Audience Insights: Persuadable touch-points during the election

With an election underway, understanding how Persuadables relate to climate change and the stories they interact with is critical. In the first of this two-part article, we explored Persuadables’ relationship with the general election as a whole and introduced four new voter-type segments across the UK.  

We know that some Persuadables are highly political, and others not at all. What they have in common is online and offline activity that reflects their interests – like a beloved podcast or prime-time TV slot outside of the news cycle. Here they will be exposed to general election topics in a different way. By delving deep into these alternative spaces, we can explore how Persuadables might engage with election themes and offer tips on reaching them better this year, up to and beyond July 4^th. 

Inside you'll find: 

What content are they consuming? Three alternative touchpoints which might shape how different audience groups experience the election. 

Tips for engaging with Persuadables. For this election and beyond.  

As part of the climate sector, we are well and truly residents of Planet General Election. We are the first ones to watch TV debates, obsessively listen to podcast specials, and have multiple alerts on our phones to keep up with the latest news.  

We know that this is not the same planet our Persuadables are living on. British summertime has just started, the Euros are on, and there are a million other things on their mind. While they will come across some election-specific content, like through social media, their favourite newspaper, or campaign leaflets, this is part of a larger diet of activity that is mostly focused on their main interests and concerns.  

That’s not to say they don’t care about climate change – but the challenge is reaching them amongst a diverse media diet.  

For this report, we will unpick three of the top alternative touch points Persuadable groups are likely to spend time consuming outside of mainstream TV, news, social media, and radio.

1) Podcasts

The popularity of podcasts, while still far off radio, is growing exponentially.  In the UK specifically, one-third of Brits now listen to them every month.  

Many of the media environments we associate with the modern day, such as TikTok and X, favour short snappy content that's designed to be scrollable. podcasts, on the other hand, are rarely less than 30 minutes long, and many are over an hour. This combined with the fact people listen to podcasts to learn something new (39%) or keep up to date with a personal interest (46%), means podcasts offer a unique deep-learning experience for listeners. 

This can be a dangerous place for misinformation, as Joe Rogan has already demonstrated. This format allows for spreaders to tell particularly convincing stories to an engaged audience. They also do not require sources or verification to back up any points in the same way other media formats do. For this reason, many problematic shows that have been banned on social media can go undetected on podcast platforms.  

Case study: How audiences might experience the election through 'The Diary of a CEO'

The Diary of a CEO is the number one podcast on Spotify. On YouTube, it has 4 million subscribers. It's hosted by Dragon Den’s Steven Bartlett, an entrepreneur worth £68 billion. 

While Steven Bartlett tends to avoid politicians, he hosted ex-health secretary Matt Hancock in 2022. The 1-hour and 43-minute-long conversation gave Matt a deeply intimate environment to explain and rebut criticisms of the handling of the pandemic. He was also able to tell an emotional love story to defend his breach of the rules. 

Steven Bartlett has expressed interest in interviewing Rishi Sunak in the past. Interviewing Sunak in the run-up to the election, or another politician like Farage post-election would give them unique platforms to sell their climate positions, whether they are backtracking on net zero or even proposing a net zero referendum. These platforms could help any politician drive a personal connection with listeners, by sharing their unedited and unverified stories.

2) Blogs

With the rise in vlogging on video platforms like YouTube and TikTok, it's easy to forget about written blogs. However, they are still popular, with 77% of internet users still reading them regularly. All Persuadable groups read them, but they are most popular with rural dwellers. 

People's motivations to read blogs are predominantly to learn, whether about an interest unrelated to their career or to help them advance in their role. Again, this creates a deep learning environment where readers can be particularly vulnerable to false narratives. 

Blog sites’ use of mixed media tactics also help spread these narratives far and wide. The written blog acts as the host of the misinformation narrative, and search engine optimisation (SEO), links across multiple blog sites, and wide sharing on social media sites can create a coordinated misinformation campaign. This can be highly effective: blogs were the start of the 15-minute city conspiracy, which falsely linked traffic reduction schemes to population control. 

Case study: How audiences might experience the election through ‘The Brown Car Guy’

The Brown Car Guy is a blog owned by Shahzad Sheikh. Shahzad has been a car journalist, content creator and author since 1989, and has been running his blog since 2019, where he reviews cars, posts industry news, and offers top tips on all things driving. Like the most successful blogs, he has followers across all the major social media networks, including 8,145 followers on Instagram and 28.2K subscribers on Youtube. 

We know that motorists will be a hard sell on any climate policy that centres around car reduction and Shahzad Sheikh is no different. He is not shy of using his presence to drum up opposition to ULEZ policies, reframing them as ‘anti-car’,  casting doubt around facts about pollution, and even exploring the topic “as an all-action romp” in his latest novel. 

