We produce vast amounts of data every day, and understanding it can help boost productivity and profits in every aspect of business, particularly in informing marketing campaigns. Although traditional marketing methods continue to be used effectively, digital marketing is proving to be vital for businesses of all sizes as they compete on a global stage. With the need for good business analysts growing in digital marketing, this can be an excellent career choice for those interested in working in business. If this is a career choice that interests you, it is worth learning more about the roles and tasks involved in this profession and the many benefits this type of career can provide. Here are some of the responsibilities business analysts can undertake within digital marketing:
Understanding customer engagement
Reaching new customers and retaining existing ones is key to a good digital marketing strategy and makes understanding customer engagement crucial to business analysts when considering their digital marketing campaign. It can involve looking at their website visits, purchase decisions, feedback and content consumption with the aim of building company loyalty. The business analyst will need to consider how to improve the customer experience by gathering and analyzing data on customer preferences and experiences.
Social media engagement is an effective way to reach customers and to learn about their opinions, preferences and feedback. Business analysts in digital marketing will need to carefully monitor social media marketing campaigns and analyze their results to understand their effectiveness in reaching customers. Matters to consider are, which social media platform or platforms are best for reaching your target customers, the best times to post content, the frequency of posts, and what sort of content customers respond best to.
Social media also provides a wealth of information on what your customers are thinking. People will frequently post on social media about their experiences, such as the bargains they picked up on their shopping trip, the excellent service they enjoyed at a restaurant or the fun they experienced at a tourist attraction. Whether they are referring to your business or another, it can help inform you of what customers are looking for. Of course, people also post regarding experiences that are not so good, which can help inform a business on ways to improve and make sure those improvements are drawn to customers’ attention.
Social media allows customers to interact directly with a business and vice versa. Through this engagement, you can learn more about what a customer likes about your business or what they are hoping for if they have not yet used your business, as well as ways they think you can improve.
SEO analytics
Search engine optimization (SEO) considers the internet search terms people use when looking for your type of business. By collecting and analyzing this data, you can inform the SEO of your content and campaigns. Using an array of free and paid-for tools, you can use SEO analytics to find out which marketing tactics are bringing the most effective traffic, where the best customers are coming from, how to get backlinks, which content is getting the best engagement, information on the competition and campaigns that are proving to be less profitable or even losing money.
Personalized and targeted marketing
Targeted marketing is a useful strategy for business analysts to understand how to reach different segments of the market. It might be targeted by age, such as 18 to 24-year-olds or by interest, such as baseball enthusiasts, or a stage of life, such as new parents. These insights will allow a digital marketing campaign to be effectively targeted at that group, providing the content they are most likely to respond to.
The weak spot of targeted campaigns is that people’s needs and interests shift in real-time. They might visit a website with the aim of buying a coat, but once there, they also start looking at hats and gloves or even swimwear for the following season. By analyzing algorithms, analysts can follow the journey, targeting content towards their immediate interests and needs.
Email marketing analytics
Email marketing can be highly effective, sending information and offers directly to customers’ inboxes. However, like all marketing campaigns, they need to be carefully monitored with the results analyzed to ensure they are reaching their full potential. A business analyst in digital marketing will analyze factors such as how many emails are opened, what the click-through rate is, how many of the clicks will convert to sales, where customers are based and other aspects of subscriber behavior. This can help inform marketing strategies on how often to send emails, what times of the year they are most effective and what content or calls to action are most effective.
Big data
The three Vs in big data are volume, variety and velocity, with some also adding in a fourth as veracity. Businesses collect vast amounts of structured and unstructured data from a range of sources that can be used to make predictions, taking the guesswork out of business. Business analysts in digital marketing will need to analyze this data for information on how to best target their campaigns. With so much data collected, it might seem that this is an impossible task. Fortunately, business analysts can now use AI tools such as machine learning to optimize the analysis.
Becoming a business analyst specializing in digital marketing
There is a demand for good business analysts, and this demand is set to increase, making this an excellent career choice for long-term job security. If this is a career path that interests you, then the first step is to gain qualifications with a bachelor’s degree in a related subject such as business, economics or IT. Increasingly, many positions are also looking for candidates qualified to a master’s level, with an MBA being an example of a good qualification to earn.
