The Art of Predictive Modelling 

Your perspective on data depends on the type of task you want to accomplish. They could be broadly specified as: Analytics : Helps you explore what happened and why.

Monitoring : Looking at things as they occur to find abnormalities.

Prediction : To predict what might happen in future.

Some of the most popular algorithms that can be applied to a predict future trends are :

The Ensemble Model : It uses multiple model output to arrive at a decision , however, one has to understand how to pick correct models and what problem does one want to solve.  

Unsupervised Clustering Algorithms : These algorithms help to group similar people and objects together.

Regression Algorithms:  These are used to predict future values of a product/service

There is no ideal formula to find the best suitable method for predictive analytics. A strong level of business expertise is required to master ‘art’ of predictive modelling. Read more at: http://www.analyticbridge.com/profiles/blogs/the-ultimate-guide-for-choosing-algorithms-for-predictive