Marketing has been all about attempting to forecast human behavior. You keep asking:

  • Who is most likely to click?
  • Who’s ready to buy?
  • Who is going to a competitor?

Previously, such answers were obtained after long campaigns, spreadsheets, and a great deal of educated guesswork. However, nowadays, it is possible to have those insights within a minute or two. Thanks to fast predictive modeling.

What is predictive modeling?

In its simplest definition, predictive modeling is the art of using facts and formulas to predict the future. In marketing, that means targeting your audience. It may be getting a sense of:

  • Which leads will convert
  • Which customers will churn
  • What products people are likely to buy next.

What makes it so powerful is the fast part. Conventional predictive modeling required complex computations that took days or weeks. Today, there are more sophisticated tools and machine learning. This allows you to train, test, and deploy predictive models in just a fraction of the time. You receive results immediately, as campaigns are going on.

Why it matters to marketers

Fast predictive modeling provides you with what every marketer longs to have, which is insight in the midst of confusion. You don’t have to make any guesses. You are relying on data-driven forecasts to make decisions. Here’s why that’s a big deal:

Better targeting

You understand the segments that are most likely to respond. Therefore, you do not waste your ad dollars on unnecessary audiences.

Better timing

You can tell when someone is most likely to buy something. Hence, you can remind him at the right moment.

Personalization

You can provide offers that are tailored to the predicted needs of each customer, rather than sending generic messages.

Quick testing

Predictive models can compute data in minutes. As a result, you can focus on your best bets.

In other words, fast predictive modelling in direct marketing is changing the game. It makes your marketing quicker and far more efficient.

An example in action

Suppose you are running holiday campaigns. In the absence of predictive modeling, you would have sent the same message about a ‘’big holiday sale’’ to the entire list of your email. Others open, others not, and you make the best you can at that.

You can do something totally different with fast predictive modeling. You may find out that your family-oriented customer, Hannah, is most likely to purchase on the early side of December. On the other hand, the last-minute shopper, Mark, is likely to purchase on the 22nd of December.

Using that information, you send each group a different message at the time when they are most likely to take action. The outcome is:

  • Fewer lost emails
  • Increased conversions
  • Customers who feel like you really understand them.

And it doesn’t stop with email. Fast predictive modeling helps you in activating your audience across channels and platforms. It could be social media, search ads, or even personalized website experiences.

The bottom line

The point of fast predictive modeling is not to substitute your creativity but to enhance it. It eliminates guesswork and gives you an opportunity to create campaigns that reach the right people, at the right time, and say the right thing.