An MBA can be earned through universities across the country or through a high-quality online program that can be studied more flexibly from the comfort of your home. When choosing an MBA program, make sure that it thoroughly covers business analysis and digital marketing. To find out more about the benefits of online MBA, a good place to start is at a reputable institution such as St Bonaventure University. Their MBA includes specializations in business analytics and marketing with the option of choosing both for a dual specialization MBA.
In addition to formal credentials, a business analyst requires a high degree of competence in a range of soft skills. Good communication skills in both spoken and written forms are vital as you will need to convey a large amount of information on digital marketing strategies to different departments, and it is essential that this information is understood.
You will also need good organizational skills. When collecting the data ready for analysis, you will need to have systems in place for its storage so that you and others can easily access the information you need. There will be occasions when the unexpected happens, and you will need to think fast. Business can be a high-pressure environment, and you will need to be able to think clearly when under pressure. You will need to be someone who can work independently without requiring a lot of supervision but also be a good team player, as you will be required to work with a wide variety of people at all levels of the business.
The advantages of a career as a business analyst in digital marketing include good job security and an attractive salary package. However, to enjoy a fulfilling work life, you will likely be looking for more than that in your career. Fortunately, business analysis in digital marketing is a highly rewarding career in more than just financial terms. Some of the benefits include:
Intellectually stimulating
Business analysis in digital marketing is full of intellectual challenges that make it a stimulating career. You will have to identify problems and consider how to solve them. While having a methodical approach to analysis is essential, many of the solutions you come up with are likely to require you to think outside of the box, making this a role that also calls for creativity and imagination.
There are also new methodologies and technologies that are being used in business analysis that make the career a lifelong learning journey, as there is always more to learn. This is not a job where every day is the same. Instead, each day brings new challenges for you to solve with the solutions you come up with.
Independence
As this role is continually providing new challenges and unexpected results, business analysts in digital marketing cannot follow a set formula for their work. Instead, they will be required to think for themselves how best to proceed, giving them a fair amount of autonomy. They will also often work closely with those in higher management positions, which frequently allows the analyst to take the direction they consider the most effective as they play a trusted role. This gives the business analyst a degree of independence that many other business positions do not possess.
Make a difference
Effective digital marketing campaigns are essential for success in business. A successful campaign will see profits soar and may result in greater investment in the business, an increase in the number of employees and better wages across the business. The analyst is one of the key individuals who can collect and analyze the information needed for a successful campaign, helping to optimize it for the best possible results. If you enjoy going to work knowing that you are making a difference every day, a career as a business analyst in digital marketing is worth considering.
Business-wide collaboration
Business analysts in digital marketing will need to work with departments across the business with people at all levels, from executives to those in entry-level positions. While departments such as marketing, finance and strategic planning might be the departments most commonly collaborated with, the analyst will need a thorough knowledge of the business, meaning they may work with employees from any department. Meeting people with a wide variety of skill sets and backgrounds is not only interesting, but it is also a great learning opportunity. Additionally, it provides opportunities for networking that will be useful throughout your professional career.
Career advancement
With the appropriate credentials, you can enter the fast-paced work of business analysis in digital marketing, but this will likely just be the first step in your career. The amount of data we create is only growing greater, increasing the demand for business analysts. There are also many opportunities for advancement, taking you into roles with greater responsibilities and even more attractive salary packages. For those wanting to get ahead in business, a career in business analysis can take you to the highest levels.
Conclusion
Career paths are very much a matter of personal choice, and only you can decide if this is the right path for you. However, this career does have a lot going for it. It is a varied job, collecting and analyzing data from many different sources in a variety of ways, with unexpected finds and events requiring you to use your problem-solving skills. Additionally, it is a career with competitive salaries, good job security and opportunities for advancement. As a business analyst in digital marketing, you will make a very tangible difference to the success of marketing campaigns and, through that, the success of the entire business.
If this is a career path that interests you, there is no better time to find out more about how to get started. Look at the training options that are convenient for you. Also, look for ways in your current employment and life where you can brush up on the soft skills needed for success. If you decide to embark on a career as a business analyst in digital marketing, you will be starting a lifelong learning journey in a fascinating aspect of business.