How AI Can Help You Understand New Audiences

Expanding into a new market is exciting — but it’s also one of the riskiest moves a business can make.

Whether you’re entering a new region, targeting a fresh demographic, or launching a product in an unfamiliar category, the key to success is understanding the people you’re trying to reach. 

The challenge? If you’re starting from scratch, you don’t have the luxury of existing data to guide you. Traditional research can take weeks or months — often too slow for today’s fast-moving opportunities. 

That’s where Yabble’s Virtual Audiences come in. Our AI tool lets you:  

• Generate rich customer personas built on real behavioral and attitudinal data 

• Research unfamiliar markets and uncover macro factors shaping consumer decisions 

• Spot unmet needs and new buying behaviors in unfamiliar product categories 

• Test and refine visual branding before launching to the public 

All in hours — not weeks. 

Let’s bring this to life with a real-world example. Imagine a fashion brand preparing to launch in USA, we’ll call them Cloves. They’ve built a loyal following in Europe, but the new market brings unfamiliar tastes, regional nuances, and unpredictable factors — like shifting tariffs that could affect pricing overnight. Here’s how Yabble’s Virtual Audiences make that challenge manageable. 

How to Uncover the Behaviours and Attitudes of Your Target Audience

If our fictional fashion brand Cloves is going to resonate with American consumers, it’s not enough to know they’re targeting “25–40-year-old urban professionals”. They need to understand: 

• What consumer values are driving purchases in the market — Is it sustainability? Status? Comfort? 

• What the purchase consideration stage looks like — Do customers shop in malls or online marketplaces? Who do they look to for advice? 

• What emotional triggers exist in the market — What do people love? What do they hate? Which brands are rising or falling? 

Without first understanding these key customer insights first, brands risk misaligning their product, messaging, and positioning from day one. 

With Virtual Audiences, Cloves can simulate realistic customer profiles based on real-world data — including motivations, lifestyle habits, and even the type of language that connects best. 

With the newly released feature for Virtual Audiences, Vision, Cloves can now go a step further by: 

• Testing how segments of their audience respond to branding concepts, campaign imagery, and lookbook photography before they ever run an ad. 

• Compare visual preferences between sub-markets — for example, whether monochrome minimalist campaigns resonate better in New York than in Los Angeles. 

Why is this important? 
Because the first impression is often the longest lasting in a new market. Brands that deeply understand their audience’s behaviors and preferences from the outset are far more likely to build relevance, loyalty, and market share in the long run. 

How to Understand the Macro Factors Influencing a New Region

Even if Cloves nails the product and messaging, macro forces can make or break a launch. Consumer behavior doesn’t exist in a vacuum — it’s shaped by economic, cultural, regulatory, and competitive conditions. 

Yabble’s Market Insights & Trend Reports delivered through Virtual Audiences give the brand a comprehensive, AI-curated picture of: 

• Economic climate — disposable income trends, consumer confidence levels, and currency stability 

• Cultural momentum — rising trends in fashion aesthetics, seasonal color palettes, and attitudes toward imported brands 

• Regulatory realities — including shifting tariffs that could alter price positioning, import restrictions on certain fabrics, and sudden tax changes 

• Competitive signals — which local and international fashion players are gaining traction and why 

In the United States, for example, a sudden tariff increase on imported luxury goods could push Cloves into a higher price bracket — changing not only who can afford them but also how they’re perceived. Having visibility on these shifts before launch allows the team to adjust pricing strategy, alter promotional mechanics, or even reframe brand messaging to maintain competitive advantage. 

Why is this important? 
Ignoring macro factors leaves brands blind to change. Those that keep their finger on the pulse can anticipate uncertainty, pivot faster, and avoid costly missteps — turning insight into opportunity. 

How to Discover Buying Behaviors in a New Product Category

Although the team at Cloves might understand its audience in existing categories, entering a new one like premium athleisure requires a fresh approach. Buying behaviors can shift dramatically from one product line to another, and assumptions from the mainline fashion range don’t always carry over. 

Virtual Audiences lets you see these differences clearly. By generating AI Personas for likely athleisure customers in target cities, the brand can build a detailed picture of what “premium” really means in this category. In Los Angeles, the Personas might show that sustainability is becoming a key purchase driver, with younger buyers actively seeking brands with credible eco-certifications. In New York, the emphasis could look different with consumers instead valuing bold, instantly recognisable branding as a clear signal of status and taste. 

Cloves might choose to further test their branding using Vision, the image-testing feature of Virtual Audiences. The team could upload campaign imagery, lookbook photography, and packaging concepts to gauge audience response before they go to market. A moody, monochrome campaign that tested well in Europe could underwhelm in Los Angeles, where consumers might prefer brighter, more energetic visuals. Packaging tests may reveal another surprise: while minimalism could suit the mainline fashion line, athleisure buyers may respond better to bolder color accents and more prominent logo placement. 

Why is this important? 
When brands move into a new product category without first understanding how and why customers buy, they gamble with their budget, their reputation, and their momentum. A misstep can mean unsold inventory, wasted ad spend, and a slower climb to profitability. But by uncovering buying behaviors — and testing both product and creative against realistic AI Personas for market understanding before launch — companies give themselves the best chance to meet customers where they are, speak in a voice they recognise, and deliver something they want to purchase. 

FAQ: Using AI to Understand New Markets and Audiences

Can AI replace traditional research? 
Not entirely. But it does make it much faster and easier to identify what’s worth exploring, where the opportunities are, and what questions need deeper validation. 

How reliable are AI-generated personas? 
Yabble’s AI Personas are built on trusted public and proprietary data, and typically align 80–90% with traditional research findings. 

What if I have limited data in the market I’m targeting? 
Yabble can generate meaningful insights even without your own proprietary data. Our AI analyzes trusted public sources to build a market trends and insights report tailored to your focus area. 

Is my data safe when using AI tools? 
Yabble operates in a secure, walled-garden environment, ensuring that your data is protected at every stage. 

Any topic. Any audience. Any market.

Understanding new audiences doesn’t have to take weeks—or break your budget. With AI-powered research, you can explore new markets, identify emerging opportunities, and build sharper strategies in a fraction of the time. 

Whether you're refining your market entry strategy, testing messaging for a market expansion strategy, or looking to explore AI consumer insights from new segments, Yabble gives you the clarity and control you need to move forward with confidence. 

👉 Book a demo with Yabble and see how we can make your audience understanding more agile, trustworthy, and actionable.