FAQ: rAI-powered Predictive Modeling

General FAQs

What is rAI-powered Predictive Modeling?

rAI-powered Predictive Modeling tells you who your next-best customers are and who will churn—so you can act on who matters most and improve LTV more effectively than ever.

Resonate offers the following applications:

How does Resonate rAI-powered Predictive Modeling overcome common modeling challenges other solutions can't?

Ninety-five percent of marketers use predictive modeling—but few are getting the results they need. What's needed isn't just prediction—it's precision, freshness, and the ability to take immediate action.

Resonate's solution offers several advantages over alternative methods:

• High-quality data: Models reliant on first-party data alone offer a partial view of consumers limited to who they already know, on their own properties and channels. This is a narrow and partial view that leads to partial results. Resonate combines first-party data with recent behavioral data to show what consumers are doing today, with behavior beyond your brand—tapping into the earliest intent, lifestyle shifts and psychographic cues most other models miss. 
• Models built in days: Instead of custom models that take months to build—we deliver initial models within five days.
• Precise models that perform in the real-world: Instead of overfit or underfit models, we used advanced modeling techniques and tune to your businesses' data to ensure ROI-boosting predictions you can trust. 
• Move with the market: We use recent data and regularly update scores to keep models reflective of today's market dynamics. 
• Connect predictions to activation: Don't wait months for disconnected insights. Achieve improved performance this week with fast targets that easily deploy to your campaign workflows so you never miss the moment to convert. 

Now you can reach more of the right customers at scale with custom modeling without the cost or effort. 

What's the difference between rAI-powered Predictive Modeling next-best customer application and Resonate's Look-alike modeling? 

Next-best isn’t the same as lookalike—it’s smarter targeting.

Lookalike Modeling helps you find more people who resemble previous customers—based on shared traits or behaviors.

Next-Best Customer modeling, on the other hand, predicts which individual people are most likely to buy soon—based on actual outcomes, not just similarities. It runs your database—or a broader audience—through a model that scores each person individually, so you can prioritize based on purchase likelihood.

Think of it as resemblance vs. readiness.

• Use Lookalike Modeling when you want to grow your audience by finding new people who look like a successful group.
• Use Next-Best Modeling when you want to focus budget and attention on those most likely to take action now.

Some brands use both—first expanding reach with lookalike audiences, then applying predictive scores to focus on the individuals within that group most likely to convert.

Model Development and Delivery

What is the typical timeline for model development? 

The modeling process can be completed within 5 business days of receiving a clean customer file.

What deliverables will I receive? 

You will receive:

• Data match report
• Modeling documentation (development process, key drivers, metrics)
• Model score appended to your customer file
• Additional deliverables based on the model type (e.g., next best customer, propensity to churn)

Model Implementation and Usage

What are the input requirements for the model? 

The input file should include specific data types, fields, and formatting requirements as outlined in the Technical Guide document.

How can I interpret the model's results? 

The methodology document will guide interpreting probability scores and other metrics, and how to use the information for activation.

Technical FAQs

What IDs are accepted for matching? 

Resonate accepts HEMs, MD5, SHA-1, and SHA-256 IDs.

What is the minimum number of records required for matching? 

At least 6,400 records are required for the initial matching process. Incremental files can be smaller.

How long does the Predictive Modeling process take once a sales agreement is signed? 

The modeling process delivers results within 5 days of receipt of a clean file. 

What are the expected match rates? 

Expected match rates vary depending on the quality of data provided. When providing HEMs, we generally see a 40-60% match rate.

How do I know if my model is effective? 

There are a few metrics to consider when evaluating a Predictive Model:

• Precision: Precision typically ranges from 60% to 80%, depending on the type of business and the data quality. A higher precision rate is valuable because it means fewer false positives—i.e., customers who are incorrectly predicted to churn.
• Compare the Average Precision score to the Distribution Metric. Distribution is the baseline according to the file provided. The Average Precision score should be higher than the Distribution score. If these metrics are too similar the model is not providing lift over random predictions.

Why are my Estimated Targetable IDs so high compared to my matched records for Next Best Customer Models? 

• The records found in each decile have been gradient boosted or undergone a look-alike step that enables clients to find more customers in the Resonate ecosystem for Activation purposes.
• For the Activation step it may not be feasible to retarget all of the IDs that are available. Customers can request a specific subset or percentage of IDs from a decile or combination of deciles for retargeting.

Why are my Estimated Targetable IDs so low compared to my matched records for Churn Models? 

• For churn the baseline for estimated targetable IDs is limited to the matched records. There is no gradient boosting or look-alike function for the deciles in churn models.
• The estimated targetable IDs found in each decile for churn exclude the records where the client file indicates the customer has already churned. Therefore, if you desire to push a decile or combination of deciles to an Activation endpoint the audience will be created for IDs that show the highest probability for churn.