In marketing, competition can be fierce. In order to rise above, brands need to understand the buying patterns of consumers so they can channel their marketing efforts in the right direction and make a profit. This is exactly where marketing analytics–and making sense of all the data–comes in.
An average marketing analyst job pays up to $65,000 annually and the top 10% can earn almost double, as much as $120,000 annually (Indeed) . As a critical part of many organizations, it’s a great career path with plenty of growth options.
This article explores not only the various types of marketing analytics jobs, but the skills required to work in marketing analytics, and where to find the best full-time or part-time positions. Whether you’re already in marketing and wanting a role in data analysis or are looking to switch to an entirely new career path, read on.
What is Marketing Analytics?
Marketing Analytics is the data used to evaluate the performance and success of your marketing activities. With a focus on tracking historical and current, ongoing metrics, identifying opportunities with predictive analytics, and keeping an eye on benchmarks amidst the competition, the analyst studies and interprets the data to help make informed decisions.
As a marketing analyst, your goals may change along with the objectives of the company. For instance, a new brand seeking market penetration will need a market analyst to look into competitor data to understand their marketing strategy, product offerings, and pricing. On the other hand, an existing brand will likely need an analyst to help identify new patterns and trends, plus new opportunities and ways to optimize so they can stay ahead of competitors.
Your role may require you to assess the market quantitatively and qualitatively to understand the value and volume of the market. This can include organizing surveys, focus groups, using analytics tools, etc., to obtain qualitative data, or for quantitative assessment, you will need to possess an understanding of statistical tools with which you analyze and interpret data as it relates to your marketing campaigns.
Digital Marketer vs Marketing Analyst
The role of a marketing analyst is quite different from a digital marketer, although a good digital marketer will always perform some level of analysis in their role. While digital marketers use various online channels (think social media, PPC, email, etc) to position a brand in front of its existing or potential customers, marketing analysts conduct research to understand business processes, interpret data and present it to stakeholders for strategic planning.
Marketing Analytics Jobs
Here are seven types of marketing analyst roles that companies hire for:
Digital Marketing Data Analyst
A Digital Marketing Data Analyst collects and interprets data from digital marketing campaigns. As mentioned above, digital marketing activities involve a broad range of operations such as social media marketing, search engine marketing, content creation, pay-per-click campaigns, email campaigns, etc, so a person working as a Digital Marketing Data Analyst will gather information from multiple sources on how these campaigns are performing and converting.
They work with the team to provide support on strategic digital marketing projects, provide data insights on campaigns, identify key metrics, advise on scalable and flexible improvements on campaign loopholes, and make recommendations on new opportunities and marketing software that will drive a positive outcome for the company’s growth.
The Digital Marketing Data Analyst may also partner with other team members to ensure compliance with industry regulations and data protection, and to improve data literacy across the digital marketing team by creating support training materials where necessary.
According to ZipRecruiter, the salary range is between $42,500 - $75,000 annually.
Email Marketing Analyst
An Email Marketing Analyst possesses an in-depth understanding of email marketing tools and marketing analytics software to create advanced email workflows and track KPIs such as open rate (CTOR), click-through rate (CTR) and unsubscribe rate. They then assemble that data to generate reports and provide actionable insights while identifying optimization opportunities for their email content.
The analyst may seek to create and test different email body copy, subject lines, images, video, layout and other factors to improve open rates, click-through, and conversion rates with an aim to ultimately contribute to the brand’s profitability and success. An Email Marketing Analyst oversees the email automation process and uses key KPIs to determine the performance of every email campaign.
According to ZipRecruiter, the salary range is between $56,500 - $95,000 annually.
Product Marketing Analyst
The role of a Product Marketing Analyst is to help organizations identify new products and services and to make recommendations for improvements on existing ones. It also involves understanding the current marketing strategies being employed, analyzing them for effectiveness, and making recommendations on better strategies for the promotion of products and services, with a focus on the specific target market.
They may be required to provide input for design of promotional materials and to identify potential areas for better customer satisfaction and product. As part of their job description, they may also be required to make recommendations for partnerships and spot areas for new client attraction.
According to ZipRecruiter, the salary range is between $56,000 - $81,000 annually.
Marketing Strategy Analyst
Also known as a Strategic Marketing Analyst, the Marketing Strategy Analyst is involved in the planning, development, and execution of marketing campaigns based on available data. They use data on consumer behavior, interaction, competitors, and industry trends to make informed decisions for new marketing campaigns.
As part of their role, a Marketing Strategy Analyst may be required to oversee content development that strongly resonates with the buyer journey, carry out competitive analysis and market research for effective strategy, reconcile the marketing budget with results, and track content analytics for positive ROI. They often partner with the strategic marketing team in maintaining an external relationship with vendors and partners and collaborate across diverse teams.
