In the modern competitive business landscape, analytics tools are a must-use for any company that wants to stand out, earn more sales leads and convert those in the pipeline at a higher rate.
One type of analytics that your company may not be evaluating is predictive analytics. The field is growing at a rate of 23.2% annually due to the unique benefits of processes like lead generation and marketing.
If you’re not familiar with predictive analytics, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about it.
Unpacking Predictive Analytics Tools
Predictive analytics tools use historical data in combination with statistical techniques to predict the likelihood of future events. The basic concept underlying predictive analytics tools is that if something has consistently happened in the past, it is likely to happen again in the future as well.
Predictive analytics tools are used for a range of business purposes. The credit approval process is an example of predictive analytics at work. Companies only decide to lend money to someone if their models tell them that they are likely to pay the sum back.
How Predictive Analytics Tools Uncover New Sales Leads
There are different ways to use predictive analytics tools to discover and develop new sales leads. Here are some of the benefits of using one of these tools.
Segment your audience effectively
Segmenting your audience allows you to target different groups in more personalized and effective ways. Predictive analytics tools help companies segment their audiences in the most impactful ways. For instance, you can use a predictive analytics tool to determine how you split your audience based on demographic information, interests, company information, or any other factor.
Look for new sales leads in a more targeted way
Predictive analytics can also help a business mine for new leads in more targeted ways. A great example of this is Facebook’s lookalike audiences tool. It lets you upload the emails of your best customers and then pulls out leads that are similar to these customers.
Improve your lead scoring process
A study by Forrester said that lead scoring improvements were one of the top three reasons for a company to use predictive analytics. These tools enable companies to use historical customer information to create an optimized lead scoring system. The result is a much more effective ranking system.
Personalize customers’ experiences
You can also use predictive analytics to provide your customers with more personalized marketing experiences, like making better content recommendations for your sales leads.
Additionally, if you use predictive analytics to help you with audience segmentation and lead scoring, it’ll already be much easier to provide your customers with personalized experiences. That’s because you’ll know exactly what they care about, thanks to the in-depth insights you’ve already received about your customers from these tools.
Top Predictive Analytics Tools For Lead Generation And Marketing
TIBCO Software
TIBCO Software is an analytics tool that is ideal for working through large sets of data. It also features a nice tool called one-click predictions. Essentially, all you need to do is click a button, and you’ll see data visualizations and forecasts that can help you fine-tune your marketing and sales outreach.
The software has a free version, so you can try it without assuming any financial risk. If you want to use the full version of the product, it’ll cost you between $25 and $125 monthly, depending on the plan you select.
H20.ai
H20.ai is an open-sourced analytics tool that offers valuable predictions. The company’s products are used by almost half of the Fortune 500, so you know they’re solid.
H20’s predictive analytics tools make heavy use of AI and machine learning. There are also specific templates for companies with different goals to use. For example, a marketing template lets you use AI and machine learning to predict customer behavior and conduct lead scoring.
The company offers a free trial but uses a personalized pricing structure that varies from business to business.
SAP Analytics Cloud
SAP is one of the biggest names in business analytics. And its SAP Analytics Cloud is one of the very best analytics tools for planning and forecasting. It uses impressively large amounts of historical data to seek out meaningful trendlines.
The tool also uses machine learning to automatically and continuously reveal new relationships and patterns about your customers. You can get started with the SAP Analytics Cloud for as little as $22 per month.
RapidMiner
RapidMiner is one of the very best free predictive analytics tools on the market. There are paid versions available, but the free version is robust enough to satisfy your baseline predictive analytics needs.
The tool uses data modeling and machine learning to predict how your customers will respond in different marketing scenarios. It has a library of more than 1,500 algorithms you can use with your data. RapidMiner will even give you ROI predictions for various sales and marketing initiatives.
Ibi WebFOCUS
Ibi WebFOCUS is a great predictive analytics tool for beginners. It features a straightforward interactive dashboard and has several modes to help new users pick out valuable insights from complicated datasets.
This analytics tool was designed to scale with a company as it grows. So you can start taking advantage of more complicated analytical modeling tools as you get more familiar with the platform.
Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Your Analytics Tools
Start by defining the specific question you want to answer
When you’re working with big data, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds and distracted by insights that don’t accomplish your marketing or sales goals. That’s why it’s important to be clear about what you hope to learn before using a predictive analytics tool.
If you were interested in improving your marketing strategy, you might seek to answer one or more of the following questions:
- What ads should I run to sales leads that have already visited my website?
- When someone’s trial expires, what content should I show them to increase the likelihood of conversion?
- Which segment of my audience should I target with this campaign?
Use your analytics tool on both small and large sets of data
The data you put into an analytics tool will determine what you get out of it. And there are meaningful insights to glean from both large and small data sets, so you’ll want to make sure you’re analyzing both.
For instance, you might run a predictive analysis on your customer base as a whole to see what type of content they best respond to. Then you might perform the same analysis with a specific segment of your audience. The results for each of these could vastly differ.
Pair your results with other marketing and sales tools
Predictive analytics tools can be an extremely effective way to learn about your customers and the marketing practices that work best, but it’s rarely a good idea to use any single analytics tool in isolation.
Instead, test the results you get from running a predictive analysis in other ways. You can verify what your model tells you is true by keeping track of how customers respond to a predictive analysis-based change to your marketing strategy.
Convert More Sales Leads Using LeadLander
LeadLander is an excellent tool to use in combination with your predictive analyses. It provides you with real-time information about who’s visiting your website, how they’re getting to it, and what pages they’re visiting while on it.
Having access to this information is an excellent way to confirm the results of your predictive analyses, like if one of your models reveals how certain content may attract sales leads. You could then create a blog post that reflects that finding and track how often it’s viewed and by whom with LeadLander. That’s just one example of how our platform will help you get the most out of predictive analytics.
We’re currently offering a free 14-day trial of LeadLander so you can experience exactly how beneficial it can be without assuming any financial risk.