What are the 4 types of data analytics?

Data analytics is the regularly intricate interaction of analyzing huge information to uncover data like secret examples, connections, market patterns and client inclinations – that can help associations settle on educated business choices.
Data analytics is a type of cutting edge analytics, which include complex applications with components like prescient models, measurable calculations and consider the possibility that examination is fueled by examination frameworks.
There are 4 types of data analytics majorly used and they are as follows

1.Descriptive Analytics -It is the basic among the 4 types of data analytics. It is used to understand the overall performance at an aggregate level and is by far the easiest place for a company to start as data tends to be readily available to build applications and reports. It’s very important to build core competencies first in descriptive analytics before attempting to advance upward in the data analytics maturity model. It is the first pillar of analytics, descriptive analytics also tend to be where most organizations stop in the analytics maturity model.

2.Diagnostic Analytics- It, just like descriptive analytics, uses historical data to answer a question. Diagnostic analytics happens to be more accessible and fits a wider gap of use cases than predictive analytics or machine learning.

3.Predictive Analytics- It is a form of advanced analytics that determines what is likely to happen based on previous data using machine learning. Historical data that comprises a bunch of descriptive and diagnostic analytics is used as the basis of building predictive analytics models.
While modeling takes up the main point in predictive analytics, data preparation is a crucial step that needs to happen prior to that. This is why organizations with a solid foundation in descriptive and diagnostic analytics are better and effective at handling predictive analytics.

4.Prescriptive analytics- It is the 4th, and final pillar of modern analytics. Prescriptive analytics becomes true guided analytics where your analytics is prescribing or guiding you towards a specific action to take. It is the combination of descriptive and predictive analytics to drive decision making. It is the last yet one of the most important among the 4 types of data analytics.

These are the 4 types of data analytics and this will give you a better insight about data analytics.

Four main types of data analytics
1. Predictive data analytics
Predictive analytics may be the most well-liked division in data analytics. Businesses utilise predictive analytics to identify trends, correlations, and root causes. Despite the fact that the category can be further divided into predictive modelling and statistical modelling, it is imperative to realise how closely connected the two are.
For instance, a Facebook t-shirt advertising campaign might employ predictive analytics to determine how closely a target audience’s geography, income level, and interests connect with conversion rate. Predictive modelling can then be used to assess the data for two (or more) target audiences, providing estimates of each demographic’s prospective earnings.
2. Prescriptive data analytics
AI and big data are combined in prescriptive analytics to help forecast outcomes and determine the best course of action. The two subcategories of this analytics area are optimization and random testing. Prescriptive analytics can assist in providing answers to queries like “What if we attempt this?” and “What is the optimal action?” using developments in ML. You can test the right factors and even recommend brand-new ones that have a better possibility of producing a successful result.
3. Diagnostic data analytics
Even if it’s less thrilling than making predictions about the future, using facts from the past to guide your organization may be quite beneficial. Analyzing data to determine causes and events or why something happened is known as diagnostic data analytics. Drill down, data discovery, data mining, & correlation techniques are frequently used.
Diagnostic data analytics provide an explanation for why something happened. It is divided into 2 additional categories, discover and alerts and query and drill downs, just like the previous categories. To take out more information from a report, query and drill downs are employed. For instance, a salesperson who closes a lot fewer deals one month. Drilling down can reveal fewer work days because of the two-week vacation.
Find out and alerts Send out a warning about a potential problem before it arises, such as a notice about a reduction in employee hours that might affect the number of closed sales. Diagnostic data analytics can also be used to “find” details like the most qualified applicant for a new position at your business.
4. Descriptive data analytics
Descriptive analytics, without which business intelligence tools & dashboards are impractical, is the cornerstone of reporting. Basic questions like “how many, when, where, and what” are answered.
The two additional categories that can be used to categorise descriptive analytics are prepared reports and ad hoc reporting. A pre-written report with information on a specific subject is known as a canned report. An example of this would be a monthly report from your advertising team or agency that details the results of your most recent advertising campaigns.
Ad hoc reports, on the other hand, are typically not scheduled and are made by you. They are created whenever a particular business issue needs to be resolved. These reports can be used to discover more precise information about a query. An ad hoc analysis could focus on the social media presence of your firm, taking into account user demographics, other interaction information, and the types of people who have liked both your page and other pages in your industry. Its hyperspecificity may give you a more complete picture of your social media following. There’s a good chance you won’t need to look at this kind of report again (unless your audience significantly changes).