Target audience

This page outlines our target audience - the people we want to promote our work to. It can be used in conjunction with our marketing channels when planning marketing actions.

We need to keep the target audience at the forefront of our minds when planing marketing actions to ensure that the messages we create are compelling to the audience we are trying to reach.

At the highest level, our audience is people that work at:

• non-profit organisations
• organisations providing funding and services to these organisations

Some messages that are applicable for our entire audience

• our clients love us and give us great reviews
• we have a proven track record helping similar organisations
• we combine technical skills with a deep understanding of how non profits work

The rest of this page outlines various segments within our audience and gives examples of messages that are compelling to each segment specifically.

Segments

We segment our audience via two dimensions:

• By their familiarity with CiviCRM and WordPress
• By the complexity of their requirements

Familiarity

Both organisations and the people that work at them may be:

• using - already using CiviCRM and WordPress
• aware - aware of CiviCRM and WordPress but not yet using it
• unaware - not aware of CiviCRM and WordPress

We might interact with people that are familiar with CiviCRM and WordPress at organisations where there is low level of awareness. We might also interact with people at organisations that are using CiviCRM and WordPress but you aren't themselves familiar (e.g. new recruits or people in departments that are not interacting with the CRM.

Note that in general, people will be much more familiar with WordPress than CiviCRM.

Using

Messages that make sense for this segment include:

• CiviCRM is a great product but you might not be using it to its full potential - we can help you to do so.
• we can help solve any pain points you are currently experiencing with CiviCRM.
• your set up might be overengineered - we can simplify your existing setup, get CiviCRM working reliably for you and reduce your ongoing maintenance costs
• we are key players in the CiviCRM community

Aware

• there are a few things that it is important to get right when starting out with CiviCRM
• it really helps to get help from someone who has lots of CiviCRM experience.
• we are key players in the CiviCRM community

Unaware

• CiviCRM is built for and loved by non-profits
• CiviCRM is really easy to use
• you can do the majority of what you need out-of-the-box with no custom code (certainly that is a good way to start)
• there is no lock in

Complexity

Organisations may have:

• simple requirements
• complex requirements

Simple

Out-of-the-box CiviCRM and WordPress using our preferred toolkit is the obvious choice for organisations with simple requirements. We want to package these services in a way that is compelling and easy for non-profits to understand, and make it as easy as possible for them to sign up with us.

Messages that make sense for simple requirements include:

• it’s always good to start with and stick with out-of-the-box where possible
• our preferred toolkit is based on years of experience and exemplifies best practice - it is really reliable and has low maintenance costs.
• bespoke software might sound appealing but it costs a lot to do it well, and is very expensive to maintain. For most organisations, it is an overstretch.

Complex

Software development is the way that we meet more complex requirements. It will typically involve contributing back to CiviCRM or an existing CiviCRM extension, writing a new CiviCRM extension or writing open source software for a different platform.

Messages that make sense for complex requirements include:

• we can help turn your software idea into reality
• we only write custom software when it is the right thing to do (wide applicability, reasonable budget)
• we can help your software reach lots of people and have a big impact
• we think about long term maintenance and sustainability

TIP

While we do want to create open source software, we want to avoid writing bespoke or custom code that is only useful for individual clients and this is not something that we want to market.

Combined segments

The two dimensions above combine to form six specific segments, described below:

Simple-using

They are already using CiviCRM. They have simple requirements. While they may have custom code in place at the moment, they would be better off without it.

Additional messages that make sense for this segment include:

• you might have complex code that you don’t need -we recommend removing it wherever possible as it is liable to break and expensive to maintain

Simple-aware

They think that CiviCRM is a decent product but are wondering how they should get started. They may be baffled by all the options and are looking for some guidance.

Simple-unaware

They are on the lookout for a ‘non-profit’ CRM but have not come across CiviCRM before.

Complex-using

They are already using CiviCRM. They have complex requirements which they may or may not have already met with custom code.

Additional messages that make sense for this segment include:

• If you’ve outgrown ‘out of the box’, we are the right people for you.
• All our extensions follow best practice
• We know when to build and when we can use existing functionality

Complex-aware

They are aware of CiviCRM and think it could be used to meet their needs. Their requirements can’t be met with out-of-the-box CiviCRM and so would require some development.

Complex-unaware

They are looking for a partner to develop some ‘non-profit software’.

Additional messages that make sense for this segment include:

• CiviCRM is a great platform to build on
• You get so much for free
• The CiviCRM community can help
• Building on CivCRM multiplies your impact