In today’s data-driven world, businesses across all industries need professionals who can analyze and interpret data to drive results. As a marketing analytics expert, you’ll have the chance to help companies improve their campaigns and make a meaningful impact on their bottom line.
If you’re considering a career as a marketing analyst, it’s important to familiarize yourself with potential career opportunities, day-to-day responsibilities, and relevant qualifications needed to be successful.
What is marketing analytics?
Marketing analytics is the process of measuring and analyzing marketing data. It allows you to measure the effectiveness of your past and present performances, identify patterns in consumer behavior, and recommend areas for improvement in the future.
With the abundance of data available from various sources, analyzing marketing campaigns is an integral phase in optimizing future marketing efforts. Thorough data analysis can help you better understand customer preferences, big-picture consumer trends, and product insights, which can be leveraged to determine which elements need to be adjusted.
Careers in marketing analytics
Because marketing analytics is firmly rooted in both marketing and data analysis, people in this field have ample career opportunities to pursue. If you find you enjoy the marketing aspect of your role, your experience with data analysis is an incredibly valuable advantage as a prospective candidate. Maybe you prefer analyzing and interpreting data? Data analysts are consistently in demand across a wide variety of industries, either as agency or in-house analysts or in consulting positions.
Let’s take a look at some popular roles in the marketing analytics career path:
Junior Marketing Analyst
A junior marketing analyst is typically an entry-level role in the industry. Analysts at this level may assist with market research, track campaign data from a variety of sources, and conduct basic analysis while supporting the larger marketing department with day-to-day tasks.
A bachelor’s degree is a common requirement for entry-level marketing analysts. Candidates with strong analytical and problem-solving skills, coupled with prior experience in marketing or data analysis, have a competitive advantage within the job pool.
Market Research Analyst
A market research analyst is responsible for conducting research and analyzing market trends to inform marketing strategies and tactics. People in this role may collect data from various sources, implement ways to gather customer feedback, run statistical models to identify trends, and monitor larger industry trends.
Alongside the required bachelor’s degree, it’s common for market research analysts to have 2-4 years of experience in a marketing or data analysis role. Candidates should also be familiar with tools like Excel, Tableau, or SQL.
Digital Analyst
Digital analysts are a specialized role that emphasizes digital marketing data analysis and optimization. The main responsibilities of a digital analyst generally include tracking and analyzing digital marketing data, such as website metrics, PPC ad campaigns, and social media, before analyzing the data to identify patterns, extract insights, and recommend specific adjustments to improve digital marketing performance.
This specialized position may also have a more hands-on involvement compared to other marketing analyst roles. For example, digital analysts may develop A/B tests to improve website performance or collaborate with the digital marketing team to implement their recommendations.
People in this role are often required to have a bachelor’s degree, in addition to 2-4 years of previous digital marketing or data analysis experience. Candidates with a strong understanding of statistics, analytical programs, and digital marketing disciplines are most likely to find success as digital analysts.
Senior Marketing Analyst
A senior marketing analyst is responsible for leading marketing analytics initiatives and providing strategic guidance to the marketing team. Their main duties include creating forecasting models using analytical programs, developing data-driven strategies, recommending actionable means of improvement, and collaborating with cross-functional teams involved in marketing activities.
To be successful in this role, senior marketing analysts should have 5-7 years of experience in marketing analytics. Skillswise, analysts at this level typically have previous experience with managing teams, familiarity with a variety of marketing channels, and proficiency in multiple data analysis programs.
Day-to-day responsibilities
The day-to-day outlook of a marketing analyst will likely vary depending on your position and seniority within the company. However, the role is intrinsically linked to data analysis and identifying ways to improve performance.
As a marketing analyst, your everyday responsibilities may include conducting market and consumer research, data collection, aggregating data, data analysis, performing competitor analyses, and determining optimization opportunities.
If you’re at the start of your career, the bulk of your duties will likely be centered on collecting, organizing, and visualizing data. Data can be collected from a variety of sources – website metrics, campaign performances, interviews, and customer surveys can provide analysts with a wealth of information. You might also assist more senior analysts with interpreting data and extracting insights that will be used to support recommendations for improvement.
As you gain more experience, your responsibilities may expand to include data analysis, statistical modeling, forecasting, and determining what elements should be adjusted for future optimization. Your insights can be applied to a diverse variety of factors, such as marketing channels, pricing, and messaging. Because your insight can heavily impact the success of future marketing campaigns, forecasting potential outcomes using analytical programs is considered standard procedure for supporting a marketing analyst’s optimization recommendations.
Skills & qualifications
Regardless of your role or seniority, marketing analysts must be analytical and data-focused.
Analytical skills are crucial for finding order within the chaos of thousands of data points. All marketing analysts are able to gather, analyze and interpret data. Having a strong background in statistics and previous experience with data analytics programs like Excel and SQL create a competitive foundation for pursuing a career in marketing analytics. Understanding the statistical reasoning and supporting technology will help you identify trends from your data that you can use to develop actionable insights for future marketing operations.
Similarly, marketing analysts can benefit from being tech-savvy. Technology is constantly evolving – a data analyst’s tech stack is no different. It’s always a good idea to stay up-to-date with the latest tools and platforms. Alongside Excel and SQL, marketing analysts can benefit from being proficient with data visualization tools like Tableau, web analytics platforms such as Google Analytics, and programming software like R or Python, for example.
The best marketing analysts aren’t solely focused on crunching numbers. They also have a larger understanding of marketing principles and are familiar with the business context of their data. This knowledge is key to accurately interpreting data and aligning their actionable insights to fit the company’s larger marketing strategy.
Additionally, many employers require marketing analyst candidates to have undergraduate degrees in marketing, statistics, or a related field like economics. Advanced degrees are also highly desirable. Certifications, however, can be another great way to demonstrate expertise and commitment to the industry.
Is marketing analytics the right career for you?
If you have an appreciation for the analytical side of marketing, enjoy developing data-backed strategies, and are familiar with data analysis, marketing analytics might be right up your alley!
While the technical skill requirements for marketing analytics may be high, there are several ways for junior marketers without a background in data analysis to gain experience in this field. From on-the-job training to certification programs, there are ample opportunities to develop the necessary skills to excel in this profession. If you’re passionate about using data to drive business growth and ready to embrace the challenge, a career in marketing analytics could be the perfect fit for you.