According to ZipRecruiter, the salary range is between $56,500 - $95,000 annually.
Marketing Operations Analyst
A Marketing Operations Analyst is unique from the above titles as it analyzes data from both offline and online marketing campaign efforts of a brand. Their responsibilities may include; creating a brand strategy for marketing, communicating with customers to understand their needs and complaints, and making recommendations for new opportunities. They may also assist in analyzing sales figures, maintaining relationships with advertising agencies, interacting with consumer data, and making valuable inferences for strategic decision-making.
According to ZipRecruiter, the salary range is between $62,500 - $106,000 annually.
Market Research Analyst
The market research analyst job title is often used interchangeably with the title Market Analyst in many organizations. They focus on understanding which factors are affecting demand in a potential market, and interpret information from surveys to understand consumer profiles and their purchasing habits. A Market Research Analyst may also apply their technical expertise to obtain data about competitor pricing and revenue, catalog, and marketing strategies.
After interpreting these data, and identifying market and sales trends, they then make recommendations to the organizations in line with their business objectives. All findings are presented in the form of reports, using tables and charts to communicate key information to stakeholders like the Marketing Manager, Director of Marketing or Chief Marketing Officer.
According to Salary.com, the salary range is between $57,036 - $69,337 annually.
Financial Marketing Analyst
The Financial Marketing Analyst is an integral part of many financial institutions such as investment firms, banks, consulting firms, insurance, and government institutions. They make relevant research about a company's market trends and draw analyses based on their expertise and understanding of financial concepts and principles.
These analysts then make relevant recommendations to their employers. They work with fundamental and technical financial market analysis to understand economic trends, company financials, and market price patterns. Due to the dynamics of this role, they often have backgrounds in disciplines such as; Economics, Finance, and Accounting.
According to ZipRecruiter, the salary range is between $49,500-$86,000 annually.
Skills Required for Marketing Analysts
Ready to take on a career in marketing analytics? The following skills are important to help you stand out to potential employers.
A University Degree
Your academic background is one of the most important areas that interest employers when it comes to jobs in marketing analytics. Graduates of Statistics, Psychology, Marketing, Business, Finance, and other related fields are often preferred, especially if they possess a master’s degree. Others who do not have these backgrounds can also stand a chance by taking certification courses from a recognized institution or by building relevant work experience.
Google Analytics Certification
An in-depth understanding of Google Analytics; how it works and how to draw actionable insights from it, is required by employers for roles in marketing analytics. Proficiency in data cleansing, data analytics, SQL, segmentation, and data visualization are common aspects of Google Analytics and are often required as part of the job role requirements. Once acquired, it’s important to ensure you also stay up-to-date, as Google can make changes (such as the latest, GA4).
Communication Skills
The marketing analyst role involves working with diverse teams and reporting findings and recommendations to the appropriate stakeholders. Often, the people you are reporting to may not understand all the associated jargon, so the ability to communicate your insights and findings effectively, in both verbal and written terms, is essential.
Problem-solving skills
As an analyst, your ability to spot trends and patterns that may be problematic or beneficial for a company’s marketing efforts is much desired. Once you’ve identified this, you must be solution-oriented enough to provide an expert solution to tackle the problems you’ve identified and duplicate positive results.
Decision-making skills
Working with data presents marketing analysts with various challenges to solve using their expertise, they must be able to decide which action is best to take among alternatives. With this skill, they can ensure that they recommend the best option with the most reliable outcome within a short time.
Project management skills
As a marketing analyst, you’re in charge of overseeing several marketing projects and ensuring results on them. Project management skills are essential to help you develop new initiatives, plan, and effectively execute all of the project deliverables.
How to Get Hired
Ready to get a marketing analytics job? Here are some great ways to find job opportunities:
Network
As an aspiring marketing analyst, you have to be intentional about networking with people within and outside your field. Positioning yourself as open to opportunities to the relevant people within your network will help them to readily refer you when openings arise.
Complete A Course
Taking certification courses on reputable platforms will put you a step ahead, particularly if your academic background isn’t related to data analysis or marketing. It helps you position yourself as an ideal candidate with the required knowledge and work experience for the role.
Browse Job Boards
More organizations are seeking analysts to help them with insights into the huge consumer data available to them. They often share openings on job boards like:
- International Institute of Market Research and Analytics (IIMRA)
- Zippia
- Indeed
- Glassdoor
- LinkedIn, etc.
These places are great to check for job alerts.
Conclusion
Ready to kickstart your career as a Marketing Analyst? Feel free to check out our other resources on marketing, and subscribe to our newsletter for notifications of our latest posts.