Our 2018 Reader Survey Results
Understanding how awesome our audience is
A few weeks ago, I released our first official reader survey. It’s something I’d been planning on doing for awhile, because understanding who’s on the receiving end of our content is incredibly important to create emails, podcast episodes, and other tools that will be most helpful.
The results freaking floored me. Not only because they shed light on who is reading and listening. They also showed me how our audience sees We Are Next, and what they take away from it.
I’m sharing the results as both an introduction to our wonderful audience, and a thank you to those who took the survey. (tl;dr? See the full infographic here.)
The breakdown of our audience was in line with what I imagined. If you group the recent grads (less than 1 year since graduating) and jr. talent together, a little less than half our readers are still in school, while the other half are out of school. Shoutout to the 8% of readers who are more than 3+ years into their careers—they include professors and industry veterans who support We Are Next.
When asked what team readers belong to (or will belong to, in students’ cases), Creative, Strategy, and Account Management came out on top. Which makes sense, given they’re the roles most commonly taught in school, while roles like Media and Production are often undiscovered until you’re in the industry. The fourth most popular answer was “Not Sure Yet,” which should be reassuring to those who are still deciding between roles—you’re definitely not alone.
I lumped Strategy, UX, and Analytics together as one choice in the survey, and in retrospect, I should have separated them out, given the rise in demand of UX and Analytics in the industry. My guess is that both would have returned small percentages in the realm of (or even less than) Production, which would point to a discrepancy between the roles the industry is looking for vs. the roles students are being prepared for.
Note: The only answer not represented on the chart (for lack of room) is Recruitment/Talent Development, which represented 1% of survey respondents.
Here’s where things started to surprise me.
65% of We Are Next readers identify as female. My intention has always been to make We Are Next as gender-neutral as possible, while ensuring that women have an equal voice through the guest writers and podcast guests we choose. To see such a strong showing of female readers—without alienating our male audience—fills me with pride. I can say “without alienating our male audience,” because some of the most heartfelt messages I get are from our male readers and listeners.
This wasn’t part of the reader survey, but according to Google Analytics, visitors to we-are-next.com represent 48 out of the 50 states. (Montana and North Dakota, where you at?) While the largest concentrations of readers are in New York and California—which makes sense, given I made these two states home, built a strong network, and they’re two of the largest advertising markets—I am so psyched to see that our content is reaching everyone who needs it across the country.
Too often, we concentrate on the coasts and assume everyone’s needs match theirs. In 2018, I want to make sure the industry in the middle is both represented and served.
Our audience takes full advantage of our various resources, with 81% using two or more of them. I was really surprised to see Social Media content almost on par with the We Are Next Podcast, since we honestly don’t put much emphasis on social. While this could stem from the fact that the survey was distributed primarily through the Weekly (it was mentioned on the podcast, but it’s harder to get people to jump from audio to a survey), it’s also a sign that we need to up our social game.
Reading the way our audience talks about We Are Next in the survey responses was an emotional experience. What was most exciting was seeing people pick up on subtleties that have always been incorporated, but never talked about publicly. Things like its real talk but reassuring tone, choosing optimism over cynicism, and community over competition. To know that We Are Next is not only informative, but also emotionally comforting is huge.
I wish I could share all the responses, but to keep this brief(ish), I’ll just share one quote per keyword that really got me.
Authentic: “It provides tailored advice for people like me. It’s not generic recruitment agency stuff, it’s more genuine advice from people who have been there.”
Useful: “We Are Next provides me with many insights about getting in the advertising industry. The content that is provided is extremely helpful and unique.”
Reassuring: “Specifically addresses and calms many of my anxious thoughts approaching graduation and the entrance to the ‘real world’ that I’ve heard so much about.”
Unique: “It provides a unique insight that wasn’t out there in the industry before. It makes me feel hopeful for the future.”
Lastly, I wanted to share some of the ways that readers describe what We Are Next is.
It’s helped me understand what we’ve built so far, and more importantly—what We Are Next could be in the future.
“We Are Next is a content-publishing powerhouse.”
“We Are Next helps to nurture the next generation of advertising talent.”
“It incorporates perspectives from many schools, many agencies, many people… which is incredibly important and vital to helping diverse perspectives be successful.”
“A platform for students and young ad professionals to connect, share, and be encouraged by.”
“Sites such as We Are Next feel more personable and genuinely interested in improving and enhancing the advertising industry overall.”
And one of my favorites to end:
A HUGE thank you to everyone who responded to the reader survey. I couldn’t have written this without you. Literally!
Check out all of We Are Next’s resources at we-are-next.com, and subscribe to our Weekly email for advice and insight from the industry, delivered Mondays.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed it, clap away. Want to help spread the word? Share this piece with people who need it most — friends, professors, colleagues, mentors and mentees.
About WRNXT BTS
As a first time entrepreneur and chronic writer, I’ve been wanting to document the experience of building We Are Next. WRNXT BTS is an open account of the highs and lows of starting and growing a resource for the next generation of advertising talent.
