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
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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.
Digital Analyst Salaries
A Digital Analyst in the United States makes, on average, $95,827 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 $95K source n/a
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Los Angeles, CA
$127K
source
+32.56%
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Houston, TX
$121K
source
+27.05%
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Orange County, CA
$109K
source
+13.79%
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Chicago, IL
$104K
source
+9.41%
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Washington, D.C.
$97K
source
+1.7%
- U.S. Average $95K source n/a
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New York City
$93K
source
-2.29%
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Miami, FL
$86K
source
-10.22%
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Fairfax, VA
$82K
source
-14.15%
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Dallas, TX
$75K
source
-21.68%
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Alexandria, VA
$67K
source
-29.05%
Typical Qualifications to Become a Digital Analyst
While a college degree is not required for a Digital Analyst position, many employers do prefer it. About half of all Digital Analysts have a bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, or communications and about 20% have a master’s degree.
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:
- MediaBistro
- TalentZoo
- Krop
- Mashable
- AdRants
- Venture Beat
- Crunchboard
- Paid Content
- Google Jobs
- ZipRecruiter
- Simply Hired
- Indeed
- Glassdoor
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
Related Careers
The easiest career pivot for a Digital Analyst is becoming a Digital Strategist. This position requires strong decision-making, clear communication, and a higher-level understanding of both business and marketing. They’ll not only analyze the data for digital marketing efforts but also make suggestions and plans to improve those outcomes.
Digital Analysts can also transition into a marketing analyst position which focuses more on market research and market strategies than advertising campaign efforts. Transitioning into a Marketing Analyst position would require a Digital Analyst to learn more about market research and business principles alongside their analytical skills. Digital Analysts and Marketing Analysts typically have similar pay grades but different responsibilities.
Digital Analysts can take their careers to the next level by upskilling. Data Analysts will still use that analytical and reporting skills but will want to learn at least one programming language like Python or R, Tableau for reporting and dashboards, as well as SQL. Moving into a Data Analyst position will almost certainly result in a salary raise for a Digital Analyst.
Salary Comparison to Digital Analyst
- Digital Analyst $95K n/a
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Business Analyst
$85K
-10.51%
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Digital Strategist
$81K
-14.81%
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Data Analyst
$79K
-17.02%
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Marketing Analyst
$70K
-26.28%
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Data Analyst
Indeed.com Avg. Salary
$79K / year
Glassdoor Avg. Salary
$84K / year
Data analysts review large amounts of data to summarize, analyze, and visualize it and provide insights. Working from data from multiple, relevant sources, they create and maintain databases, and use statistical techniques to analyze the collected data. Data analysts must be able to communicate with others about what the data shows and to be able to provide realistic recommendations based on their analysis. Many industries such as healthcare, advertising, and retail rely on the work of data analysts to inform their business decisions and strategy.
Learn about becoming a Data Analyst -
Digital Strategist
Indeed.com Avg. Salary
$81K / year
Glassdoor Avg. Salary
$82K / year
Digital Strategy is the work behind digitally rich projects like websites, social media, SEO content, digital marketing, and more. Digital Strategists identify opportunities for growth and make plans for new website releases, content for their client with a specific end goal in mind, or an advertising campaign.
Learn about becoming a Digital Strategist -
Marketing Analyst
Indeed.com Avg. Salary
$70K / year
Glassdoor Avg. Salary
$75K / year
A marketing analyst brings marketing expertise to companies and organizations to assist with their marketing initiatives. Depending on the type of role and company they are working for, the marketing analyst's job can vary in channels and the type of work. In some cases, the marketing analyst will be in charge of providing analytical support for a specific channel or set of marketing channels. The marketing analyst may also be involved in coming up with strategies, finding the right audiences, performing competitive analyses, and optimizing channels.
Learn about becoming a Marketing Analyst -
Business Analyst
Indeed.com Avg. Salary
$85K / year
Glassdoor Avg. Salary
$92K / year
Business analysts use business, technology, and project management skills to analyze business problems and propose data-driven solutions. Grounded in technical expertise, business analysts perform risk analyses, manage project plans, and translate technical information such as diagrams and blueprints. Experienced business analysts can become business or project managers, which puts their professional expertise to work with the management of project deliverables and other people. Business analysts can put their skills to work across a variety of industries, companies, and job functions.
Learn about becoming a Business Analyst