Marketing is all about putting across the right message at just the right time. Marketing, over the last few years, has evolved from being an art to being more scientific. From the invention of the Printing Press, the first big break, to the invention of the Internet, the golden age, Marketing has come a long way.
Imagine running a store where you’re able to see people walking on the street looking at the window of your shop. You want to know the characteristics or traits of those people. Why are some people coming into your store, and others not? You want to know how people interact inside your store. They’re looking at different products, maybe picking something up, looking at it, and then putting it back on the shelf or even putting it in their cart but eventually abandoning the cart and not purchasing anything. It is fairly expensive and time-consuming to interpret the behaviour of your visitors or even customers.
But with the stores moving online, you have a constant environment where you can observe, adjust and improve your business in such a way that the needs of your customers are met accordingly. This article provides a detailed synopsis of the significance of Data Analytics in the Marketing Industry and thus, the importance of Marketing Data Analysts in any organization. You will also be taken through the Key Roles and Responsibilities of a Marketing Data Analyst.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Marketing
Philip Kotler describes Marketing as “the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit”. Marketing is a blend of both, science as well as art. Marketing has always been about delivering the right message, on the right platform, and at the right time. Every organization wants to optimize the budget they’re spending on Marketing Campaigns, reach the right audience and in turn, increase their Sales.
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A couple of decades ago, you would spread your Marketing Communications very broadly hoping that it reaches the target audience. In the past, very little to no information was available about the customers, their preferences, their decision-making process, their engagement, and interactions with your brand at different touchpoints. In short, you didn’t know what made them decide to purchase or not purchase from you.
In this age of data, Marketing has been able to make reforms at the micro-level where you can even talk about the preferences of specific people and do Personalized Marketing for them.
Role of Data Analytics in Marketing
This is the age of Data-Driven Marketing. The meaning of the term is really in the name itself, it basically means collecting and using relevant information to drive your Marketing decisions. In today’s environment, there’s a tremendous amount of data coming from all over the place, it’s coming from your Website, it’s coming from your Mobile Application and it’s even coming from your own Business Systems. Having a large amount of data isn’t a problem, but you want to extract useful information out of it. Good insights from data improve the quality of customers and help in identifying their attributes and interests.
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So what does data bring to the table?
Data can unlock the secrets of every individual, their likes and dislikes, their preferences, their behaviour, and their interaction. Data provides advantages for a Marketer to tailor the message and deliver it when the prospect is almost ready to purchase. Data Analytics helps Streamline the Process, Minimize the Cost, and Boost Conversion Rates. Moreover, people are not burdened with sorting out all of the information as Data Analytics Software automates the analysis using Machine Learning and Deep Learning Algorithms.
So, now you can be very scientific about your hypotheses and the campaigns that you run as Marketers, meet the demand of your audience and create personalized experiences for them.
But who makes sense of these complex, rough, and often-vague packets of statistics and numbers regarding the marketplace? That’s where Marketing Data Analysts come into the picture. Marketing Data Analysts break down the collected Market data to help organizations in making informed Marketing efforts with their Mathematical and Analytical skills.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the role of Data Analytics in Marketing, buckle up, and let’s dive right into the Roles & Responsibilities of a Marketing Data Analyst.
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Key Roles and Responsibilities of a Marketing Data Analyst
Business Enterprises are looking for ways to scale up their business and increase productivity. Marketing Data Analysts are the backbone of any organization. They are well versed in Quantitative and Qualitative Market Analysis. They thoroughly examine the market statistics, interpret the findings, and help the company understand the impact of their Marketing Strategies.
The ultimate aim of a Marketing Data Analyst is to arrive at an optimal and realistic decision on Market tactics driven by data. The role of a Market Data Analyst is considered to be very demanding. A majority of Market Data Analysts use sophisticated Data Analytics techniques to create valuable and actionable insights to further increase the Sales Volume.
Given below are the 6 Key Responsibilities of a Marketing Data Analyst:
1) Data Collection
Marketing Data Analysts work with large volumes of data. They need to crunch large Databases to gain actionable insights. Hence, collecting data from the company’s Databases or extracting it from external sources becomes one of the major roles of not just a Market Data Analyst, but any Data Analyst for that matter. They need to identify which data and metrics are relevant to the goals of the company. Collecting relevant and reliable data helps researching consumer behaviour and exploring various trends in the data to generate valuable insights.
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The next step after Data Collection is that of Data Cleaning. Data Cleaning is an essential step in making the data analysis-ready. Data Cleaning ensures that the dataset is free of erroneous or corrupt information. Marketing Data Analysts can carry out this cleaning process either manually or by using Automated Tools like Hevo Data.
2) Data Analysis
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The second part of Data-Driven Marketing is understanding and making sense of the data that you have integrated. Once you have the data collected, you will need to evaluate it and create hypotheses around it for optimization. It is essential to examine buying trends of the consumers to develop conclusive Marketing Strategies. The Analyst uses sophisticated Data Analysis techniques operating on Machine Learning Algorithms to describe the happenings, reasons for their occurrence and even predict the expected trends in near future. A Market Data Analyst uses fundamental Data Analytics techniques like Descriptive Analytics, Diagnostic Analytics, Predictive Analytics, etc., to analyze and interpret the data.
