What is a Marketing Analyst?: Job Role and Responsibilities

What Does a Marketing Analyst Do?

The primary function of a marketing analyst is to go through the available data to develop new findings and usability. The people’s views of the company are provided through different surveys, which need to be used for the company's benefit. The next step is to utilize personal knowledge, experience, and skills to better market and develop the product for the future according to the stocks and needs through anticipation of future needs. 

The marketing analyst will gather data from sales, consumers, and competitors. They will analyze it and visualize and communicate the interpretation in an interesting and logically connected method. They will also generate reports for deeper understanding. 

Job Description

The job description looks for a marketing analyst, mandatorily requiring a graduate degree with technical, leadership, and business skills. The presence of certifications further shows dedication and will to learn. Furthermore, it also exhibits the ability to apply the skills through experience in work or projects. The job description also carries roles and responsibilities and the required education and experience, such as the ones stated below. 

Role and Responsibilities

Duties to be performed by the market analyst are:

• Remain in touch with the senior management or client and constantly update them with details 
• Be updated with market trends, research going on in competitive brands, and execute fruitful strategies
• Perform accurate market research SWOT analysis
• Design methods to gain maximum output and collect data through primary and secondary research 
• Make use of online databases, tools, and research for a better understanding of markets dynamics
• Interpret the data and formulate the best possible hypothesis and strategy to positively impact the company
• Using traditional and modern statistical tools for more enhanced visualization and interpretation of information 

Marketing Analyst Qualifications / Skills

Marketing analysts can perform exceptionally and efficiently if they possess or find methods to hone technical and business skills. The specific requirement of each category is enlisted below. 

Technical

The technical requirements generally include computational skills such as:

• The ability to take advantage of research and statistical analysis provided about the company
• Familiarity with statistical analysis software such as R, STATA, SPSS, and SAS
• Be able to communicate, organize and present influentially and in detail without losing the audience’s attention
• Data mining
• Work on different programming languages 
• Ability to work on business intelligence and reporting software, for instance, Tableau
• Highly skilled in the analysis 
• Must be able to handle multiple projects simultaneously without compromising the accuracy and precision
• Conceptual and practical handling of SQL databases along with database querying languages
• Data visualization
• Use tools and software to generate new types of surveys with the aim of extracting the maximum possible information 
• Ability to grasp the functionality and usability of newly developed software available in the market 

Business

The business skills must involve the ability to deal with challenges and should also have familiarity with the aspect being worked on. The requirements are as follows:

• Industrial Knowledge

The familiarity with the industry and the basics must be known to the candidate to interact well with seniors. For instance, digital marketing candidates should know about functionality, data collection, and analysis. 

• Critical Thinking

It is one of the key aspects that will push the candidate and hence the company forward in their journey. The curiosity and ability to assess the information in the required manner are must have. 

• Problem-Solving Skills

It is one of the most important and required skills, as the company's growth depends on problems and their solutions. Presenting a large amount of data in simple visualization needs to be interpreted to come up with practical and affordable solutions. 

• Effective Communication

The marketing analyst must deal with clients, stakeholders, consumers, interviewees, teams, and researchers. Furthermore, the ability to communicate ideas efficiently is a prime requirement to get the desired work. 

Education, Experience, and Licensing Requirements

The requirements in mentioned three categories are as follows:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field, such as business or marketing
• Demonstrated experience in statistical analysis such as SAS or R
• Also must have worked on advanced analytical and statistical techniques related to multivariate and A/B testing and marketing effectiveness. Digital revenue attribution and customer segmentation
• Experience in Adobe Analytics, adobe audience manager, adobe target, and other web analytics like data management platforms and web optimization is necessary 
• Hands-on working on tableau or other data visualization tools
• Should be able to proficiently use Microsoft Office Suite 
• Also have information and handling experience in web analytics, search engines, and business research tools acumen
• Should have built and automated the reports concerning the management 
• Must hold expertise in analytical tools like modeling and reporting in Excel/Access and SQL
• Working knowledge of CRM programs is also essential 
• A candidate should at least have a demonstrated experience of two years in marketing research, statistical or data analysis
• Ability to advise senior management and clients with valid proof or examples to demonstrate logic and relation 

Marketing Analyst vs. Other Roles 

The marketing analyst job role often overlaps with other roles like market research analyst and business and data analyst. However, there lies a difference between these. Here are the distinctive features of the three:

Market Research Analyst

The role is often combined while sometimes offered to different individuals than market analysts. The market research analyst is specifically focused on market research. They are solely responsible for research work which includes analyzing the trends and understanding the economic indicators along with wages and prices. Gaining information on different aspects, they also need to communicate and support the concerned teams in their progress, thus dealing with marketing, product, and business teams. 

Data Analyst

Contrary to the job profile of a market research analyst, the data analyst has a wider spectrum of responsibilities. They deal with all the different fields apart from marketing to analyze the content. Dealing with the technical aspect of the business, their work may lead them to science, manufacturing, government, finance, or other fields of relevance, depending on the business. 

Business Analyst

The candidates on this job profile deal with IT processes and business. Their primary duty is to reduce inefficient projects, manage the workflows and enhance the organization’s internal working. They optimize the business structure and cost utilization and are often not related to the marketing aspect of the company. 

How to Become a Marketing Analyst?

