Marketing and sales teams are increasingly held accountable for bringing high volumes of qualified leads and converting them to customers. But with the customer ecosystem becoming more and more competitive, this task is proving to be a challenge for most businesses today. Luckily, advancements to marketing technology are making it easier to identify and target the best prospects in an efficient manner. The latest technology transformation taking place in the world of marketing? Predictive analytics.

Predictive analytics uses past data to forecast outcomes and target the right prospects – a move that's redefining the use of data and insights in marketing. Predictive technology also provides a more efficient process for sales and marketing to identify new markets, prioritize inbound leads, and deploy net-new prospects, which has a major impact on the bottom line for businesses. In fact, recent data from Demand Metric and Radius found that companies that applied predictive technology to demand generation goals met objectives 55 percent of the time, compared to 30 percent for companies not using analytics. While marketing and sales teams are becoming more aware of the business benefits that come with predictive, many still struggle to know when to implement predictive technology and how to determine if it's the right investment for their organization. Predictive technology company Radius offers five key areas to focus on when evaluating predictive analytics.