
analytics program enablement for growth-mindset organizations

Practical Examples of Data Mining

If you are unfamiliar with the term “data mining”, you may have heard of it by its other names, “knowledge discovery” and “predictive analytics”. Whatever you call it, the practice of data mining involves examining your data for trends that can be used to create a predictive model for future behavior. The practice is employed in almost every industry, on large and small scales.

Data Mining at Work

There are some common examples of data mining that illustrate the value of analytics marketing methods. One such example is the analysis of shopping baskets. If a store records the entire contents of a shopping basket at the time of checkout, that information can be later used to identify items that are frequently purchased together. Stores can use this to inform promotions or displays.

While there are some items that may be purchased together because they compliment each other – like bacon and eggs, or cookies and milk – there are some purchases that are less obvious, and contain intriguing and often valuable insight. Did you know that such analysis has found that diapers and beer are often purchased together? And a large retailer properly predicted that a relatively young member of the household was pregnant… even before the parents knew! The Colbert Report had a blast with a segment on this topic entitled “Surrender to a Buyer Power.”

Another common practice in data mining is examining past behavior to determine how to rank customers. A bank may employ this practice to determine whether or not a customer will not only respond to a campaign, but that they are also creditworthy. Data mining can be used by any company in any industry to find their most valuable customers, or streamline their operations.

Discover Your Data’s True Potential

If these examples have you imagining ways that data mining can help your company, you may benefit from data mining training that will help you learn how to plan and implement successful analytics campaigns. Consider joining The Modeling Agency for an upcoming free webinar or in-depth training course. TMA’s highly seasoned facilitators will teach you how to make the most of your company’s data.

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