Becoming a marketing analyst isn’t that challenging. All required is effort and correct exposure to the desired area of interest. The same can be gained through mentioned methods: 

• Get a Bachelor’s Degree

The Bachelor’s degree is the primary requirement to become a market analyst. At least one degree should be completed while gaining a master’s will be complementary and can provide a better start for career. The degree may not be required in a few companies; however, it makes the candidate stand out of the crowd and helps in being filtered among hundreds of resumes. The degree also teaches important concepts related to market analysis, such as psychology, data analytics, business, mathematics, marketing, and computer science, making the candidate superior to other applicants. 

• Skill Development

The tricky part is developing the skills required specifically for the market analyst role. However, it should be efficiently used in other fields requiring the interference of market analysts. The most beneficial skills needed for efficient results are marketing, data analysis, and project management. 

1. Marketing

Since the name itself enlists marketing, this skill is a priority need for the candidate. In this, they must know about social media management, economic analysis, pricing strategy, and sales analysis. Further other concerned and relevant strategies will also be beneficial. 

2. Data Analysis

It is one of the common techniques known to experienced people in related job profiles. It generally utilizes SQL, which is a common programming language used with database systems. Other programming languages like R and Python are also advantageous. Knowing the basics will also do the needful and be preferred by recruiters. The basics include sorting, cleaning, and visualization of data. 

3. Project Management

Organizations also team up the marketing analyst with management teams to find solutions to complex problems or data. Thus, to catch up with the teams in such situations, it is important to have basic information on projects. 

• Strive for the Experience 

Practical knowledge and experience are preferred in every industry over a theoretical base. Also, gaining experience is easy nowadays, with positions for internships available in almost every organization. Thus, having a basic familiarity not only eases the job duties but also ensures optimum work efficiency compared to the complete fresher. The experience can be gained at any level and position desired for. 

1. Entry-Level Positions

The entry-level positions pay low but teach the basics. Further, they provide related projects which enhance the practical approaches and let the candidate gain demonstrated experience. It helps to apply for the role and even crack an interview in the presence of the right skills and exposure. Internships with titles like marketing associate, data analyst, social media, or sales associate are some of the right fits for people aiming for a career as a market analyst. 

2. Professional Certificate

Earning professional certification is one of the valued methods to gain experience and knowledge simultaneously. The candidates can take up coursework with practical projects to gain an in-depth understanding of the concepts. Further, the projects will provide insights into real-world projects and industrial status. Recruiters prefer the combination of the two as it exhibits seriousness and potential for efficient performance. 

Digital Tools Used in Marketing

The marketing analyst requires several tools such as Google Analytics, Mix Panel, Cyfe, SEMrush, Zuko, Optimizely, and many others. These are mainly required for tracking the marketing campaigns, such as customer touchpoint, email marketing data, event data, website visitor data, paid campaign performance data, and customer purchase data. The tools can be merged with other tools such as data studio and multiple others for marketing data analysis. These tools are suitable for generating automated and intriguing reports, finding the important area for focus and growth opportunities, data integration, and much more. 

Salary Trends

The salary range of market analysts in India lies between 2 lakhs to 3 lakhs rupees. The extreme salary companies offer makes it an average of around six lakhs per annum. 

Career Outlook

The job role of marketing analyst is demanding and one of the paths holding potential for success and growth. The statement is validated by the fact that the demand for candidates is expected to grow by 22% by 2030. Furthermore, the same data reports the positive possibility for statistical and data analytical candidates holding demonstrated experience in their fields. 

The job role is again crucial to interpreting the largely generated data, which has exponentially increased in the current generation. It determines the direction of the company’s action and hence is significantly required to be concluded properly for meaningful insights. 

The development of new technologies assists the candidates in performing their work; hence, the ability to adapt to the new technology is again preferred while hiring candidates. Certain software helps provide real-time data, which can be spontaneously monitored to see the effectiveness of designed plans and strategies. They indicate customer satisfaction and engagement, which is the ultimate aim of any business. If you wish to succeed as a marketing analyst you can enroll in Simplilearn’s IMT Ghaziabad Digital Marketing Program today!

FAQs

1. Is a marketing analyst a good career?

The marketing analyst job provides job security due to the increasing amount of data and startups currently being generated in India in the past few years. The requirement for marketing analysts is crucial, so the roles remain available. Furthermore, involving research and logic, the designed strategies for yielding results are also accompanied by satisfaction. 

2. Is being an analyst a difficult job?

Yes, the job of a market analyst requires creativity and skills to implement ideas for demonstrated growth. The quality of analysis and ability to take action is visible, facilitating work monitoring. Furthermore, the market analyst is also required to know different techniques for data collection from the public, know different programming languages and know practical approaches to methodologies. The post also accompanies stress and long hours of work commitment. 

3. Are analyst jobs hard to get?

The increasing job opportunities for specifically marketing analyst positions do not make it hard to get. However, the presence of the right blend of skills and knowledge eases recruitment. The candidate will generally face multiple interviews and screenings to land the job, which requires persistence. 

4. Are marketing jobs tough?

The job of a marketing analyst requires the ability to grasp and efficiently utilize new technologies. It also requires business, marketing, and communication skills. These are not very difficult to develop, so the job is not challenging or tough. It can be easily dealt with by practice and gaining experience.