map out the typical journey (or journeys) they will follow as they become aware of you, build a relationship, and eventually become an enthusiastic fan.

Here are some examples of decisions that become easier when you have an audience journey map in place:

Q: Our website is overloaded with stuff. When we redesign, how do we know what to keep and what to archive?​
​A: Check the audience journey map. Make sure the website contains all the content needed for someone to move successfully through all the stages. Anything else might be unnecessary.

Q: What should we try to measure in our marketing analytics?
A: Look at the events represented by the arrows, where audience members move from one stage to the next. These are important transitions, when users are becoming more engaged. Try to find ways to measure the volume of those conversions! Examples might include email subscription form submissions, or first-time donations.

​Check out the full guide here. we include definitions for each of the seven stages in the journey map and suggestions for metrics you can track at each stage.

Until next time ✨

— Ed Harris (your digital strategy guide)

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