The majority of datasets focus on specific sectors and stocks, and as such naturally appeal to long-short equity investors. As the scale and scope of alternative data collection continue to rise, alternative data will likely also become relevant for investors in macro themes, such as consumer credit, activity in emerging markets, and commodity trends.

Some alternative datasets can be used as proxies for traditional measures of market risk, while other signals are more relevant for high-frequency traders that use quantitative strategies over a brief time horizon.