What Really Moved the Needle: Audience Insights That Changed Our Strategy
Tools come and go. What lasts are the "aha" moments—when audience feedback actually changes what you do.
I used to think I knew what our readers wanted. Then I realized: I'm a rabbi's son from the Bronx who once sold death and disability insurance over the phone. What are the odds I can guess what the person behind me at Dunkin Donuts wants to read?
The wake-up call came in pieces. Like the Saturday we published a story about scientists curing a type of blindness—genuine breakthrough science, the kind of story that should captivate anyone. Instead, our Philly readers were glued to their phones tracking Eagles pregame coverage. Our "important" story got buried.
Or the time we launched a user-generated database where people could report potholes to the city. We thought we'd built something every frustrated resident would love. Crickets. Meanwhile, stories about the best homemade Phillies shirts set pageview records.
I wish I could say it was timing, design, or promotion, but it wasn't. The reality was we weren't thinking like our readers. We weren't asking ourselves, "If I didn't work here, what would I actually want to read?"
The Expert's Curse
Like in many industries, newsrooms suffer from the expert's curse—we think our inside knowledge makes us better judges of what matters. Sure, we might know the president's about to speak two minutes before everyone else, but that doesn't make us experts on what our readers actually want to read on a Saturday morning.
I experienced this lesson firsthand watching how newspaper front pages got selected, followed by the consternation and finger-pointing the next day when circulation numbers came in low. At no point did anyone ask: "Maybe the problem is four old white guys selecting stories for our diverse audience?"
Even before I was comfortable putting readers' needs first, I was experimenting with technology that could give me insight into audience behavior.
At one news organization, we had a suite of tools I used to describe this way: If I were standing on a street corner, one tool would tell me all the times there was a car accident at that spot, another would tell me there just was a car accident, and my favorite would tell me there was going to be an accident in the next 15 minutes. Big data and predictive analysis are powerful tools for content strategy.
When Data Isn't Enough
Those tools made me more comfortable putting audience needs first, but they had limits. Analytics could tell me a story was trending, but not why. They'd show me when people clicked, but not what they were actually thinking when they did.
A perfect example: weather content. Anyone can see how commoditized weather is. Our phones come with weather apps pre-installed. Our TVs feature weather channels. News stations update weather constantly. There's so much weather coverage that it would be easy to think users have enough.
We would be wrong. Survey after survey shows that users want weather coverage with their news. When we launched LehighValleyNews.com, we looked at the data and decided there was enough weather content out there—we'd do something else. Sure enough, the loudest early feedback was: "Add weather coverage!"
When Good Intentions Meet Complex Reality
I wrote recently about how at PBS39 we created Es Tiempo Lehigh Valley, a Spanish-language television program, to address the needs of our community. The concept emerged from an organic conversation where I was just a fly on the wall following a community program we were hosting.
After we launched the program, the feedback was harsh. At first, it felt like racist pushback—people complaining about a Spanish-language show in a politically divided area. But when we actually looked at the complaints and dug into the census data, we realized we'd missed something. While a significant population in the Lehigh Valley speaks Spanish, only about 1% speak it as their primary language at home. Our show, however well-intentioned, was leaving out the bilingual community members who could have been our biggest supporters.
We adjusted the format to include both Spanish and English while keeping the same community focus. Turns out the bilingual approach didn't water down what we were trying to do—it made it stronger.
The Bottom Line
It's important to remember: it's not about you. It's not your newspaper, your TV station, or your website.
The next time you're sure you know what your audience wants, ask yourself: What would the person behind me at Dunkin Donuts actually care about? Then find a way to actually ask them—not just check the analytics.
What's one audience insight that made you rethink something in your work? Hit reply or share in the comments.