How to use consumers personality insights

Did you know that technologies can detect the personality of a user based on its social and web activities? If not, you may have missed one of the most important marketing innovations of recent times.

If we know more about the personality of digital users, it can be a good opportunity for marketing campaigns. Most importantly, we should be able to target our ads with laser-like efficiency, picking out individuals who will be receptive to each specific message.

Before we can discuss how to use personality insights as a marketing tool, we need to know what they are, and why they have gained recognition in recent years as an indispensable analytical technique in Digital Consumer Intelligence.

The key development has been the growth of research into ways that the language we use can be mapped into actually existing personality types. For centuries or even thousands of years, philosophers have mused about the existence of “personality types“.

This took on a classic form with the “Big Five” hypothesis. First theorized in the 19th century, this hypothesis tended to map human behavior via 5 personality factors: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN, for short).

However, this was generally based on speculation, not hard empirical facts. The advent of Artificial Intelligence and the vast increase in computing power has provided that data, providing personality researchers with an unprecedented amount of information to test their theories.

Most famously, IBM deployed its Watson AI system to look at whether textual information created by digital users could be analyzed via the OCEAN system.

Starting in 2012, Watson began to analyze words used by individuals on social media and on the web and cross-referenced them to the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count psycholinguistic dictionary (LIWC). By doing so, IBM’s technicians were able to sort users into “neurotic” or “open” – as the OCEAN system suggests.

In the process, they opened up a whole new field for digital marketers.

For example, IBM reported that users exhibiting highly neurotic but open characteristics would be much more likely to click on ads. In an environment where click-through rates mean everything, that kind of information is invaluable.

So hopefully the value of personality insights is becoming clearer. Fortunately, Watson hasn’t been monopolized by IBM, and its findings are available to anyone who wants to use them. As a result, we are in a better position than ever to discover audiences who will respond to our campaigns.

But how can you put these insights to work for your company? Let’s find out more.

Do you like to know why large enterprises prefer Digital Consumer Intelligence? Watch our Digital Consumer Adventures webinars.

Experts from large companies, such as Deloitte, Group M and ENI have already found an innovative way to use this technological cookieless model for their creative strategies.

The “Big Five” personality traits used by Watson can be game-changers when trying to discover the right audience to target with ads or content, but each trait needs to be properly understood.

We need to know what it means to score highly on “extraversion” before we can map that onto real-world audiences. So here’s a quick primer.

Those who score highly for openness are characterized as seeking out new experiences, having a creative attitude, and the desire to pursue intellectually stimulating activities. They aren’t afraid to try something new, and may in fact see that as a positive value in itself.

Individuals scoring highly for conscientiousness tend to exhibit intense concern about other human beings and the natural world. They put ethics above innovation and routinely attach moral qualities to the commodities they consume.

People classed as extraverts demonstrate a positive attitude, are upbeat, full of energy when engaging with friends and strangers, and willing to express firm opinions on a wide range of subjects. As we noted earlier, they are also more likely to respond to contests or seek rewards.

Those scoring highly for agreeableness are usually more low key and modest. They show sympathy for others and seek to defuse conflict, preferring cooperation wherever possible. Additionally, their language suggests strong family and community bonds.

If individuals score highly for neuroticism, this means they exhibit strong emotional responses. They tend to seek security, avoiding content that alarms or threatens them. And they value trust above all else, requiring extra reassurance about opinions or factual issues.

These are simplifications, but as Watson has shown, the OCEAN taxonomy has valid real-world applications. Huge communities of digital users can be categorized via those 5 traits. But it’s where the traits combine that real value can be extracted.

Localized marketing can pay big dividends, especially for businesses like estate agents or restaurants, but it can also be expensive. However, if you target local people with the right personality traits, you boost your ROI.

For instance, you might want to analyze a geographical area for people who score highly for agreeableness. As these individuals are known to prize community more highly, they may be a better target for local campaigns.

Maximizing your engagement statistics on the web is a constant challenge, and a lot of money can be wasted targeting users who simply aren’t likely to respond.

If you want to use polls or survey tools, it helps to isolate communities of users who score highly for extraversion. We know they are much more likely to click on interactive content, so targeting them will surely boost your engagement rates.

Can we analyze personality traits to help your brand go viral, more often? Actually, yes, we can.

In this case, you may want to focus on individuals who score highly for openness. These users are characterized by a propensity to share, and a willingness to be exposed to new content and fresh ideas.

If you can funnel your shareable content to those users, there’s a much higher chance of that content spreading far and wide.

Many brands have a story to tell that goes beyond their core products. They could be major givers to charity, use health-promoting ingredients, or act as responsible environmental actors. In any case, those qualities can be converted into engagement and conversions.

However, reaching “ethical consumers” isn’t always easy. Personality traits can be a valuable “in”. If you isolate conscientious (and possibly agreeable) consumers, you should find greater buy-in for products with an ethical Unique Selling Proposition.

Personality insights are not new, but the ways we can apply them are. The tools available from KPI6 are based on Watson’s path-breaking analytical systems and can deliver accurate insights into complex Digital Consumer Audiences.

As we’ve seen, these insights can help businesses know their customers in unprecedented detail. Used well, they allow a level of audience targeting that would have been impossible just a few years ago. So put them to work for your company.

Do you like to know why large enterprises prefer Digital Consumer Intelligence? Watch our Digital Consumer Adventures webinars.

Experts from large companies, such as Deloitte, Group M and ENI have already found an innovative way to use this technological cookieless model for their creative strategies.