What Does a Marketing Analyst Do?

According to Forbes, people are exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 advertisements a day, on average. Marketing messages come from your phone, the internet, social media, streaming, brick-and-mortar establishments, billboards, emails, text ads, and more.

Companies that break through the clutter to deliver marketing messages that are memorable and spur action rely heavily on what marketing analysts do.

Learn more about the role of marketing analysts, marketing analytics salary expectations, and how to become a marketing analyst.

What Is a Marketing Analyst?

Marketing analysts study consumer behavior and preferences, business conditions, and many other factors to determine the ideal mix of products or services and marketing and advertising strategies that optimize marketing effectiveness.

In short, marketing analysts help businesses make sales. It’s no wonder marketing analytics is one of the fastest-growing job sectors in the country.

Marketing analysts help businesses cut through the clutter and increase sales by gathering and analyzing data, generating insights, and developing marketing strategies that expand a company’s customer base and market share.

What Are the Top Career Opportunities for Marketing Analytics Graduates?

Now that we’ve answered the questions “what is a marketing analyst?” and “what does a marketing analyst do?” let’s explore career paths and jobs for graduates with a marketing analytics degree. Here are some of the top jobs in the rapidly expanding marketing analytics field.

Marketing manager

As a marketing manager, you will oversee an organization’s marketing analytics, marketing planning, marketing policies and programs, new product development, and various marketing staff and departments. Your goal will be to maximize the company’s profits or share of the market while ensuring that customers are satisfied. Successful marketing managers display strong skills in marketing, communications, sales, product management, and leadership.

Sales manager

Sales managers plan, direct, and coordinate the actual distribution or movement of a product or service to the customer. As a sales manager, you may coordinate sales distribution by establishing sales territories, quotas, and goals as you oversee sales teams. Sales managers analyze sales statistics to determine sales potential and inventory requirements, and monitor customer preferences. These positions demand advanced skills in sales, communications, management, leadership, and marketing.

Advertising and promotions manager

Advertising and promotions managers plan, direct, and coordinate advertising policies and programs. They plan and prepare advertising and promotional materials to increase the sales of products or services. Advertising and promotions managers work with consumers, company executives, sales departments, and marketing and advertising agencies. They also oversee the development and production of collateral materials and activities, such as contests, coupons, promotions, and giveaways. Successful advertising and promotions managers are effective marketers, communicators, managers, salespeople, and digital marketing specialists.

Business intelligence analysts

As a business intelligence analyst, you’ll break down key business data, including revenue cycles, sales, market information, and customer behavior. You’ll interpret data, looking for patterns or areas for improvement. You’ll also analyze, prepare, and share your findings with business, marketing, and sales professionals to help provide data-driven strategies to optimize sales. Business intelligence analysts demonstrate strong skills in data analysis, communications, management, and computer analytics programs.

Other marketing analytics jobs

Graduates with a marketing analytics degree are also well-positioned for jobs such as:

• Market research analysts
• Marketing specialists
• Search marketing strategists
• Public relations specialists
• Fundraisers
• Survey researchers
• Interviewers

A career in marketing analytics is within your reach. But before we discuss how to become a marketing analyst, let’s look at marketing analytics salary expectations.

Jobs in Marketing Analytics Salary Expectations

So far, we’ve answered the questions:

• “What is a marketing analyst?”
• “What does a marketing analyst do?”
• “What are the top career opportunities for marketing analytics graduates?”

Now, let’s explore salary expectations for marketing analytics jobs. Since we’re focused on analytics, let’s look at marketing analytics salary data from Lightcast, the global leader in labor market analytics.

Lightcast reports the average median salary for marketing analytics jobs, including:

• Marketing managers: $135,000
• Sales managers: $128,000
• Advertising and promotions managers: $118,000
• Business intelligence analysts: $103,000

Lightcast also leverages their analytics to project the growth rate for marketing analytics jobs, including:

• Marketing managers: 14 percent increase
• Sales managers: 10 percent increase
• Advertising and promotions managers: 14 percent increase
• Business intelligence analysts: 37 percent increase

The data speaks

Can you see yourself in one of these positions? With the right preparation and education, it’s possible. It’s clear that earning your marketing analytics degree and preparing for a lucrative career in the marketing analytics field is a career path worth considering. Read on to learn how to become a marketing analyst.

How to Become a Marketing Analyst

Illinois Tech’s Master of Science in Marketing Analytics degree program is ideal for students ready to dive into a marketing analytics career. Our marketing analytics master’s degree courses are taught by professors with extensive marketing analytics industry experience.

In addition, our Marketing Analytics Advisory Council —composed of leading industry professionals—ensures that our program aligns with the latest industry practices and emerging marketing analytics methods and technology.