Using Research to Identify Your Community

Starting your Local’s Guide may seem overwhelming. You clearly love your community and are passionate about creating a space for your neighbors to connect. 

We get it, we’ve been there! Before you start publishing lots of content and promoting your site, you need to know the people you will be speaking to. It’s quite common and understandable that you feel your community at large mirrors that of your personal community- your family, friends, and colleagues. This might very well be that case, but it also might not be, and you might be shocked to find out what your community make-up really is when you take a birds-eye view.

I live right outside Evans, Georgia. I had a fairly good idea of what the community make-up would be but I wanted to dive in and really learn. To be honest, there were statistics I was surprised by. Having a hunch versus learning the facts matters.

I based my research on the 2020 census data. I learned that the total population is 37,114, out of which 27,069 are adults, about 5,300 of whom are seniors, and 10,045 are children under 18. The average age for women is 39 while for men it’s 37.9. The largest percentage of children at home are aged 12 to 17, with the lowest percentage being those under six years old.

I also learned that there are more women living in Evans than there are men and that the overall marriage rate is 57.6%.

There is loads more data to dive into, but I leave it there for now. Learning all of this is so helpful! I now know that the content I write needs to largely appeal to adults in their late thirties. I also know that the majority of my followers will be married and many of which will have children at home. I also know that the largest percentage of children at home is 12 to 17 years old, knowing all of this information is vital when searching for events or writing content.

I also looked up race breakdown. In Evans the highest percentage was white at 78.35%, followed by Black or African American at 11.71%. Researching your community’s racial make-up will give you an idea of the many cultures in your area. Use this info especially when adding events to your calendar. You want to ensure you are serving your community as a whole and promoting a variety of events.

Now that you’ve researched your community’s demographics, how do you apply it to your Local’s Guide? For starters, you now have a better idea of who you are writing to, but here are a couple of questions to ask yourself.

How old are they? First, this will help with your writing voice plus knowing what kind of content to publish like Best Retirement Communities vs. Family Friendly Restaurants.

Are they primarily single or married? Since communities are made up of a variety of people all of these blog posts may appeal to your readers, but knowing this data will allow you to prioritize posts and better hone in on your content: Best Places for Kids’ Birthday Parties vs. Girls Night Out Guide vs. Best Local Date Night Spots.

Do they have children? If so, you will want to include kid-friendly events and posts like a summer camp guide.

You are now in a great place to get your Local’s Guide started! Good luck and remember to have fun!

Talk soon,

Madi

PS: Click here to download your FREE Local Influencer Starter Guide