Get a Web Analyst

By Robert Blakeley,
Director of Internet Development
The Direct Marketing Association

If you are not already looking for a Web analyst, you may be looking soon. Web analytics has been around for a while. The Web channel is at the point, however, where Marketing is beginning to realize just how important Web analytics is to their future. We’re talking jobs and bonuses important. This article will talk about what to look for in a Web Analyst.

What does a Web Analyst do?

Web analysis is a business process, more specifically, a continual improvement process. Using performance data, the Web analyst will help your team understand how well your Web investment/campaign is doing and how you might be able to do better. They will:

Define the requirements of systems producing the base customer data.
Oversee data quality.
Create key success metrics based on business goals.
Design and manage testing from A/B/n to focus-group testing.
Provide the analysis revealing the customer intelligence and the ROI of your efforts.
Provide reporting to various levels of management and line staff.
Propose strategy, actionable solutions or suggestions for improvement.
Oversee the process of the improvement lifecycle of test/analyze/take action.

If you want to know which half of your Marketing budget is wasted, they are the people to ask.

What Should One Look For In a Web Analyst?

You will need someone who is, by nature, an analyst. That is, someone who is an organized thinker, fascinated by how and why things work, curious about how people behave, and an avid questioner. They also need to be eco-thinkers. That is, able to conceptualize and keep in their head the workings of complex systems so they understand that the little thing over here is related to a big effect over there.

You will need someone with strong business experience. They need real world experience in understanding segmentation, acquisition, sales, conversion, lead generation, ROI, etc. The Analyst needs to have a strong grasp of both business and marketing concepts.

You will need someone with significant experience in the Web industry. They need to understand how business is done on the Web and how customers use the channel. They need to know the consequences of the customer-centric nature of the Web and the concepts coming from the fields of usability and customer satisfaction.

You will need someone with very strong communication skills. They will need to be able to communicate up and down the org chart, from the CEO to the Marketing Coordinator and across all lines of business and departments. They will need to be as effective in speaking to IT and Finance as Marketing and Graphics. In addition, the Analyst needs to be able to manage the conflicting objectives and viewpoints.

You will need someone with presentation skills, the ability to provide the right amount of information and interpretation appropriate to the organizational level and personality. One of the primary skills of the analyst is the ability to help people understand the information and the impact on the business.

You do not necessarily need a statistician, but you will need someone who understands statistical concepts so they can evaluate relevance and significance as well as communicate with those doing statistical modeling.

You will need someone who has technical skills. They need to know the details of how Web sites are built and managed. They need to be able to write and use xhtml, Java Script and SQL so they can collect the data. They need an understanding of data administration so that they can maintain and mange the variables your business needs to track. They need to be able to learn how to use complex analysis applications. They need project management skills.

And, you will need someone really smart and really creative.