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I’m going to be straight with you.
Not using AI in your business could be a huge mistake.
Why is this?
Simply because 44% of companies agree AI’s best use is to collect data for better decision making.
In particular, this can be achieved through predictive analytics.
This branch of machine learning trains models with historical and live-data to create very accurate forecasts.
The forecasts can be applied to anything, too.
I’m talking about marketing, advertising, finance; you name it.
But it’s not that easy. You have to adopt it. Figure it out. Use it properly.
If you’re on the fence about using this technology, you’re in luck.c
I’m going to teach you the advantages and disadvantages of predictive analytics ahead.
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Predictive analytics advantages
What do you want to hear first: the good news or the bad news?
Good? Cool.
Let’s begin with that.
1. Stay one step ahead in performance
Think about all of the marketing and advertising your company does.
Content, SEO, email, social, PPC, etc. The list doesn’t seem to stop.
All of these also require planning, organization, testing, debugging, and enough coffee to get an Olympic athlete banned.
Predictive analytics solves all of these issues and more.
Stop and think about the following research, for instance:
This report concluded that some of the top priorities of marketers include:
- Generating more leads
- Converting leads to customers
- Understanding the ROI of marketing activities
- Reducing customer acquisition costs
Predictive analytics helps with all of these.
After all, it’s a forecasting technology.
It will take all of your campaign data (and previous) to determine what’s most likely to fail or succeed in the future.
You can then quickly reallocate efforts and budget to profitable channels versus running in circles.
2. It saves time and energy
You know that as a marketer, your job takes a lot of time and energy.
And, where does that usually go?
Testing, experimenting, research, etc. You know the drill.
Moreover, HubSpot found that collecting/organizing data, handling emails, and managing land pages to be the most time-consuming tasks in a marketer’s week.
Wouldn’t you instead be perfecting that new product launch or nurturing relationships? We all do.
And, with the saved time predictive analytics offers, your team can finally get back to focusing on high return activities instead of little nuances.
Make sure to my other post on how to get started with predictive analytics to learn more.
3. Prevents wasting budget
I’d love for marketing to be free. But it isn’t.
That means you’re spending hard-earned Benjamin’s on tools, campaigns, employees, and other resources.
According to a Deloitte survey, consumer packaged goods, consumer services, and tech software industries have the highest marketing budgets.
But, if a campaign goes down the drain, there’s no refund policy.
Predictive analytics has the opportunity to save your business money. Lots of it.
How?
Because you no longer have to run a campaign for months or longer to find out it’s a dud.
You’ll have a precise prediction much ahead of time, so you can take that money and place it where it has a better return.
Predictive analytics disadvantages
Okay, okay. I’ve been really hamming predictive analytics.
I don’t want you to jump into a solution without knowing the downsides and how to flip them on there head.
Here are the two major cons of using predictive analytics.
1. It can be intimidating to adopt
Any form of artificial intelligence can seem intimidating for a lot of businesses. That’s why only 48% of brands have deployed it so far.
Sure, the tech geeks in your organization will drool over it and have plenty of fun.
But, what about other team members and non-tech savvy employees?
Don’t worry about that.
Artificial intelligence software (especially predictive analytics) is more straight forward than you think.
All you need to do is run your business as usual, and the data will appear in neatly organized dashboards.
Our marketing security software at Morphio is the perfect example. AI does all of the hard work, and you receive beautiful alerts like this:
It clearly tells you what is forecasted to go up, down, or sideways.
If you can read a chart, you’re good to go!
2. You have to spend time using it for its full effect
Yes, this only makes sense.
The machine learning aspect has to learn how our business operates.
It’s unique. It has a personality. A life of its own.
So, naturally, the software will take some time to learn typical performance and numbers.
Think of the ML process like this:
The software receives data, interprets it, creates an algorithm to continually improve, and produces an output.
Remember, though: it will use past campaign data to speed this process up, too.
For the best effect, you will need to use it in the long term, but it is still beneficial immediately.
Conclusion
Predictive analytics is seriously underrated business technology.
Heck, who doesn’t want a heads up about how their marketing efforts are going to pay off? (Or not.)
Your team members can work on what’s going to make the most significant return while leaving computers to do what they do best: number crunching, analysis, and forecasting.
That means you’re saving time, energy, and money.
Nonetheless, some companies find AI intimidating and hard to adopt. I can’t blame them.
It requires you to use the software for an extended period to get the most out of it, and most of us are romantic with current tool stacks.
So, here’s my treat for you: I’ll let you try Morphio today for free, and you can see how our marketing security platform helps you make better decisions ahead of time with less effort.
