Millennial Group Methodology
Millennial Focused Ads
Coming soonCHURCH MILLENNIAL FOCUS GROUP METHODOLOGY
Missional Marketing set out to create a Millennial Facebook Campaign for Cornerstone Church of Arizona. We rounded up 10 participants for a focus group. Here is a description of our process and results. We circulated a form with links to forty ads and provided an area for comments and ratings on each ad. Once our participants noted their reactions to the ads, we analyzed the results and took the following steps:
1. In ads where the consensus of the focus group pointed toward an easy fix in wording, we simply made the easy fix. We did this by making a clone of the ad and adding a version number. For example, an easy fix to ad # 4 was numbered # 4.1. This enabled us to retain before and after versions to demonstrate the improvement that was the fruit of the focus group’s input.
2. In ads that were judged negatively by the majority of the focus group, but had viable suggestions for improvement, we created a new version based on their input. We again did this by making a clone of the ad and adding a version number for comparison.
3. Ads that were judged negatively by the majority of the focus group with no viable suggestions for improvement were marked to be excluded from the campaign.
The participants did not see each other’s responses. They were each give a $25 Panera Bread Gift Certificate.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected was analyzed in order to inform future ad-writing. The results are listed below along with descriptions for each section. For this particular analysis, the data set is somewhat small and the results may not be extremely generalizable. However, in future focus groups of larger sizes, the conclusions drawn in this analysis may be supported further with more data. Furthermore, this sort of analysis may serve as a basic framework for analyzing focus group data for this and similar campaigns.
Results for Males, Females, and Couples
The two charts on the left show the average male, female, and couple scores across the 40 ads. The first chart shows the average overall ad score and the second chart shows the average photo score. This is a simple analysis that shows us that for this specific campaign, males scored the ads higher in general than females or couples. Additionally, males scored the photos the highest, and females scored the photos the lowest. This shows us that males generally responded more favorably to this ad campaign than females. However, with only three participants in each category, this might not be true of the larger population. (click images to view)
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected was analyzed in order to inform future ad-writing. The results are listed below along with descriptions for each section. For this particular analysis, the data set is somewhat small and the results may not be extremely generalizable. However, in future focus groups of larger sizes, the conclusions drawn in this analysis may be supported further with more data. Furthermore, this sort of analysis may serve as a basic framework for analyzing focus group data for this and similar campaigns.
Results for Males, Females, and Couples
The two charts below show the average male, female, and couple scores across the 40 ads. The first chart shows the average overall ad score and the second chart shows the average photo score. This is a simple analysis that shows us that for this specific campaign, males scored the ads higher in general than females or couples. Additionally, males scored the photos the highest, and females scored the photos the lowest. This shows us that males generally responded more favorably to this ad campaign than females. However, with only three participants in each category, this might not be true of the larger population. (click images to view)
RESULTS BY TOPIC
In this part of the analysis, the 40 ads were grouped into 17 topic categories to see if specific topics scored better than others. In the first chart, the overall average score for each category is shown from highest to lowest. In the second chart, these categories are further divided to show the scores given by males, females, and couples. This information is valuable because it allows us to see if there are specific topics that seem to score low across ads, and therefore, are topics which should be avoided. It also shows if there are certain topics that would do best if targeted toward males, females, or couples. (click images to view)
Photo vs Overall Score
In this part of the analysis, the photo score vs overall ad score of each ad was plotted. This visualization shows the correlation between the photo score and overall score, with each data point representing one ad. The best fit line (shown in dotted grey) gives us an idea of how the photo choice impacts the overall ad impact. In this case, the more participants that liked the photo, the more overall impact they thought the ad had. The r-squared value of about 0.3 tells us that 30% of the variation in overall ad scores is explained by the photo scores. In other words, 30% of what explains the overall score is the photo score, and the other 70% of the variation comes from other sources, such as the text and topic of the ad, among other variables. This is interesting in terms of ad-design as it quantitatively tells us that the photo itself is a major contributor to the overall ad impact.
LOW SCORES
In this part of the analysis, the comments for ad scores of 1 or 2 were grouped into categories to gain a better sense of what specifically resulted in lower scores. The top eight complaints are shown in this visualization, with the most frequent complaints in larger bubbles. This information is extremely helpful in showing the common pitfalls of ad-writing in this campaign. This informs future ad-writing by showing what to avoid in order to make a better overall impact.
participant profiles
Single Female #1
Profile: Age: 23.
