{"id":1408,"date":"2022-07-06T18:05:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T18:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.800.com\/blog\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2024-03-15T10:24:45","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T10:24:45","slug":"why-your-business-doesnt-need-a-data-analyst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.800.com\/blog\/why-your-business-doesnt-need-a-data-analyst\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Your Business Does(n\u2019t) Need a Data Analyst"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Chances are that you\u2019ve heard all about how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snhu.edu\/about-us\/newsroom\/stem\/what-does-a-data-analyst-do\">data analysts<\/a> can help companies all over the world grow market share, reduce costs, and increase revenue\u2014all at the same time. It\u2019s only natural that you might be wondering whether you should bring a data analyst or two to your company. Are they really worth the hype?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article will help you decide. We\u2019ll go into what data analysts actually do as well as what kinds of problems they solve and when they can help your own company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Does a Data Analyst Do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A data analyst collects, processes, models, and interprets data in order to solve a specific problem or answer a specific question for the company. Here\u2019s a quick description of each task:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Data collection:<\/strong>&nbsp;Data can come from many sources, including private company records, publicly available information, and data that the company purchases from a third party. A crucial job of the data analyst is to select data sources that can best solve the problem for the least cost.<\/li><li><strong>Data processing:<\/strong>&nbsp;Data is rarely \u201cready to go.\u201d Depending on what the data analyst wants to do with the data, the information may need adjusting and reorganizing so it is in the best format to provide answers. The data also needs to be checked for accuracy and completeness. Data analysts actually spend most of their time processing data before actually running any sort of analysis.<\/li><li><strong>Data modeling:<\/strong>&nbsp;The data analyst uses the cleaned-up data to generate a model that might help gain insights about the existing data, predict future outcomes from past data, or both. A good data analyst understands the strengths and limitations of different modeling techniques to get the most meaningful results for the company.<\/li><li><strong>Data interpretation:<\/strong>&nbsp;This is arguably the most important step from the company\u2019s perspective. Even the most sophisticated data models are useless if they don\u2019t help improve the company in some way. It\u2019s up to the data analyst to turn results into meaningful recommendations and actions for the company.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where Can You Find Data Analysts?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Data analysts are in demand in almost every industry and market segment and in almost every type of team. Here are the most common ones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Marketing:<\/strong>&nbsp;Data analysts and marketing teams go hand in hand, especially during&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.800.com\/blog\/how-to-keep-your-marketing-campaign-on-track\/\">call marketing&nbsp;<\/a>campaigns. A data analyst can help you make sense of your campaign data and can come up with meaningful recommendations, both for current and future campaigns.<\/li><li><strong>Sales:<\/strong>&nbsp;There\u2019s no question that call intelligence can help drive sales and boost productivity for your sales team. On top of all that, a data analyst can use your&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.800.com\/blog\/how-can-call-intelligence-give-your-business-an-advantage\/\">call intelligence<\/a>&nbsp;data to help categorize your customers and focus on those who are most likely to buy.<\/li><li><strong>Business strategy:<\/strong>&nbsp;Data analysts don\u2019t just focus on the details. Many companies hire data analysts to help make sense of the bigger picture to help guide long-term strategy, goals, and budgeting.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to Hire a Data Analyst<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that you know how valuable a data analyst can be, you\u2019re probably wondering why you haven\u2019t hired one already. Nevertheless, before you start writing up that job ad, you want to make sure a data analyst will be valuable for&nbsp;<em>your&nbsp;<\/em>company. Here are some things to keep in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You Have a Specific Problem to Solve<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Data analysts can do wonders to help businesses save money, increase sales, or otherwise improve. However, success happens only when both you and the data analyst understand the problem to be solved. Ideally, the problem or question can\u2019t be solved with some simple calculations or spreadsheets. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How can we improve our sales forecasting model?<\/li><li>How can we categorize our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.800.com\/blog\/instagram-vs-facebook-vs-tiktok-which-social-media-channel-is-best-for-ads\/\">social media<\/a>&nbsp;followers so that we can better target communications?<\/li><li>How similar are our products and services to the competition in terms of features, price point, and so on?<\/li><li>How can we use an 800&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.800.com\/blog\/the-basics-and-basic-strategy-of-using-a-vanity-phone-number\/\">vanity number<\/a>&nbsp;with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.800.com\/blog\/whats-the-best-way-to-use-call-tracking\/\">call tracking<\/a>&nbsp;to predict whether a customer is more likely to place an order?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If your company finds itself asking these sorts of questions, then consider bringing on a data analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You Have Access to Data<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It might seem obvious: data analysts need data to do their jobs. Still, you would be surprised at the number of companies that bring on a new data analyst and are unable\u2014or unwilling\u2014to provide access to the right data. That might include call logs, call tracking information, marketing campaign&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.800.com\/blog\/3-kpis-you-should-be-tracking-on-every-campaign\/\">KPIs<\/a>, and so on. You should also be willing to invest in third-party datasets, especially if you\u2019re looking to compare yourself to competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hiring a data analyst with no data to work with is like hiring a call center rep and not providing a phone. Without the right tools, there\u2019s no chance for success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Make Your Data Work for You With a Data Analyst<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re like most companies, you\u2019re simply drowning in data, from digital marketing campaign metrics to data logs from your call tracking service. With a little investment in developing the right questions and providing the right data, a data analyst can be invaluable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re wondering how to start gathering the right data, we recommend collecting meaningful data for your business with an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.800.com\/vanity-phone-numbers\">800 vanity number<\/a>&nbsp;with call tracking. All it takes is a few minutes to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.800.com\/vanity-phone-numbers\">get started<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chances are that you\u2019ve heard all about how data analysts can help companies all over the world grow market share, reduce costs, and increase revenue\u2014all at the same time. It\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing-strategy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Your Business Does(n\u2019t) Need a Data Analyst :) 800.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn more about what data analysts do as well as what kinds of problems they solve and when they can help your own company :) 800.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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