Thursday, May 18, 2017

Predictive Analytics: Creepy or Helpful

There are a few “schools of thought” when it comes to predictive analytics. From the digital marketing perspective/data scientist perspective it’s an amazing tool to gain customer perspective. On the other hand, many consumers view predictive analytics as “creepy” or infringing on their privacy.

Today, many digital marketers and data scientists use predictive analytics to better “predict trends, understand customers, improve business performance, drive strategic decision-making, and predict behavior” according to Forbes.

So, what does this really mean? Is this an invasion of privacy, does it improve the consumer experience, or is it used to just drive sales?


The meaning is up to perspective. Many consumers credit great experiences to above average deals and friendly salespeople. While predictive analytics can’t entirely help your in-store experience, it can predict the type of sales you want/look forward to. Is this really a negative?

1 comment:

  1. Definitely not creepy to me. What's potentially creepy are random, completely un-targeted ads that are yelling at you more than they're talking to you. We're all going to get shown ads anyway - we have been for well over a century now - what's wrong with being shown stuff you're actually interested in?

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