“Audience-led” sounds strategic. But too often, it just means sorting your file by lifecycle stage, giving level, or age group — and sending slightly different versions of the same thing.  It’s like a choose-your-own-adventure where every path ends with the same appeal, just in a different font.

Different ≠ Deeper

Yes, coordinating across channels is good. Yes, message tweaks are better than nothing. But if the bones of your communications are the same, you’re not audience-led — you’re audience-aware.

True audience-led strategy starts with:

• Identity – this is the auto-biographical slice of the person that connects to your mission (not your brand)

• Personality traits – how they process information, feel emotion, and make decisions

Specifically: the Big Five traits — Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

What It Actually Looks Like?  This is how we work with one of our AOR conservation clients. 

We did research to identify two audience identities:

• Outdoor Enthusiasts

• Environmental Activists

Both support your mission — but for different reasons.

Outdoor Enthusiasts:

• Care about access and enjoyment of nature

• Get content about parks, trails, preservation

• Messaging is framed around experience, joy, and nature as playground

Environmental Activists:

• Care about access and climate change and funding

• Get petitions, policy updates, calls to advocate

• Messaging is framed around urgency, morality, and nature as something under threat

Then we go deeper…Trait-Level Tailoring Using the Big Five

Two Outdoor Enthusiasts:

• One high in Openness → Gets content about new parks, novel experiences, pilot programs

• One high in Conscientiousness → Gets structured action steps, impact stats, and “follow-through” framing

Two Environmental Activists:

• One high in Agreeableness → Sees emotional, collaborative framing: “join us,” “stand with others”

• One high in Extraversion → Gets invites to rallies, group cleanups, community organizing roles

Same appeal month? Yes.  Same message, tone, format, channel? Absolutely not.

This is what real audience-led looks like:

• Different identities

• Different traits

• Different journeys

When you understand why someone gives — not just that they give — you create messages that don’t just perform, they attract and inspire. It’s not audience-led if every “journey” is just a slightly different walk around the same block much like it’s not “personalized” because you remembered their name or inserting “you” a bunch.

Your donors are more than data points.  Treating them that way isn’t just better strategy — it’s better fundraising.

Kevin