What is a Digital Analyst? Explore the Digital Analyst Career Path

The Day-to-Day as a Digital Analyst

Digital Analysts are team players who work alongside Digital Marketers, Project Managers, Lead Generation Marketers, SEO experts, Designers, and other marketing specialists to determine the reach and effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns. They provide insight on how to improve the effectiveness and user experiences of those campaigns. Most Digital Analysts work for marketing agencies, retail companies, technology companies, or are self-employed and work on a contract basis.

Digital Analysts spend their days meeting with clients and their digital marketing team, communicating via email, working with their team via a project management tool, planning projects, analyzing data, creating and implementing tracking code, updating dashboards, providing insight to clients and team members via email or report, and learning about new developments in the industry and incorporating them into their work.

What Skills Should Digital Analysts Have?

Digital Analysts must be fantastic communicators because this is a huge aspect of their job. They’ll spend more than half of their day communicating with team members and clients. They should be able to take their data analysis and translate it into people-friendly terms. They must be prepared to present their findings in front of a group, in a report, and via email. Email etiquette is different at every company, but a Digital Analyst will need to be able to adapt to each company’s culture in this regard.

One skill that bridges the gap between hard and soft skills is the Digital Marketer’s ability to strategize, problem-solve, think critically, modify their approach as they go, and reflect on results in their data. Simply put, this skill is metacognition. This combination of thought patterns is often taught in marketing and business curriculums but is primarily developed on the job through experience.

Google Analytics, Data Analytics, Tableau, Power BI, and Excel are all major technical skills that a Digital Analyst will need. Some employers will expect a Digital Analyst to be proficient in R or Python but this varies by employer and the level of the position. Digital Analysts should know how to execute A/B testing, infer insights from data, manage deadlines, and understand the business and marketing terms used in industry lingo and goal-setting.

Learn the Skills You Need to Become a Digital Analyst

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing utilizes the internet and web based digital platforms to promote products or services. This includes the use of digital advertisements, social media, brand identities, and more.

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Excel

Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft that runs on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. It is used for calculation, graphing, data visualization, and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro programming.

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Data Analytics

Data analytics uses analysis techniques to infer conclusions about raw data. Algorithms and machine learning have optimized data analysis over time to find trends and answer questions more efficiently.

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Google Analytics

Google Analytics measures your advertising return on investment while tracking your video, Flash, social networking, and applications. Google Analytics works by tracking website activity through a block of JavaScript code that the web developer, designer, or website owner, embeds within pages on a website.

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Tableau

Tableau is a data visualization tool. This tool can be used to simplify raw data, reformat data, and perform efficient data analysis. Tableau can also be used to create data visualizations, dashboards, presentations, and worksheets.

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Power BI

Power BI is a Microsoft business analytics services. It provides interactive visualizations, business intelligence, and simple interfacing for report and dashboard creation.

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Digital Analyst Salaries

A Digital Analyst in the United States makes, on average, $76,363 annually, according to Indeed.com.

Salaries for Digital Analysts vary by region within the the United States. Listed below are some Digital Analyst salaries for specific areas with the United States compared with the average national salary:

U.S. Average $76K source n/a
New York City $87K source
+14.97%
Washington, D.C. $87K source
+14.78%
Los Angeles, CA $83K source
+8.73%
Chicago, IL $82K source
+7.58%
Orange County, CA $82K source
+7.44%
Alexandria, VA $80K source
+5.44%
Fairfax, VA $78K source
+3.44%
Dallas, TX $78K source
+3.33%
Houston, TX $77K source
+1.22%
U.S. Average $76K source n/a
Miami, FL $75K source
-1.71%

Searching for Digital Analyst Jobs

DIgital Analysts work in marketing firms, for retail companies, at tech companies, and as self-employed contractors or consultants. They can easily find remote and part-time options as well as full-time in-office or contract-based for this position. The opportunities for upward mobility in this position are enormous and range from management all the way to c-level positions depending on the employer. Most places that will hire a full-time Digital Analyst also offer professional development opportunities too.

Digital Analysts can look for jobs on these sites:

Digital Analysts can find freelance or remote work on these sites:

Tips to Become a Digital Analyst

Digital Analysts can get experience before they get hired by working on free, open-source type projects on a website like Analysis Exchange (AE). AE pairs Analysts with a student, a teacher, and a non-profit to complete projects for the non-profit. This is a great opportunity to learn, network, and get experience all at once. It might help you to start a portfolio or blog online where you can share these experiences. If you work any freelance gigs you can add those too. These processes can boost your visibility by potential employers, help you sharpen your skills, and show a future employer how you think and in-turn how well you’ll be able to do the job they’re hiring you for.

Before you apply, research the company, its culture, and the people who will be on your team if you can find that information first. Try to make genuine connections with people who work there through LinkedIn. If the company is large enough, making connections with other Digital Analysts is a great way to gain perspective on positions, companies, and even get linked up with a job that is perfect for you if there’s one open. Better yet, make relationships with recruiters at companies that you want to work at by taking them for coffee in exchange for an informational interview! These “coffee dates” can also be done virtually. Be cordial and genuine and you may find the perfect job through someone who knows exactly how and where to place people in positions like the one you’re looking for.

Understand that the size of the company is probably going to determine your responsibilities as a Digital Analyst. If you’re hired at a small or mid-sized company, you’ll likely be one of the–if not the–only Analyst there which will likely have more responsibilities, less mentorship, and less specialization. While at a larger company, you’re likely to be on a team with more than one Analyst and a mentor. Consider where you are in your career in terms of skills and independence before you jump into an intense role at a startup. You might find it easier to get hired into that role, but the learning curve may be quite steep. For some candidates, this is perfect while for others it may be a recipe for overwhelm and burn out.

What Job Titles Would a Digital Analyst Hold?

Most Digital Analysts work for marketing agencies, retail companies, technology companies, or are self-employed and work on a contract basis. They might find work on a contract, freelance, or full-time position. Digital Analysts can specialize in performance, growth, content, marketing, or a specific industry.

Digital Analysts can look for these job titles:

Digital Analyst
Digital Marketing Analyst
Associate Marketing Analyst
Digital Content Analyst
Marketing Business Analyst
Digital Media Data Analyst
Performance Marketing Manager

The Day-to-Day as a Digital Analyst

What Skills Should Digital Analysts Have?

Learn the Skills You Need to Become a Digital Analyst

Digital Marketing

Excel

Data Analytics

Google Analytics

Tableau

Power BI

Digital Analyst Salaries

Typical Qualifications to Become a Digital Analyst

Searching for Digital Analyst Jobs

Tips to Become a Digital Analyst

What Job Titles Would a Digital Analyst Hold?

Related Careers

Salary Comparison to Digital Analyst

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Marketing Analyst

Business Analyst