Marketing Analyst

Simply put, a marketing analyst plays an important role in helping companies decide what to sell, to which customers and at which price. In view of the increasing globalization in the world, more companies are looking to expand globally. As a result, a marketing analyst is an increasingly important position both domestically and internationally.

What is a marketing analyst?

A marketing analyst plays a key role in determining how a product or service is sold. They do this by examining specific market conditions such as the customers, competition and cost of production. Overall, the goal is to determine if a product or service will sell in a particular market, and if so, how well? Naturally, other questions may arise from this process. It is important to consider potential barriers like government regulations and competition. Further, will interest in the product sustain past its novelty phase?

What do they do?

Data collection ranks as one of the primary roles a marketing analyst has. In addition, other responsibilities include:

• Sales predictions
• Market trends
• Competition research
• Consumer demographics 
• Evaluation of current marketing strategies
• Interpretation of marketing data

Using the data they collect, analysts are able to better understand what the current market conditions are and what the best way to sell a product is. A market is simply any place where buyers and sellers exchange goods and services. Therefore the market in question can be a demographic, a region or the marketplace itself (such as online vs. brick and mortar stores). Companies looking to enter into a new market will need to gather information on what the consumers in that market value and need, the current competitors and their marketing initiatives and the demographics of the region.

To simplify, a marketing analyst would tell you that trying to set up an online store that sold anything and everything probably would not be a good idea. Naturally, you would be competing against the largest company in the world, Amazon. However, they might tell you that selling a specific product that Amazon doesn’t offer could be a fruitful endeavor into an untapped market. Of course, this is an oversimplification of the issue, but it captures the essence of the job. 

MA Jobs

Companies large and small are always looking to hire marketing professionals and they pay well too. Because it is such an essential job, you will typically always find job listings on sites such as Glassdoor. Some jobs require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. However, most will require that you have a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree. Having a specialization in marketing can greatly increase your chances of getting a job and also increase your starting salary. 

Some additional technical skills which some employers recommend include:

• SQL databases/query languages
• Some level of programming skills
• Data mining
• Data visualization
• Statistical analysis software (STATA, SPSS)
• Tableau 

In addition to hard skills, many employers like to see certain soft skills such as:

• Analytic problem solving
• Critical thinking 
• Market knowledge
• Effective communication

Marketing analyst salary

Given the importance of the job, companies are willing to compensate their marketing analyst’s quite well. Of course, some companies may not have dedicated full-time positions for a marketing analyst. Rather, they will post contracts for non-permanent positions which still pay exceptionally well. Companies such as GoPro and Edmodo are offering $82,000-$116,000 salaries. In 2019, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimated that a market research analyst made approximately $63,790 a year and a marketing manager made approximately $135,900. 

More information

With all of this in mind, becoming a marketing analyst can be a rewarding career path with plenty of opportunities for career advancement. In order to set yourself up for success in this career, it can be very helpful to pursue an MBA in Marketing. Want to learn more about marketing careers and all things business? Check out our blog!