Marketers are living in fascinating, regressive times. While privacy challenges have been simmering for years, Cambridge Analytica tipped over the cauldron when it stole data from Facebook, merging individuals’ personality tests with baseline Facebook profile data. Based on a persona segmentation schema called O.C.E.A.N (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism), this data was used to help disrupt the 2016 election. The trouble is that Cambridge Analytica stole, a thieving, nasty warlock data-deal-breaker.
In reality whilst flashy, O.C.E.A.N is but a small subset of provocative personas marketers readily construct without cheating. There’s a whole universe of additional layers to be culled from social psychographic media channels – without using a personality test app OR ripping off Facebook.
From nationalist to bleeding heart, pothead to pseudo intellectual, narcissist to cat person, appealing to human emotions is classic, pre-Internet marketing. Moreover, initiating thoughts, stimulating senses, impelling physical reactions, and stoking judgements can all lead to emotions.
Slinging broadcast television commercials or integrated search and social personas, marketers are devoted to plying customers with evocative ads:
- Build provocative targeting construction kits designed to push deeply personal buttons. AIMCLEAR regularly builds kits melding Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Google, first- and third-party data.
- Integrate vertical creative to exploit the targeting. Sure, we can target voyeuristic types to sell cars. What buttons will the creative push? Images? Video? POV views of action in the next room through the door crack?
- Run successful direct response & attributable customer acquisition campaigns. We’re marketers, the goal here is conversion, aligning what prospects want or need with true strengths of our wares, services, KPIs, etc.
- Build a more beloved brand, known for true differentiators, tinted by colorful targeting layers. The importance of brand clarity cannot be overemphasized.
- Associate personal psychographic data with CRM records, whilst still legal in America. For 10 years we’ve been saying, “Build your list while you can. This generation of data is going away.” Psychographic and data capabilities lost in FB already hurt.
[Above image] Target lists of individual Twitter users, their most engaged followers & hashtag actors.
- Use third-party targeting data to reverse engineer existing “success” lists to understand who the winners are, from a psychographic perspective. In Facebook, reverse engineering custom audiences is gone. Losing the capability in FB for free was a psychographic apocalypse. The easiest (at a $$ cost) method now is to reverse engineer a DMP cookie (Think the Trade Desk), slicing site-touch audiences by the DMP’s third-party data partners.
- Commit to mass branding, steeped in the human ethos. Yeah, causing bodily sensations, feelings, judgement, pride, etc. in a user can be powerful, coupled with targeting layers. That said, there’s no requirement to pair creative with targeting. Target large, general audiences with emotions too. Â Consider the jealousy or green affinity creative to MASS markets. Wield your power carefully when choosing evocative creative to large markets.
- Use superpowers to do good, not evil, unlike Cambridge Analytica. No matter if your orientation is left or right, protectionist or open-trader, breaking contracts and/or the law makes you wrong, even evil. Use your creative gifts for good, clean, marketing. Be a noble wizard not an nasty warlock.
Here is a sampling of evocative objects in our AIMCLEAR library. These are paid psychographic targeting layers formed in Facebook and/or Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google (search & audiences), third-party data via DMPs, and other data. These traits are often combined with in-market purchase behaviors, like going to buy a new pickup truck or winter clothes. Moreover, for mass branding to general audiences, our objects serve as handy guides for possible creative tints:
Nationalist, Lusty, Disrupter, Lover, Hater, Angry, Jealous, Sad, Bleeding Heart, Right Wing, Left Wing, Extremist, Timid, Self-Helper, Pothead, Bad Boundaries, Physically Fit, Muscle Enthusiasts, Nudist, Green, Greedy, Entrepreneur, Phobic, Not Gay or Bisexual, Gay, Bisexual, Trustworthy, Untrustworthy, Pseudo intellectual, Narcissist, Cat People, Dog People, Indebted, Â Financially Solid, Dripping with Money, Fearful, Jealous, Cuckold, Subservient, Evangelical Christian, Jew, Muslim, Moderate Christion, Zionist, Conspiracy Theorist, Pro Life, Pro Abortion, Uninsured, Buddhist, Sufferer, Optimist, Pessimist, Gun Fanatics, Terroristic, Violent, Jehovah Witness, Highly Creative, Musician, Diva, Injustice Crusader, Anti Nukes, Anxious, Ashamed, Guilty, Joyful, Hypochondriac, Futurist, Pragmatist, Thrill Seeker, Non Violent, Socialist, Libertarian, Pervert, Studious
There’s a universe of evocative layers to build, constructed from social psychographic data– without hacking data from a personality test app OR stealing from Facebook. Wield your power wisely, not wickedly to serve audiences with products they want and need.
