NLP in Customer Analytics and Forecasting

Course overview

This course enables learners to think outside the box when challenged with managing digital products or campaigns. Whether they are decision-makers or are just getting started with data, this course will enable participants to embrace data-driven approaches for improving their insights, understanding their business better and ultimately maximising sales. 

Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how they can utilise and capitalise on a combination of qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Concepts explored include Natural Language Processing (NLP) for understanding customer sentiment, time series for predicting future values and business planning, BigQuery and SQL for evaluating marketing campaigns among others. There are various technologies covered within the course, with the most important being Google Colab and BigQuery.  

Participants are invited to complete a practical task each week in addition to the taught content, practising what they have learned in each module. For the final assignment, learners will summarise their tasks by creating a report within Colab to describe their findings and suggest new ways forward in terms of data analysis and forecasting.

What will I learn?

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• describe the key concepts of data-driven marketing, explaining their link with analysing customer behaviour and personalisation
• explain how different data sources and analytics tools, such as Google Colab and Big Query, can be used to monitor the effectiveness of marketing campaigns
• employ time series forecasting in an online business environment using Google Colab
• examine how sentiment and emotion analysis is conducted, considering opportunities and limitations within your business context
• analyse how time series forecasting can be blended with NLP to increase the accuracy of your business strategies and campaigns
• create predictions for future activity in your context and make a plan for change based on your data findings and the marketing and product strategies.

Who is this course for?

This course is aimed at the following:

• those who wish to utilise innovative data techniques to better understand their customers
• individuals interested in the workings of big data, data science and NLP
• individuals who might take the course as a means to pursue a new career path but who have limited or no experience in data-driven approaches.

Course delivery

Our certificated courses reflect the Cambridge experience and values, with low student to tutor ratios and academically rigorous standards. Our learning model is designed to help you advance your skills and specialise in emerging areas that address global challenges. We will help you build your network through an engaging and impactful learning journey that encourages collaboration. Courses are delivered in weekly modules, allowing you to plan your time effectively. The assessment criteria will be presented to you at the start of the course, so you can approach your studies with confidence and motivation, knowing what is expected of you and how to meet those expectations. 

Throughout your online learning experience, you will have access to your course tutor, who will help facilitate your learning and provide you with support and guidance during your studies. You can interact with your tutor through a range of media, such as live sessions, discussion forums, email or canvas messaging. 

Each course includes a balance of: 

• interactive learning and real-world application so you can directly apply what you’re learning to your own context
• diverse teaching methods to enhance learning outcomes which will be delivered via learning activities such as University of Cambridge academic led videos, quizzes and group work  
• optional live sessions (1 hour) with University of Cambridge academics and tutors to deepen your understanding of the week's material. These sessions may include an informal Q&A, a short lecture or a breakout activity that builds on the content introduced that week. All sessions are recorded and made available to stream so you can catch up whenever suits you
• guided critical thinking via our reflective workbook so you can collect, structure and summarise information and your thoughts as you progress through the course. 

What will I get on completion?

Evidence your learning with a Certificate of Achievement from the University of Cambridge on successful completion