Predictive Analytics Software: How Savvy Businesses Stay One Step Ahead of the Curve

It’s been less than 30 years since the dot com boom, and we’re all overwhelmed with the data we need to sort through on a daily basis. Currently, I have 241 unopened emails on my phone and 16,324 photos to sort through (usually to find one specific picture of my cat I took in 2018, but still).  

If you’re feeling data overload, just imagine how overwhelmed corporations have become running a business in the modern age. Just storing this data is overwhelming — let alone sorting through that data to find meaningful information. Enter predictive analytics. 

Predictive analytics uses data to predict trends and future outcomes. It’s taking off in nearly every aspect of daily life, from professional sports to national security. 

Businesses can use predictive analytics to spend more time making profits and less time drilling through data. By predicting future outcomes, companies can improve and finetune nearly every aspect of their daily operations while preventing future disasters. 

The future of predictive analytics is promising: We’ll explain what predictive analytics can do to keep your business one step ahead and the future applications you can anticipate. 

What is predictive analytics?

Predictive analytics forecasts future outcomes using statistical modeling, deep machine learning, and data mining. 

That’s a mouthful, huh? It sounds a lot more intimidating than it actually is. You’ve likely already been using predictive analytics in your daily life without knowing it — think Google’s Waze or personalized playlists on Spotify.

Businesses can also benefit by using analytics to discover patterns in their data. With this data at their disposal, they can pinpoint employee habits, security risks, and financial opportunities.

Innovative companies are already benefiting from predictive analytics — and it isn’t too late to join them. But first, you need to understand the basics of how predictive analytics works. 

How does predictive analytics software work?

In simple terms, predictive analytics software sorts through your essential data to find the insights you need to make smarter decisions. You can use this historical data to: 

• Forecast trends 
• Create linear regression models and neural networks
• Predict outcomes seconds, days, or years into the future

Here is a simple illustration for visual learners from our friends at Qualitrics.

Luckily, you don’t need a comprehensive grasp of the algorithms and statistical models that predictive analytics tools use to find patterns. You just need to understand your part in the process — to provide the data. 

For users who want to employ machine learning and predictive analytics in their workflows, the biggest hurdle is data mining (or KDD, as some are starting to call it). For predictive analytics to work, the system needs data and lots of it. The more data you have, the more accurate your predictions will be.

Predictive models require up-to-date information and regular updates to function, too. You’ll need to set up automations, integrations, and other ways of keeping your data current. Predictions are pretty useless if you’re unable to stay ahead here. 

The current state of data analytics

Until recently, we didn’t have the tools to perform high-quality predictive analytics. But with the rising popularity of data mining and artificial intelligence, predictive analytics is widely accessible for businesses and casual users for the first time. 

Predictive analytics market size is currently valued at $13.5 billion and is estimated to exceed $44.3 billion by 2030.

Corporations are eager to define consumer spending and behavior to maximize profits, but that’s not the only use case.

Government agencies like the U.S. Census Bureau have used predictive analytics to analyze population trends and other data for decades. Even the professional sports industry and financial forecasters are beginning to use predictive analytics to forecast trends.

One of the most significant impacts of predictive analytics is in Healthcare. Predictive analytics, according to Dr. Ali Tinazli, CEO of lifespin.health, “can transform the U.S. health care system and even the global system by providing powerful tools for identifying and addressing health risks, improving patient outcomes, and reducing health care costs.”

From saving lives to predicting financial trends, predictive analytics has some impressive applications in the present day. As software and intelligence around the concept grow, its benefits will increase. 

The future of predictive analytics

AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics are everywhere lately. We’re the first to admit that these systems aren’t perfect, but the potential for growth in this area is enormous. 

As technology advances, predictive analytics will become increasingly more prominent. The possibilities are endless and applicable to virtually any industry. Not to sound like a dystopian sci-fi creator, but every aspect of our future lives may soon be impacted by predictive analytics.

Here’s what Jennifer Ewbank, Deputy Director of CIA for Digital Innovation, has to say about the future of predictive analytics:

“Looking to the future, the potential applications of AI for the intelligence mission are almost limitless. From predictive analytics to autonomous systems, AI has the potential to transform how we conduct intelligence operations in ways that we cannot even imagine yet.”

While predictive analytics is present in many of our daily lives, it isn’t an active part of how everyone performs tasks and completes work. That will likely change. Knowledge workers know that predictive analytics is an option, but many need help knowing where to start.

