Introducing…the Historic England Segments

Introducing…the Historic England Segments

Supporting Heritage organisations of all sizes to reach a diverse range of people

At Historic England, we believe heritage is for everyone. That’s why we are now offering the Historic England Segments for use by organisations of all sizes to enable them to reach a more diverse range of people.

The Historic England Segments form part of our advice and support for heritage organisations on inclusion: a collection of advice, guidance and case studies designed to support the heritage industry to become more inclusive and diverse.

About the Historic England Segments

We commissioned this segmentation system to help understand how people relate or could relate to heritage, driven by their personal values. The Segments are defined by the motivations that might lead people to connect with heritage.

The Historic England Segments were initially developed by audience strategy and insight consultancy Morris Hargreaves McIntyre. We launched the Segments internally in early 2022 and have continued to revisit and refresh them at regular intervals to ensure that what we see in the data still matches what we are seeing in our day-to-day work.

As a Non-Departmental Public Body, Historic England operates on behalf of a wide-ranging audience. Our Strategy for Inclusion, Diversity and Equality outlines our desire to work with and reach a more diverse range of people. The Historic England Segments help us to connect more effectively with our existing audiences. They also enable us to engage with new and more diverse groups.

The Historic England Segments organise people into practical groups, which can help us understand who is the most appropriate for us to work with, where to find them, what we want to say and ask of them, and what it is that will inspire them to get involved with heritage.

Supporting the heritage sector

We are now making our Historic England Segments available more broadly. We believe the Segments could support heritage organisations of all sizes to reach more people, engage with more diverse communities, and ensure that audiences are a priority when planning activities and campaigns.

The Historic England Segments form part of our advice and support for heritage organisations on inclusion: a collection of advice, guidance and case studies designed to support the heritage industry to become more inclusive and diverse.

We hope the Historic England Segments are relevant, usable, and helpful tools. It’s important to recognise that heritage organisations can vary in size and scope, and that some elements may not be applicable for you.

Developing the Historic England Segments

The Segments were created in direct response to Historic England’s Inclusion, Diversity and Equality Strategy and represent how diverse the population is in terms of demographics, beliefs, and values. They can be used as a tool in the pursuit of inclusion and diversity goals, as well as a tool for working with different audiences.

Everyone is different. Trying to meet the needs of everybody can mean that we meet the needs of nobody. Likewise, we recognise that treating people as one homogenous mass won't work either. We, therefore, use an approach called segmentation: grouping people together into a small number of Segments who share the same values, particularly in response to the historic environment.

This is primarily a pragmatic tool. No one in the world has one set identity, and there will be some overlaps between Segments. Some people will feel like they are in the middle of a Segment, while others may feel they fall between two or three Segments. Ultimately, each of us will share more things in common with some people than others.

As outlined above, it’s important to note that we have based this segmentation system on values and not demographics (such as location, age and gender). This is because our values change more slowly, unlike our life stage or location.

Once we understand core values and how people feel about the world around them, we can more easily encourage behavioural change.

In developing the Segments, we have created two tools: Segment Snapshots (summaries) and Segments in Full (containing more in-depth information) about each of the seven Segments.

Historic England wants to hear from you

Is the data in these segments useful? What else would you like to see?

Historic England are actively seeking feedback from organisations about the Historic England Segments to help us further develop the information they’re providing and to understand how they can further support the sector on this project.

If you want more information, have feedback to share, or would like to share a case study then they would really love to hear from you.

Email the Historic England Marketing team

Each of the 7 segments are broken down to give insight on:

• lifestyle
• values
• profile
• No. 1 motivation
• No. 1 barrier
• propensity to donate, become a member and volunteer

Each segment also gives guidance on:

• ways participation in the historic environment can be increased
• are they concerned about diversity?
• are they concerned about climate change?
• how to reach them
• main interests.

Historic England Segment Snapshots (PDF)

Historic England Segments in Full (PDF)