What Are Synthetic Audiences?

Synthetic audiences are AI-generated personas designed to simulate real human behavior, attitudes, and responses, without collecting any personal user data. Created using large-scale public datasets and machine learning models, they act as intelligent proxies for real-world segments, helping marketers test creative strategies, analyze resonance, and make data-informed decisions, all in a privacy-safe way.

Why Synthetic Audiences Exist

As traditional targeting methods become more limited, advertisers are left with a data vacuum. You still need to know who your message is for, but without violating trust or privacy.

Synthetic audiences fill that gap.

They let you:

  • Understand your audience without personal identifiers
  • Test creative with personas that feel real
  • Stay compliant while gaining real insights

Think of them as a next-gen digital focus group, always on, emotionally intelligent, and privacy-compliant.

How Synthetic Audiences Are Created

Creating synthetic audiences doesn’t require pixels or PII. Instead, they’re built through a structured, multi-step process:

  1. Data Aggregation: Pulling from trusted public sources like census data, Pew Research, and behavioral studies.
  2. AI Modeling: Using machine learning to find patterns across demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes.
  3. Persona Generation: Constructing detailed, lifelike personas (e.g., “eco-conscious millennial renters”).
  4. Ongoing Calibration: Continuously updating based on shifts in cultural and consumer sentiment .

Benefits of Using Synthetic Audiences

  • Privacy Compliance: No tracking or identifiers needed.
  • Scalable Testing: Evaluate dozens of creatives across different simulated personas—before spending a single media dollar.
  • Faster Feedback Loops: Avoid the delays and costs of live testing or traditional panels.
  • Emotionally-Aware Strategy: Understand not just what works, but why it works by tapping into emotional context .
  • Future-Proofing: Immune to the loss of cookies, device IDs, or walled garden access.

Real-World Use Case: Barnett Home Decor

In a campaign powered by synthetic audiences, Barnett Home Decor tested 438 creatives across 1,000+ personas. One version, emphasizing product comfort, resonated with Boomers but fell flat with affluent consumers. Based on that, the brand:

  • Tweaked visuals to appeal to luxury-focused audiences
  • Increased pre-launch ROI confidence
  • Avoided live ad spend waste

Outcome: Smarter creative choices before the first dollar was spent.

Read more here.

How Synthetic Audiences Fit Into Your Workflow

Here’s how to use them at each campaign stage:

1. Pre-Campaign Creative Testing

  • Run static and video ads across modeled personas.
  • Identify emotional triggers, messaging tone, and visuals that resonate.

2. Creative Strategy Development

  • Understand how different audiences feel about creative—not just if they’ll convert.
  • Adjust for tone, emotional resonance, and conceptual alignment.

3. Mid-Campaign Optimization

  • Match synthetic audience predictions with real-time results.
  • Refine creative and targeting for lagging segments.

4. Post-Campaign Learning

  • Compare forecasted vs. actual responses.
  • Improve creative strategy for future iterations.

FAQs About Synthetic Audiences

Do synthetic audiences replace real humans in testing?

No. They supplement human insight, offering scalable, ethical pre-campaign intelligence.

Are they GDPR and CCPA compliant?

Yes. Synthetic audiences do not use personal identifiers or behavioral tracking.

Can I use them with any ad format?

Yes. They work for video, static, interactive, and even native formats.

Why They Matter for Modern Marketers

In a privacy-first world, synthetic audiences offer something rare: actionable insights that don’t rely on exploitation. They represent a bridge between data-driven strategy and emotionally intelligent creative.

They’re not just a workaround. They’re a competitive advantage.

If you want to know:

  • “Will this resonate?”
  • “Who is this for?”
  • “Why does this work?”

Then synthetic audiences are essential for your toolkit.