Every marketing team in 2018 needs a data expert. Who’s yours?
Your data expert is the go-to person for questions that require data. And that’s most questions.
One of the greatest things about being a marketer in today’s world is the amount of raw data available. Companies can truly be data-driven, meaning that we no longer make guesses or use instincts to make some of the most important decisions in our organizations.
If we want to know whether customers who find us on Google are more valuable than customers who find us on Facebook, we can look it up. If we want to know whether a 20% off coupon increases revenue over the long term, we can look it up. If we want to know if changing the shopping cart pages on our website increase conversion rate, we can look it up.
The answers are out there. Your data expert is the person who is going to get them for you.
Data Expert Skills
Your data expert comes with a set of skills required to do the job. Ideally, these are skills that he or she has fine-tuned over many years in the field. But not always.
First and foremost, your data expert has a strong attention to detail. They are well-organized and will take the time to fully understand the definition of every metric and piece of data. It is easy when looking at a large data set to miss errors and misclassify items. Your data expert will know how to avoid these types of mistakes that might lead you down the wrong path.
Your data expert will know what data to look for to answer your questions. They will be able to simplify the answer to your question by only showing you the analysis that matters and leaving out all of the data that has no bearing on the specific conversation.
In addition to mastery of statistics and statistical methods, your data expert will know how to tell a story with numbers. They will know how to present the analysis in such a way that you, and all other non-data experts, will be able to see and understand the conclusions clearly.
Lastly, your data expert will be able to identify and signal where the holes are in your data. They will be honest about the answers they are not able to get and why. And they should be able to recommend changes in business practices to fill those holes to make future analysis achievable.
Where to Find a Data Expert
These are roles that exist, and more and more people are learning the skills to fill them. You will find your data expert the same way you find the rest of your team.
- Job boards – you are looking for data analysts, data scientists, statisticians, business analysts, or the like. Each of these titles carries different skills and levels of experience, so do some research on what separates them and understand who you are looking for.
- Existing employees – perhaps you have someone on staff who is a data expert and you never even knew. Ask around and let people know you are looking to fill this type of role. You might be surprised at who raises their hand.
- Consultants and outside groups – there are many companies who you can tap to supply data expertise on a part-time or project by project basis. Find out who has experience in your industry and reach out to ask about rates and processes.
How to Get the Most from Your Data
Many companies today claim to be data-driven. But few of them actually are.
What most companies mean when they say that they are data-driven is…
- We know we should be data-driven, and
- We look at some data on a regular basis, but
- We still make decisions based on anecdotes and gut instinct.
In order to become a data-driven company, in the truest sense of the description, you must do three things well:
- You must work toward a clean and complete data set. This requires a clearly articulated strategy around data collection and reporting.
- You must understand exactly what the data is telling you. Implied in this is the fact that data can be interpreted in a variety of ways.
- You must trust that relying on your data in all decision-making processes will lead to better outcomes.
Your data expert will help you achieve each of these if you find the right person.