Audience research
Part of Researching finance audiences without asking about anyone's wealth
Defining a finance audience by money task and trigger, not age or income alone
Define a finance audience by a money task and its trigger, use public data, recruit for range, protect participants and test the definition before commissioning.
Define an audience through a money task and its trigger, not age or income alone. "Employees checking their first workplace-pension statement" is researchable. "Young people interested in finance" combines many circumstances and gives the editor little guidance.
What to take away
- Define an audience by a specific money task and its trigger, not by age or income alone.
- Use public data such as FCA Financial Lives to identify differences worth testing, but do not assume preferences.
- Recruit for range by including people with different digital access, confidence and support needs.
- Protect participants by asking only what is needed for eligibility and following privacy guidance.
- Test and revise the audience definition, and write a falsification test before commissioning.
Start with the decision
Write down what the adult needs to do, the document or event that starts the task, and what a safe outcome looks like. Keep a separate line for matters the publication cannot answer, such as a product recommendation based on personal circumstances.
Start with the decision
- Write what the adult needs to do
- Name the document or event trigger
- Define what a safe outcome looks like
- List matters the publication cannot answer
The GOV.UK Service Manual advises teams to learn about actual and likely users, including what they are trying to do, how they do it now and where they struggle. Apply that logic to editorial work. Do not begin with a preferred platform or format.
Use public data as a recruitment aid
FCA Financial Lives 2024 offers UK tables on product ownership, capability, resilience and experiences. Use a relevant table to identify possible differences worth testing. It does not tell you that an observed group wants creator material, and national results must not be relabelled as England findings.
Turn public data into screening
- Pick a relevant FCA Financial Lives 2024 table
- Identify a difference worth testing
- Convert it into screening criteria
- Add a source-access check
- Include adults who cannot use the route easily
Turn the selected difference into screening criteria. A pension project might recruit adults who recently received a statement, including people with different digital access and confidence. It should not require applicants to disclose their balance.
Add a source-access check to the screener. Ask whether someone can use the channel and format being studied, needs assistive technology, or usually gets help with the task from another person. These questions shape recruitment and session design.
Do not use them to exclude inconvenient participants. If the proposed article relies on a downloadable table or telephone service, include adults who cannot use that route easily, so the research can expose the barrier.
Recruit for range, not convenience
GOV.UK guidance on finding research participants recommends including actual or likely users and considering disability, digital skill and literacy. Followers who already like the creator can reveal usability problems, but they are a biased sample for testing unmet demand.
Write inclusion and exclusion rules before recruitment. Record the channel used, incentive, location and numbers approached. If all participants come from one newsletter, say so. England residence can be a criterion when the content depends on English services, but many financial rules and FCA datasets are UK-wide.
Protect people during screening
Money research can expose vulnerability, health information or debt problems. Ask only what is needed to decide eligibility. The Service Manual's participant privacy guidance recommends an information sheet, informed consent, restricted access and deletion when participant details are no longer required.
Participation consent is not a blanket permission for every later data use. Decide the lawful basis, retention period and reporting method with a UK privacy reviewer. Use participant codes in notes and remove details that could identify a person from an unusual financial story.
Test and revise the definition
Run interviews on the task before testing a finished article. Ask participants to show how they would locate a term or verify a provider using a fictional or redacted example. Record observed barriers separately from opinions about content style.
A segment is useful when several eligible adults share a trigger and problem that the publication can address safely. Split it if their decisions or source needs differ. Abandon it if recruitment depends on intrusive questions, or if the required answer repeatedly becomes personal advice.
Before commissioning, write a falsification test: what finding would show that the proposed segment is wrong? Examples include participants using a different official source, recognising none of the assumed terminology, or needing regulated help rather than an explainer. This keeps audience research from becoming a search for confirmation.
The final audience note should name the task, geography, inclusion criteria, excluded groups, recruitment route, sample limitations and last research date. It is a working research definition, not a claim about everyone in England.
Before you act
- Write down the task, trigger and safe outcome.
- Use a relevant public data table to identify differences.
- Set inclusion and exclusion rules before recruitment.
- Ask only necessary questions during screening.
- Run interviews on the task before testing a finished article.
- Write a falsification test before commissioning.
Common questions
Why is defining an audience by money task and life event better than by age or income?
A task-based definition is researchable and specific, such as employees checking their first workplace-pension statement. Age or income alone combines many circumstances and gives the editor little guidance. The article says to start with what the adult needs to do and the document or event that triggers the task.
How can public data help when defining a finance audience?
FCA Financial Lives 2024 offers UK tables on product ownership, capability, resilience and experiences. Use a relevant table to identify possible differences worth testing. The data does not tell you that an observed group wants creator material, and national results must not be relabelled as England findings.
What should be included in the final audience note?
The final audience note should name the task, geography, inclusion criteria, excluded groups, recruitment route, sample limitations and last research date. It is a working research definition, not a claim about everyone in England. This keeps the definition transparent and useful for editorial planning.
