Every day, billions of people around the world use the internet to buy goods and services, share their opinions, and search for various wants and needs. These actions create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every 24 hours, and it is this information that is driving healthcare, big business, and our politics.
Using predictive analytics tools and information sciences, these industries can better understand trends and customer behaviors so they can fine-tune their digital marketing, long-term budgeting, and investment strategies to make the most significant impact possible. Let’s take a look at how some of the most influential industries are using these tools to their advantage.
The Power of Predictive Analytics
When talking about the realm of business, predictive analytics involves the process of taking mass amounts of data and then analyzing it to reveal useful insights. Companies can use this information to understand how to modify their marketing, sales, and outreach strategies while also figuring out the next steps of their evolution. This approach continues to grow in popularity, and a startling number of businesses are learning how to use it to their advantage.
Regardless of the type of business, there is always an advantage to better understanding the future and how your clients will spend their time or money. Financial institutions pair predictive analytics with credit scoring to assess the risk of particular customers and decide which products they can offer them. Any company that keeps inventory can use preventive analytics, along with an inventory management system, to determine the optimal quantity of each product they should keep, as well as how many employees they will need to maintain their operations.
The realm of cybersecurity is also reaping the benefits of predictive analytics. If a company can predict how a typical user will use a service, then they can more easily detect suspicious deviations and determine when fraudulent activity or breaches (the intentional or unintentional release of confidential information) are likely occurring. This is ideal for a secure company and its customers.
A businesses marketing department can also use preventative analytics to learn about people’s spending habits, enabling them to send out offers customers are more likely to take advantage of. They can also use these models to determine where in the buying process a customer may be and tailor the marketing accordingly.
Information Sciences Are Shaping New Industries
Along with predictive analytics, many industries are also using the benefits of information science to improve their functionality. Data or information science is the management of information by retrieving, storing, organizing, or visually representing information for others. The benefits of information science are far-reaching and go beyond the business world.
Currently, analysts in the fields of marketing, science, nursing, information technology, and politics are using information science to understand which topics are most in need of research. In the field of nursing, for instance, experts can use the information to manage data obtained from doctors and patients and use it to learn new concepts, systems, and healing agents that keep them ahead of upcoming healthcare scares or trends. In each of these fields, information scientists can use data to obtain grants, donations, and public funding, which can be very beneficial for the public over time.
In the marketing arena, well-managed data can help companies keep track of products and outreach strategies used by their competitors so they can keep pace and thrive.
Information science is also instrumental in the world of politics. Elected officials can use data to see the places in their state where their message isn’t being heard and focus more campaign efforts in that area. Politicians want to say the right things to their supporters, so they rely on information scientists to help them understand what people in each area wants and needs.
Properly Protecting Your Data
The importance of data cannot be underestimated. The quality and quantity of information can make or break a company. If a company has personnel taking time to compile volumes of important information, then you need to ensure that it does not become lost or stolen. It is crucial that your data is well stored and secured.
Encryption is the first step toward good data security. The process takes your data and sends it through a complex algorithm that converts it into a numerical format which is very difficult to decipher without a password. This means that only parties intended to see the information have access to it.
Encryption is also necessary for security compliance — more specifically, the compliance rules set up by the government that protects the information of consumers once a company acquires it. If the data is not protected, then the risk of a data breach grows exponentially. The results can be costly and destructive to businesses. The famous data breaches of Target and AdultFriendFinder are proof enough that proper encryption is a must.
The gathering and securing of valuable information are necessary skills in a number of high-profile industries. When processed through predictive analytics tools and properly secured, this data can change the world (and your business) for the better.
