Using data mining for bank direct marketing : an application of the CRISP-DM methodology

Abstract

The increasingly vast number of marketing campaigns over time has reduced its effect on the general public. Furthermore, economical pressures and competition has led marketing managers to invest on directed campaigns with a strict and rigorous selection of contacts. Such direct campaigns can be enhanced through the use of Business Intelligence (BI) and Data Mining (DM) techniques. This paper describes an implementation of a DM project based on the CRISP-DM methodology. Real-world data were collected from a Portuguese marketing campaign related with bank deposit subscription. The business goal is to find a model that can explain success of a contact, i.e. if the client subscribes the deposit. Such model can increase campaign efficiency by identifying the main characteristics that affect success, helping in a better management of the available resources (e.g. human effort, phone calls, time) and selection of a high quality and affordable set of potential buying customers.