3) Analyze Sales Funnels
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A Market Data Analyst frequently works in tandem with the Sales Team to provide them with valuable insights on Sales Volume, Market Trends, and even Competitor’s Sales Activities. They also provide detailed reports on Key Performance Indicators and Return of Investment of various Marketing Campaigns. Tracking of Email Campaign metrics like Delivery Rate, Open Rate, and Click-Through Rate is also included. Predictive Data Analytics is used to forecast the Sales trends of the company in the near future.
4) Competitive Research
In this competitive world, you can’t be confined to yourself. Monitoring the competitor’s Marketing activities and outcomes is equally important. Examining the Market trends of common products will help you come up with competitive Market strategies. It is also important to communicate with your target audience and suppliers through surveys and feedback in order to get information about the latest trends in the industry. A Market Data Analyst uses various Marketing Analytics techniques to make sense of Social Media and Web Analytics data.
5) Providing Recommendations
After a Marketing Data Analyst is done with his/her research and analysis, he/she comes up with recommendations to change the existing Market tactics or with a new Marketing Strategy altogether, seeking to increase the Sales Volume. They present detailed Marketing Strategies to Marketing Managers.
6) Reporting and Visualization
When a company needs to realize the impact of their Marketing Strategies, they turn to Data Analysts to model and graph their effects. The last step for any Data Analyst is to be able to actually communicate and report on the Data Analysis that they have done. This is very essential because unless you’re able to communicate it effectively to the Management Team or your own Marketing Team, it’ll be very difficult to implement your Market tactics or experiments.
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Show your team the numbers, the Return of Investment, the Key Performance Indicators, the current trends, the future trends, the Sales Volume, and other important factors through Data Visualization. Analysts use high-quality charts and graphs to present their findings in a clear and concise way.
Now that you have an understanding of the Key Roles and Responsibilities of Market Data Analysts in the industry, let’s see what it takes to become one.
6 Key Skills of a Marketing Data Analyst
Does this sound like something you’d like to do? Let’s discuss the most in-demand tools and skills a Market Data Analyst candidate must have. Given below are the 6 Key Skills required to become a Marketing Data Analyst:
1) Knowledge of Computer Science
If you are interested in seeking a career as a Market Data Analyst, then you must enroll for a Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in Computer Science, Mathematics, or Business. Any Data Analyst needs to be familiar with the fundamentals of Computer Science for all stages of the Data Analysis Process. Additionally, you can also enrol in some Data Analytics Courses to gain more knowledge.
2) SQL Mastery
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A significant part of any Data Analyst job will be performing experiments over datasets to get valuable insights. SQL provides flexibility in accessing and managing the data. So, it is not a surprise that SQL will be the best friend for any Data Analyst.
3) Experience in Working with Marketing Tools
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Since you’ll be in the Marketing space, knowing Marketing tools like Google Analytics and Google AdWords is going to be an important key skill.
4) Knowledge of Programming Languages
The one thing that intimidates most people about Data Analytics is the idea that you need to know how to program a computer. Understanding and writing codes can be a very valuable skill. Expertise in at least one Programming Language will be very helpful as Programming Languages like Python and R are used to analyze data and interpret the results.
5) Knowledge of Data Engineering Tools
Experience in working with Data Engineering Tools can be a tremendous advantage for any Data Analyst. Exposure to the Cloud-Based Data Warehouses like Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, and Cloud-Based ETL Tools like Hevo Data, AWS Glue, etc. are an added advantage.
6) Communication Skills
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As evident from the responsibilities section, it is very essential to communicate and report on the Data Analysis to the higher management. Most of the job descriptions emphasize communication. They should have the right Interpersonal Skills to interact with stakeholders from multiple teams.
Understanding the Salary of a Market Data Analyst
Here, the part you were waiting for. Yes, it is equally rewarding to be a Market Data Analyst in terms of income as well. The pay scale of an average Marketing Analyst ranges to start at $54,679 annually. If you’re just starting in the industry, you can make up to $38,000 annually, while experienced Analysts make up to $77,000. A Market Data Analyst plays a vital role in the structure of an organization by providing realistic and optimal solutions. Thus, a great pay scale is expected.
Conclusion
Corporates are constantly on the lookout for skilled professionals who can ramp up their Sales and Productivity. Marketing Data Analysts can strengthen the ability of organizations to make the right Marketing decisions. This article provided a detailed synopsis of the Key Roles and Responsibilities of a Marketing Data Analyst.
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Does the idea of a career in Marketing intrigue you? Share your thoughts on the role of a Market Data Analyst in the comments section below.
Raj is a skilled data analyst with a strong passion for data analysis and architecture, having a flair for writing technical content as well. With extensive experience in handling marketing data, Raj has adeptly navigated abstract business problems to derive actionable insights that drive significant results.