College student who also works full time. Faith background: Open to existence of God. Parents involved her in an evangelical mega church as a child. Drifted away from church after high school.
Single Female #2
Profile: Age: 23.
College student who also works part time. Faith background: Open to existence of God. Parents involved her in an evangelical mega church as a child. Drifted away from church after high school.
Single Female #3
Profile: Age: 27.
Program coordinator at a university. Faith background: Raised Catholic in a liberal family. Believes that religion is oppressive but the divine exists in how we care for each other.
Single male #1
Profile: Age: 19.
College student and aspiring pilot who also works part time. Faith background: Raised in a Christian home but is now agnostic. Will not deny the existence of a God but will also not identify as a Christian.
Single male #2
Profile: Age: 19.
Pre Med college student who also works part time. Faith background: Raised in the Catholic church and only attends service on holidays. School is his main priority.
Single male #3
Profile: Age: 25.
College graduate who now works full time. Faith background: Believes in the existence of God and calls himself a Christian if asked. Raised in an Evangelical church. Drifted away from church after high school.
Married Couple #1
Husband’s Age: 22.
Husband’s Profile: College graduate currently working full time at a marketing firm.
Husband’s Faith Background: Raised by atheist parents, and was never guided in his religious endeavors, but is still open to the idea of God.
Wife’s Age: 21
Wife’s Profile: College graduate with a temporary job applying for PhD programs.
Wife’s Faith Background: Raised in a Christian family and attended a private Lutheran middle school. Turned to science in high school and away from her faith but is now open to the idea of God.
Married Couple #2
Husband’s Age: 29.
Husband’s Profile: works full time and makes time for many outdoor hobbies on the weekends.
Husband’s Faith Background: Raised Jewish by parents. Attended Jewish youth groups as a child and teenager. Had a bar mitzvah and celebrated Hanukkah growing up. Drifted from religion in later high school years. Open to the existence of God but not seeking Him.
Wife’s Age:26
Wife’s Profile: Small business owner who attends fitness classes regularly in spare time.
Wife’s Faith Background: was not raised in any church or religion. Did not attend church or hear much about God growing up. Had questioned the existence of God at a very young age. Open to the existence of God but not necessarily the God portrayed in Christianity.
Our Focus Group Team
Michael Prough
Michael Prough is a 25-year-old who currently works full-time as a Clinical Research Coordinator on genetic studies of Alzheimer’s and other age-related diseases and also works part-time as an Independent Contractor and Data Analyst for a variety of organizations. He has both B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Notre Dame, in Biochemistry and Global Health, respectively. In his spare time, he enjoys singing, cooking, and building things. Raised in an Evangelical Church in Indiana, Michael drifted away from that specific brand of Christianity after High School. He still believes in the existence of God and calls himself a Christian if asked, but does not regularly attend a church at this point in his life.
Madeline Pere
Madeline Pere is a 23-year-old Social Media Marketer and Photographer located in Washington, DC. She has two B.S. degrees in Marketing and International Business from the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business. In her spare time, she enjoys running a photography business, travelling, learning new things, and watching movies. Raised Roman Catholic, Madeline has recently drifted away from practicing that brand of Christianity. While she believes in the existence of God, she is not attending church regularly.
Russ Gonzalez
Russ Gonzalez is 20-year-old who currently attends The University of Texas at San Antonio majoring in Digital Marketing. He is on track to graduate with the Class of 2020. He also serves as a Social Media Marketer and Manager for various small businesses as well as working as a freelancer. In his spare time he enjoys playing guitar, working out, personal training, & making YouTube Videos. Raised in a Pentecostal Church in San Antonio, Texas Russ has moved on from that specific branch of Christianity and now attends a Non-Denominational Church in San Antonio
Kylie Harris
Kylie Harris is a 19-year-old currently working towards a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Writing Studies at the University of North Florida. She works part time for the University leading large tutoring sessions in general Biology courses. She also volunteers part time in a research lab focused on mangroves and their importance to coastal ecosystems. She enjoys writing, hiking, and being in nature. Although she was raised in a Methodist Church, she no longer attends service regularly. She has yet to find a church in her college town that appeals to young people but remains strong in her faith.
Earl Ricker
Earl is a co-founder of Missional Marketing. He has a deep passion for the Christian Church. Missional Marketing counts many of the nation’s largest megachurches among its clients. He has been a been a major contributor to Central Christian Church of Arizona for many years. He is also a Christian songwriter. Earl has a Bachelor’s Degree from Northern Michigan University. He has been married to Patty Ricker for 25 years. They have two grown children.