See-Think-Do-Care (STDC)
Avinash Kaushik’s framework (2013, on his Occam’s Razor blog) clusters audiences by intent instead of demographics or channels: See is the largest addressable audience, Think is actively considering, Do is ready to act, Care is existing customers. Its sharpest edge is measurement: each stage gets its own content, offers, and KPIs, which ends the habit of judging awareness content by conversion metrics. It bridges audience thinking and measurement in a single planning grid.
Kaushik’s intent framework: plan content, offers, and KPIs by audience intent.
See (largest addressable audience) → Think (considering) → Do (ready to act) → Care (customers)
When to use this
- When planning starts from channels ("what do we post on LinkedIn?") instead of from audience intent.
- When awareness content keeps getting killed for not converting, STDC assigns each stage metrics it can fairly be judged by.
- To balance the portfolio: most teams discover they over-produce for Do and ignore See and Care.