What are the key considerations when building a Marketing Analytics team?

1 Define your goals

Before you hire or train anyone, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve with marketing analytics. What are the key questions you want to answer, the metrics you want to track, and the outcomes you want to improve? How will you align your marketing analytics goals with your overall business objectives and strategy? Having a well-defined and realistic set of goals will help you identify the skills, tools, and resources you need for your team.

3 Choose your team structure

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for organizing a marketing analytics team. Depending on your goals, resources, and organization, you can choose from different models, such as centralized, decentralized, hybrid, or embedded. A centralized team is a dedicated unit that serves all the marketing functions and stakeholders. A decentralized team is composed of analysts who are assigned to specific marketing domains or channels. A hybrid team is a combination of both, where some analysts work across the organization while others focus on specific areas. An embedded team is integrated within the marketing function and works closely with the marketers. Each model has its pros and cons, so you need to weigh them carefully and decide what works best for you.

4 Hire or train your team members

Once you have your team structure, you need to fill it with the right people. You can either hire new talent or train your existing staff, or do both. Hiring new talent can bring fresh perspectives, skills, and experience to your team, but it can also be costly, time-consuming, and competitive. Training your existing staff can leverage their domain knowledge, loyalty, and culture fit, but it can also require significant investment, support, and commitment. Whether you hire or train, you need to look for a mix of technical, analytical, and business skills, as well as soft skills like communication, collaboration, and curiosity.

5 Equip your team with the right tools

Your marketing analytics team will need a set of tools to collect, store, analyze, visualize, and share data. The tools you choose will depend on your data sources, platforms, formats, and volumes, as well as your analytical needs, preferences, and budget. Some of the common tools used by marketing analysts include web analytics, CRM, email marketing, social media, SEO, PPC, BI, and data visualization software. You need to ensure that your team has access to the tools they need, that they are compatible and integrated, and that they are updated and maintained regularly.

6 Empower your team with the right culture

Finally, you need to create and foster a culture that supports and values marketing analytics. This means encouraging a data-driven mindset across the organization, where decisions are based on evidence, not intuition. It also means promoting a culture of learning, experimentation, and innovation, where analysts are free to explore new ideas, test hypotheses, and learn from failures. And it also means creating a culture of collaboration, trust, and feedback, where analysts work closely with marketers and other stakeholders, share their insights and recommendations, and receive recognition and appreciation.