Using digital twins to drive hyper-personalization in consumer insights

With consumer behaviour more unpredictable than ever, we still cling to the outdated notion that consumer behaviours follow some kind of fixed path or framework. Yet the truth is that consumers are dynamic and constantly evolving, making decisions based on a vast number of circumstances. This makes tracking the path to purchase even more complex.  

Too often, insights professionals are left chasing fleeting consumer trends with tools that can’t keep pace.  

AI has been thrown around a lot in our industry, with new applications showing promise in the race to keep up. It can handle many mundane, day-to-day tasks to make the researcher’s job easier. Synthetic modelling based on existing data sets is also promising, but it remains static and does not change trends and consumer profiles in real-time. If we’re looking for a real game changer, we need real-time and evolving data. An emerging technology that builds digital twins of consumers is something that can break the bonds of static models and outdated data. With the right technology framework, insights professionals can analyze behaviour as it unfolds, leveraging psychometric, behavioural and zero-party data not only to understand but also to predict consumer actions with remarkable accuracy.  
  
This contrasts with the insights industry’s conventional approach thus far. Having long grappled with disparate departmental data silos and (frequently unreliable) data and information - not to mention the monopolies held by the walled gardens - is it surprising that by the time we lay our hands on a golden nugget, a fresh insight, the consumer has likely moved on?   

How using digital twins can help  

Thanks to machine learning, algorithms of increasing accuracy and complexity, and the likes of digital twin technologies, hyper-personalized, contextual approaches and real-time consumer modelling are now within reach. Harnessing a combination of these, alongside human oversight, can enable us to create, simulate, predict and summarize at speed whilst bringing a veritable data goldmine in-house rather than constantly looking beyond our own organizations. 

A model of a conceptual or an existing physical product, place or person, digital twins are nothing new. They’ve been used in engineering and automotive for many years, but many other industries have been slow to adopt this approach. A digital twin of a customer is a powerful tool that can transform consumer insights and marketing strategies by delivering results such as:  

• Real-time consumer modelling: Digital twins enable businesses to create dynamic and hyper-personalized models of individual consumers, reflecting their current behaviours, preferences, and interactions. This allows for immediate adjustments to strategies, ensuring that brands are always in tune with consumers' evolving needs.  

• Predictive insights with greater accuracy: By simulating and analyzing real-world data in real-time, digital twins allow for more accurate predictions of future behaviour. Whether it's anticipating purchasing decisions or identifying emerging trends, businesses can stay ahead of the curve, reducing the risk of outdated insights.  

• Enhanced granularity in consumer understanding: Each interaction with a digital twin provides deeper insights, uncovering new layers of consumer motivations, preferences and emotional drivers. This iterative learning process ensures that insights remain dynamic and responsive, continuously improving customer engagement, driving long-term loyalty and tailoring experiences that resonate on a personal level.  

• Simulating and shaping the path to purchase: With digital twins, businesses can simulate entire consumer journeys, analyzing how different touchpoints influence decision-making. This allows for strategic interventions that can guide consumers toward desired actions, ultimately improving conversion rates and customer experience. 

We can move on from surveys that struggle to perform, often expensive and unreliable second and third-party data, low conversion rates and disappointing ROI. The right applications of AI and machine learning enable us to paint a fuller picture along-side quantitative and qualitative research methods.  

Unlocking the secrets of the human mind  

While Chat GPT may have stolen much of the limelight, the fact is, we are at transformative moment in consumer personalization that goes far deeper than this. It is no overstatement to say that layering breakthrough technologies can help us to unlock some of the secrets of the consumer mind. We find ourselves at an inflexion point, with sufficient data and technology to really augment our models, and drive growth through real emotional engagement and connections.   

Here are some questions you can ask to gauge readiness for employing new approaches, such as digital twins of consumers, in your own insights business:

• Do your current consumer models provide real-time insights, or do they often lag behind shifting behaviors, leading to delayed or less actionable data? If your existing tools aren’t keeping pace with the dynamic nature of consumer behaviour, you may need to pursue new technologies to enhance real-time accuracy.  

• Do you frequently encounter gaps in understanding your consumers' motivations and preferences, even with access to behavioural and psychometric data? If so, digital twin technology could offer deeper, more nuanced insights into consumer psychology, helping you anticipate trends and personalize strategies more effectively.  

• Are you reliant on third-party or outdated data sources that limit your ability to provide insights that can hyper-personalize consumer experiences and predict future behaviours? If you're struggling with siloed or external data, digital twins can centralize and integrate multiple data points to provide a clearer, more comprehensive view of consumers in real-time.  

As insights professionals, we are at the cusp of a transformative moment where traditional methods no longer suffice. The rise of digital twins driven by AI-driven technologies offers an opportunity to move beyond the status quo in a significant and impactful way.  

We have at our fingertips the ability to look beyond what has previously been uncovered, with newfound knowledge unveiling previously hidden consumer truths which will allow us to recalibrate strategy with newfound clarity in real-time as we smooth that exciting and always unpredictable path ahead.