In the run-up to the mayoral elections he was not afraid to drum up support for conservative candidate Susan Hall due to her stance on ULEZ. Since Sadiq Khan’s win, Sheikh has expressed deflation about the future of motoring in the UK, prompting people to ‘use their vote’ in the general election. Whilst he is sceptical of the Conservatives’ recent promises to row back ULEZ, if any of the parties can introduce a convincing campaign line that speaks to motorists specifically like Reform’s recent promises, he is likely to support them. 

3) In person community groups

Community groups come in many shapes and sizes from church meet ups to local book clubs. There is very little comprehensive data on overall attendance in the UK, but to give us a picture, over 30% of us are religious and 44% regularly spend time on a hobby or special interest. So, it’s reasonable to believe that many if not most Persuadables will attend some sort of community group. 

The impact of these groups varies drastically. Some are inherently more political than others. Trade unions or council forums for example are generally attended by Persuadables that want to influence change. The nature of this change is linked to the immediate issues that impact the group, with a clear intersection with climate. The National Farmer Union was instrumental in galvanizing the recent protests, for example. 

These climate-adjacent grievances often come from an extremely valid place, but it’s in these close-knit social groups that misinformation can become the most salient and extremely influential vocal minorities can be formed. In the case of the recent farmer protests, a major trigger was proposals in the Welsh Government's sustainable farming scheme, but the narrative quickly turned to directly attack Net-Zero. 

They can also be great places for Persuadables to become more politically engaged and get more involved with climate action. Concern for the local environment through council forums is a lot more tangible for Persuadables than wider biodiversity decline. Due to their social nature, even less political community groups like hobby or sports clubs are extremely important touchpoints in the run-up to the election. 

Case study: How audiences might experience the election through 'Stop Luton the Expansion' action group

The 'Stop the Luton Expansion' action group is a collective of Hitchin residents who oppose ongoing plans to expand the airport. They are a decentralised group that tries to stop plans through many forms of campaigning, online and offline, including encouraging members to email their MP’s, pickets and protests, and in-person meet-ups. 

Expanding Luton airport has dramatic climate consequences, but this isn’t what is motivating Persuadables to act. The expansion puts their homes, parks, and local areas under threat. Saving their beloved Wigmore Park is a more galvanising reason to take to the streets than the seemingly impossible task of reversing climate change. 

The impact of this action group and others like it across the country has made environmental policy attractive for local and national politicians. The local Conservatives have made a public stance against the plans and the Liberal Democrats have just launched a campaign line against airport expansions in general. For communities drastically affected by climate-adjacent policies like this, support from an MP or party is highly likely to lead to a vote in the general election. 

Connect with and amplify local action groups that already exist  

The case of the Luton expansion group reminds us of the importance of framing climate policy in local issues and opportunities. Think carefully about who is impacted by the policy or cause you are campaigning for. Ask which region or town is especially affected. For example, campaigns about clean energy might land better in the Northeast as a hub in this technology, therefore seeing if any community groups already exist in this area could be effective. Strength comes in numbers so build conversations and partnerships. Helping to spread their localised message is likely to get MPs in that constituency on side and can also help drum up the kind of noise needed for more national recognition in government. 

Advertise your issue in niche spaces 

Our approach to media in our advertising and comms campaigns needs to be as varied as our Persuadables' content diet. A cross-channel approach, mixing digital, out-of-home, and other creative placements like podcasts, is the best way to maximize impact. While this is harder during election campaign sprints, multi-media advertising campaigns are essential for drumming up support for climate initiatives, boosting political engagement, and changing behaviour all year round. 

Think carefully about your PR strategy when advertising isn't possible 

With campaigning laws making advertising particularly difficult during an election run-up, more weight is put on your PR strategy for a successful campaign. To reach Persuadables in their more diverse, interest-focused media environments, we must appear outside news and environmental publications alone. Think about where your cause intersects with your audience's real-life passions and use that to inform where you appear. For example, framing that speaks to the investment opportunities in sustainable technology would work well in a business-focused podcast or publication, and will reach entrepreneurial Persuadables.  

Make use of trusted messengers outside of the political sphere 

Key figures who support climate action but have influence from interest groups on both sides – whether that's the leader of a local action group, a blog moderator, or an upcoming podcast host – can make great trusted messengers. Using the example of motorists that we explored earlier, Paul Hadley, whose blog Motor Verso which regularly features EV's, would make an influential partner to drum up support for policies from any party that focuses on a faster, fairer transition.