The municipality of Amsterdam used Trendata's demand insights to understand debt problems among its citizens better, and to pick up signals earlier.
Debt problems often stay out of sight for a long time. People may feel ashamed of their situation, which can make it harder to talk openly. For a city that wants to reach people earlier, this is a practical problem.
The municipality of Amsterdam wanted a better grip on this issue. It asked Trendata for insights into market demand and people's information needs around debts and financial problems.
The situation in Amsterdam
At the time of this project, 140,000 citizens of Amsterdam had an income below 120% of the statutory social minimum. That amounted to 88,000 households. Although Amsterdam saw the figures improving, 1 in 4 citizens had debts.
The municipality wanted to recognise people with debts earlier, and to help them better. That led to one central question: can we identify blind spots regarding these problems at an earlier stage?
What the municipality learned
Blind spots that consultations do not reveal
The insights revealed blind spots that professional counsellors are not able to identify in one-on-one consultations with clients.
This can be explained by the fact that clients are often ashamed of their situation. What someone looks into alone can differ from what that person says in a conversation.
High and growing demand
Search demand for debt and financial problems was high and growing. The data was very diverse. Popular search queries included:
- debts
- social assistance
- unemployment benefit
- unemployment
- the food and clothing bank
Remarkably specific questions
Demand was remarkably high for some very specific topics. These included:
- quickly borrowing 40 euros
- buying an iPhone 12 Pro without BKR registration
- where to borrow money
BKR is the Dutch credit registration office. The small amount in the first query and the wish to avoid registration in the second stand out. Such queries show a type of question that a general information campaign might not address.
What the municipality did with it
The insights enabled the municipality to pick up signals earlier. It used the data to further optimise its communication strategy and consulting services.
These outcomes belong to this project and this context. They do not guarantee the same result elsewhere.
How to read this kind of data
This work rests on aggregated demand signals, which show what people look into as a group. They do not identify anyone. They also do not replace the work of counsellors, who know the personal situation behind a case.
It is also important to keep the measures apart. A search query shows a person orienting on a topic.
It does not prove how many people are in debt, or that a loan was taken out. Demand signals and official statistics answer different questions.
Used together, the two sources can complement each other:
- Official figures show the size of a problem among citizens.
- Consultations show the personal story behind it, as far as people feel able to share it.
- Demand signals show which questions people look into, and in which words.
What other organisations can take from this
The Amsterdam case concerns a public issue, but the underlying idea is broader. Any organisation that relies only on direct conversations will miss what people find hard to say. An outside view can reveal what they are looking for.
Three questions can help you judge whether this applies to your organisation:
- Which subjects do people find difficult to raise with you directly?
- Which words do they use themselves, and do those match your own communication?
- Which of your services would you adapt if you recognised a need earlier?
The last question matters most. In Amsterdam, the value lay in what followed: communication and consulting services shaped by what people were actually looking for.
