What channels do they use?

A key question is how they currently access services.

There was considerable research done in the UK in the e-Citizen project at …… including an analysis of the “hooks” which would make people use online access. The percentages will be out of date but the key messages are unlikely to have changed.

There are also regular surveys carried out at national, European and world levels on internet access and e-government take up which are readily accessible on the web.

Many commercial customer profiling packages will include internet access details for each profile type.

Again there is no substitute for actually asking people not only how they access services but how they would like to, and co –design using focus groups are a good way of exploring this.

Guides to help to develop a Channel Strategy from the Smart Cities Regional Academic Network are http://www.smartcities.info/transformation-city-portals-smart-cities-res... and http://www.smartcities.info/files/Smart_Cities_Research_Brief_Measuring_...

There is also, useful guidance at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/public_service_reform/innovation/multi_c...

Who are the priority?

You need to decide which customers are your priority. These will be one or more of:

• Existing service users whose behaviour you want to change (including take up of new services, channel shift or social marketing changes in the way they do things)
• Potential service users who you are not currently reaching
• Sub groups within current or potential users who you are particularly keen to reach such as socially excluded groups or those in a specific area or community where a new service is available

As part of this decision you may want to segment your target audience further according the ease with which you can get them to take up services or change behaviour – identifying what marketing experts call “low hanging fruit” who are ripe for the message you want to deliver.

The work you have done on profiling your current and potential customers will enable you to do this.

Once you have identified the customers and their characteristics you should then try and identify the numbers of customers in that group. You may wish to widen the group you target if numbers are too low and would not be cost effective to target in terms of the benefits – financial or otherwise – you anticipate from the change if you are successful.