Segmentation & Core Audience Strategy
A unified audience architecture shaping editorial, product, marketing and revenue strategy at Axios
Opportunity
Create audience segmentation that teams would actually use to make better decisions every day.
Axios needed a clear, research-backed understanding of its core audiences across national products, Axios Local, Events and early membership efforts. Teams lacked a shared view of who we serve, what motivates them and where the strongest opportunities for growth and differentiation exist.
To build a company-wide segmentation system, Axios partnered with Collage Group to run a national survey of 2,000 news consumers and execute the quantitative segmentation model. My role: to lead the entire strategic engagement and transform the quant output into a usable, human, actionable audience architecture for the business.
Strategy
I scoped, directed and managed the full segmentation initiative, from defining business goals to shaping the methodological design to integrating qualitative insight and strategic modeling.
The approach combined:
Collage’s quantitative segmentation (cluster analysis, motivations, typing model)
My qualitative research (interviews, synthesis, persona enrichment)
Behavioral + internal data (newsletter usage, market signals, product engagement)
Strategic extrapolation to tailor the model specifically to Axios’ portfolio and growth priorities
Outcomes
📊 National segmentation built from 2,000+ news consumers delivered by Collage Group
🧭 All departments aligned around one shared audience model
🧩 Audience architecture adopted in planning cycles for targeting, messaging, content strategy and expansion
📈 Used in numerous high-impact decisions within the first year (city strategy, membership modeling, marketing frameworks, advertiser narratives)
This work established Axios’ shared “source of truth” about its audience: improving speed, focus and cross-team alignment.
My Roles
Accountable for:
Ensuring the segmentation met Axios’ strategic needs and was actionable across all functions
Delivering the executive narrative and cross-org adoption plan
Maintaining clarity, rigor and fidelity as the model was operationalized
Guiding senior leaders through prioritization, opportunity sizing and implications for the ecosystem
Responsible for:
Scoping and directing the full segmentation initiative, including vendor management
Partnering with Collage on methodology, sampling and analytic priorities
Leading all qualitative research, creating behavioral enrichments and persona narratives
Building the final audience architecture, segment definitions and strategic implications
Translating complex quant outputs into simple, usable strategic guidance for internal teams
Process
Scoping & Partnership Management
Defined business goals, methodological requirements and decision-use cases. Directed Collage’s work, ensured sample design and analytic approach aligned with Axios’ needs and future use.
Quantitative Segmentation (with Collage Group)
Oversaw survey instrument development, model selection and validation. Collage delivered the statistical segmentation; I ensured it aligned to organizational goals and strategic contexts.
Qualitative Enrichment + Behavioral Mapping
Led interviews and insight synthesis to humanize segments and understand motivations. Mapped segments against Axios products, behaviors and content patterns.
Audience Architecture Development
Built segment definitions, need states, decision drivers, product fit indicators and strategic opportunity areas. Created the signal map and operational framework.
Cross-Org Activation
Ran alignment sessions and built adoption tools to integrate segmentation into editorial planning, marketing strategy, revenue narratives and roadmap discussions.
Deliverables I Created
Defined core audience definitions
Accessible Axios reader archetypes (plus explainer videos)
Motivational frameworks
Executive readouts & workshops
Tools I Used
User Interviews
Looker BI
ChatGPT
Canva
Skills I Applied
Segmentation leadership
Vendor management + methodological direction
Mixed-methods research
Strategic modeling
Cross-functional alignment
Executive storytelling
Reflections & Lessons
Segmentation only works if the organization understands it. I was nervous about the math of it all but my biggest challenge was turning the math into usable strategy.
Quant needs a translator. Collage delivered the model; I made it actionable.
This became a strategic operating system. The biggest win wasn’t the segmentation itself. It was building a shared audience reality that now powers planning, targeting and decision-making across Axios.
