Anyone who has ever worked in the digital marketing industry knows the foundation of every strategy or creative idea weighs heavily on the success it produces.
That being said, it is up to the analytics team to bring to light successes, failures, opportunities and areas to improve. However, for many in the analytics field, there is a misconception on what this entails.
Whether it’s your manager’s perception or yours, here’s what you should be doing to be considered a “true” data analyst."
There is a lot that goes into data analysis. There’s designing a measurement plan, implementing data collection, running reports and correlating trends. But in some organizations, these important steps are overlooked. So, what makes you an analyst and what makes you a reporter?
Difference Between Reporting and Analyzing
There is a huge difference between reporting and analyzing data, yet many are unaware of this contrast. When you're reporting, you summarize data into visual graphs/charts and merely hand them off to upper management. Although this is useful to an extent, organizations are still missing out from the balance of both.
It is essential to aesthetically show data and explain what the report represent. Yet, analysis is what truly adds value to your reports. As a data analyst, your job is to find causes to data valleys and give reasons to why the numbers reflect the way they do.
Steps To Becoming An Analyst, Not a Reporter
- Understand objectives. Know what your client/organization’s business objectives are and incorporate them into your measurement plan. At the end of the day, an analysis doesn’t have to cover absolutely every area of data. For instance, if the interest is to see an increase in leads, you probably shouldn’t waste time on social media engagement. Reporters often forget about this simple step and merely wait for a certain report to be run or “requested.”
- Have a plan. Once you have mapped out objectives to focus on, implementing a data collection plan that captures these objectives will help you organize your future analysis. Although this is standard in the reporting process, an analyst would also consider other areas that can affect these results. Whether it’s click-through-rates, fewer email campaigns or a huge sale, an analyst has to take into account what can impact result and how they are correlated. It’s about asking questions, examining areas and recommending solutions.
- Keep it simple. Presenting data with simple yet in-depth analysis is what your client/company wants. Reporting simply informs the audience whereas analysis engages. Don’t tell the what, explain the why. Bundle the information with visual representations of graphs/charts but show comparisons, growth rates, identify pain-points and bring suggestions into the mix.
Adopting these practices will add great benefits to your marketing team and foster sound campaigns in the future. By telling a story to your client/supervisors through analysis, it makes future decisions more transparent and will ultimately empower success in your business goals.
Want to see where analytics come into the picture? View the ROI Online Process!
