Predictive analytics
Predictive analytics is the use of historical data, statistical models and machine learning techniques to estimate the likelihood of future events or behaviour
What it means, how it is used and where it comes up, with its related concepts.
What it is and how it works
In marketing and sales it is used, for example, to identify which customers are most at risk of churning, which leads are most likely to convert, what demand a product will see or which offer may interest each person most. Its outputs are probabilities, not certainties, and their quality depends on the underlying data and on the model being reviewed when conditions change.
It differs from descriptive analytics, which explains what has happened, and prescriptive analytics, which recommends what to do. Using it with personal data must comply with data protection law, which restricts automated decisions with significant effects on individuals and requires transparency.
Also known as
Predictive marketing, Predictive analysis
Topics