Local Audience Development

EssexOnline.uk

Audience Research • Local Content Platform • Market Intelligence

Overview

EssexOnline was a self-initiated digital project created to build and understand a regional audience within Essex. The platform focused on attracting locally relevant traffic and analysing engagement patterns to support more accurate, location-aware marketing decisions in future projects.

The Objective

To develop first-hand understanding of:

  • How local audiences engage with regional content

  • Which locations show higher levels of interaction and interest

  • How messaging and structure influence engagement at a local level

Rather than relying solely on third-party targeting assumptions, the aim was to improve marketing relevance through direct audience observation.

The Approach

  • Designed and built a locally focused digital platform

  • Structured content and site architecture around Essex-based relevance

  • Implemented tracking to analyse:

    • Engagement trends by location

    • Content interaction patterns

    • Behavioural signals indicating intent and interest

  • Used insights to inform:

    • Geographic targeting strategies

    • Messaging tone and structure

    • Campaign segmentation in subsequent acquisition work

Outcome

EssexOnline provided a clearer understanding of regional engagement behaviour, enabling more confident, location-aware decisions when planning and executing future marketing activity.

The project demonstrated the value of building audience insight before scaling spend, particularly in location-sensitive markets.

What This Demonstrates

  • Audience-first thinking rather than channel-first execution

  • Understanding of regional behaviour and geographic intent

  • Ability to design projects for insight, not just output

  • Ethical, data-led decision-making within marketing strategy