Predictive analytics is being used widely these days across a range of industries for many different purposes. Medicine, transportation, logistics, and every industry imaginable are taking advantage of predictive analytics to proactively adjust to changing demand and create more effective strategies.

This is no less true for businesses hoping to refine their customer service and improve marketing and sales plans. The key to this lies in customer data consolidation and the use of predictive analytics together. Many businesses can use guidance in getting started. Leveraging data consolidation services can be a key to a better future for your business.

What is predictive analytics?

Before we go into the details of how customer data can be analyzed, it pays to look at predictive analytics in general and how it works. Predictive analytics is a branch of data science that uses historical data along with machine learning operations to make predictions.

Using sophisticated AI algorithms when analyzing diverse datasets, predictive analytics identifies patterns, trends, and future events. Predictive analytics can be used to analyze any aspect of customer or user behavior, from individual purchase history and preferences to expected demand within particular geographical regions.

How does predictive analytics gather customer data?

Tools that utilize predictive analytics gather customer data from diverse sources. For example, websites, social media, physical devices, customer review, geospatial parameters, and more.. With the right analytical solutions, companies can determine larger patterns in customer behavior. Let’s review three sources that predictive analytics may employ to get a well-round understanding of customer behavior:

Online shopping histories

When looking into customers’ online shopping histories, tools can measure such things as how many times a customer put certain items into a cart, how long he or she waited to buy something, how many times different items get returned, and customer complaints or feedback.

Chatbots

Another source to gather customer data is chatbots. Thanks to AI, chatbots can now be programmed to have personalized conversations with customers, including remembering their buying history and personal preferences. Data is consolidated to determine trends among groups to be segmented in marketing campaigns and for future use in large-scale marketing plans.

Email campaigns

Email campaigns are also a way to gather data both on customers and potential customers. With the right tools, companies can determine not only who purchased items as a result of email campaigns but also much more specific information about marketing campaigns. The number of times people clicked on a link or went to a site, the amount of time spent on a site, and how long it took people to make purchases can all be determined. Also, analytical tools can detect patterns in the number of people who subscribe to email notifications and the number that unsubscribe. These things can be analyzed down to individual demographics, geographies, etc.

How does predictive analytics use customer data?

Once data is gathered from these diverse sources, companies can use predictive analytics for various purposes. As mentioned above, predictive analytics can be used to improve customer service on many different levels. In addition to increased personalization for individual customers, the results of analyses can be used to alter marketing schemes on a larger scale to address consumer bases’ interests more accurately. If, for example, analytics indicate that the average age of a certain consumer group is changing, marketing can be altered to speak to that age group more accurately. If geographic tendencies are changing and more people are interested in certain products from a particular region, greater emphasis can be put on that area vis-a-vis other ones.

Customer data analyses also affect production, of course, If people constantly complain about a certain part, color, or some other specific aspect of a product – be it through direct messaging or on social media – the company in question will know that they either need to refine the product in question, or get rid of it altogether.

And, of course, predictive analytics is an essential part of long-term strategic planning – knowing who your customers are, what they want, and how their behavior is going to change is critical to success in your interactions with them. This is not a one-off process, though. Analytics need to be conducted regularly and consistently incorporate new data to remain relevant.

The right software will take you on the right path

Considering all of the many benefits that predictive analytics can bring to your marketing department and your business, you should start looking into services that will suit you. In choosing customer analytics software, you should remember your particular goals, staff capacity, and the functions you want to fulfill.

Once you implement predictive analytics in your marketing, you will soon find that your operations are streamlined, more efficient, and more error-free. Your staff will be free to focus on larger tasks, and the higher quality information you receive as a result of your analytics will allow you to create more accurate plans. Ultimately, you will see your company grow much more quickly than before, and your customer satisfaction rate will grow along with it.