This lesson plan is designed to help participants learn how to carry out audience research in order to better understand the needs of the target audience.
It’s based on the article ‘Audience research and segmentation‘, which we recommend trainers read before adapting the lesson outline below for your own purposes.
Lesson plan
Audience research and segmentation
Objective: Equip participants with an understanding of the importance of audience research and audience segmentation and teach them the skills needed to research and segment audiences and to apply the knowledge gained to content creation, newsroom strategy, sales and marketing, and technical development.
Duration: 6 hours (including breaks)
Session 1: Foundations of audience research (9:30 – 10:45 AM)
Objective: Understand why audience research matters and how it informs journalistic practice and how a media organisation is run.
- 9:30 – 9:40
- Introduction: and objectives for the day
- 9:40 – 10:10
- Lecture: Why audience Research is crucial
- Resource: The value of thorough research for media organisations
- Discussion: Examples of successful audience-driven content.
- Lecture: Why audience Research is crucial
- 10:10 – 10:40
- Activity: Map your media consumption habits
- Discussion: Students work in groups to discuss their own media habits.
- Resource: Adapting to changing audience behaviour
- Activity: Map your media consumption habits
- 10:40 – 10:45
- Reflection and questions
Break: 10:45 – 11:00
Session 2: Audience segmentation (11:00 – 12:30 PM)
Objective: Learn how to segment audiences and identify information needs.
- 11:00 – 11:20
- Explainer: Basics of audience segmentation
- Resource: Audience research and segmentation
- Explainer: Basics of audience segmentation
- 11:20 – 11:50
- Case study: Targeting specific audiences
- 11:50 – 12:20
- Group activity: Create an audience persona
- Small groups build a persona for a fictional news outlet.
- Consider: demographics, behaviours, needs.
- Small groups build a persona for a fictional news outlet.
- Group activity: Create an audience persona
- 12:20 – 12:30
- Share and discuss personas
Lunch: 12:30 – 1:30
Session 3: Audience research in newsroom strategy (1:30 – 3:00 PM)
Objective: Apply audience insights to editorial and business strategies.
- 1:30 – 1:50
- Lecture: Editorial strategy and audience focus
- 1:50 – 2:20
- Interactive discussion: Aligning content with audience expectations
- Resource: Journalism language and style basics
- Interactive discussion: Aligning content with audience expectations
- 2:20 – 2:50
- Workshop: Editorial planning
- Students draft a one-week content calendar for their persona.
- Resource: Why editorial ethics are important
- Workshop: Editorial planning
- 2:50 – 3:00
- Debrief
Break: 3:00 – 3:15
Session 4: Monetisation and audience accountability (3:15 – 4:45 PM)
Objective: Understand how audience research supports business models and ethical media practice.
- 3:15 – 3:35
- Lecture: Media sales strategies
- Resource: How to develop a media sales strategy
- Lecture: Media sales strategies
- 3:35 – 4:00
- Exploration: Building trust through accountability and values
- Resource: Vision, accountability and transparency
- Exploration: Building trust through accountability and values
- 4:00 – 4:30
- Group activity: Pitch a media venture
- Teams pitch a media outlet concept based on audience research and segmentation insights.
- Group activity: Pitch a media venture
- 4:30 – 4:45
- Closing reflection: Lessons and takeaways
Optional assignment:
- Resource:Adapting to changing audience behaviour
- Reflect: Write a one-page reflection on how you would apply audience research to your own media project.
Materials:
- Projector/slides
- Flipcharts or digital whiteboard
- Handouts summarising the linked articles
- Persona template for audience segmentation exercise