How to use predictive analytics for business growth

Predictive analytics is making waves in health care, but how can businesses use this methodology to optimize their strategies?

Business use cases for predictive analytics

Let’s look at some paint points that can be solved with predictive analytics for different industries.

Use case: Marketing agencies can use predictive analytics to prevent customer churn and incentivize purchases

Pain point: Customer-facing industries need to know how satisfied their customers are and how likely they are to remain customers or repurchase certain products.

Marketing teams have impressive amounts of customer data that can be used to predict customer actions before they happen. From there, they can encourage those behaviors with email marketing, targeted ads, and incentives.

Using predictive modeling software, marketers can employ their data to understand which customers’ behaviors tend to preempt customer churn and target customers exhibiting those behaviors.

Acting before a customer churns or predicting their interest in purchasing a product can help marketing teams boost sales and increase customer lifetime value.

Use case: Software development teams can combat security breaches and fraud with predictive analytics

Pain point: Software developers need to be able to see security threats before they pose a significant problem for their data.

Data breaches are a concern for every industry, but software SecOps teams focus heavily on digital security. With predictive analytics, developers can spot threats before they escalate.

Predictive analytics tools can help businesses detect unusual patterns that might indicate fraud. This software can immediately alert developers of serious threats by inspecting data and assessing the risk of fraud. Some software may even eliminate the danger without requiring action.

According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach 2022 report, a single data breach costs an average of $9.44 million. It’s hard to overstate how crucial it is to preventing fraud for businesses. Reliable predictive analytics software can be the thing that makes a difference for businesses.

Use case: Talent acquisition teams can use predictive analytics data to anticipate and prevent employee turnover

Pain point: Talent managers need to know what their team is working on and how much bandwidth they have to prevent burnout and micromanagement.

Managers must spot and understand trends and work behaviors to help retain employees and encourage productivity. With predictive analytics software that accesses project management data and time tracking, leaders can better predict project completion and reduce burnout.

Without holding regular meetings, predictive analytics can tell managers:

• Which projects are running behind schedule
• When projects are in danger of going over budget
• What deliverables will require additional help from other team members
• Which individuals are overworked and at risk of burnout
• What team members are exceeding expectations. 

With this data, employees can be rewarded for hard work and given support when needed, all without micromanaging and regular check-ins.

Reducing burnout and improving project completion rates is a win-win for employees and managers. Happy employees are more productive, and businesses will see a direct impact on their bottom line when they keep employees happy and combat overworking.

If you’re reading this thinking, “Predictive analytics sounds great, but I don’t know where to start,” don’t worry. The easiest way to start reaping the benefits of predictive analytics is to invest in software that works for you.

Hubstaff Insights as a predictive analytics tool

The Hubstaff Insights add-on gives business owners a simple way to offer employees the type of flexible lifestyle they want. It also provides managers with the peace of mind that everyone is operating efficiently. With predictive analytics monitoring, everyone wins.

Managers can view real-time workplace Insights from their dashboards, and employees can access their productivity data to help them set their own goals. You can also use the add-on to see how this data aligns with other Hubstaff users in your industry.

What can Hubstaff Insights do for your team?

• Cut down on meetings: Identify and prevent excessive meetings with helpful widgets. See real-time updates and decrease meetings for improved profit margins.
• Build your tech stack: See the apps & URLs your team uses broken down into categories. Then manage your SaaS subscriptions based on which tools you’re using and which you aren’t.
• Increase productivity: Learn to spot the difference between focused and distracted work. Then use your findings to clear blockers and help teams become more productive. See how teams are performing with an interactive leaderboard. You’ll be able to identify those who are busy and those that are being underutilized.

• Keep your employees happy: Support and keep employees happy. Your business will thrive. We strive to enable a flexible team lifestyle and reduce micromanaging that causes burnout. Insights can help you reinforce staffing, retention, and employee promotion decisions.

The future of predictive analytics is bright, and we’re excited to continue innovating and growing in this fast-paced market.

It’s time to consider predictive analytics for your business

Experts anticipate that the emphasis on predictive analytics will grow in the coming years. Getting in on the ground floor and learning how to use it in your business could be the thing that puts you ahead of your competitors.

No matter what industry you’re in, predictive analytics can optimize your workflow and improve your team’s performance. Whether you’re optimizing project completion time or saving lives, prescriptive analytics is the new wave of business intelligence. Don’t get left behind!