What is a Marketing Researcher?

In recent years the influx of data from digital sources, namely search engine queries and social media, have revolutionized marketing. Now, business have a wealth of data on potential consumers. A company can know how many times a client clicked on certain links, which clients responded to certain advertisements or social media posts, and even what search terms were used to find a company’s products. But how do business know what that data tells them, and more importantly how to increase profits based on that data? This is where Marketing Researchers come in. A Marketing Researcher, or marketing research analyst, is responsible for analyzing information from marketing reports and making recommendations based on their analysis. Their recommendations help the marketing team know how to strategize their projects and maintain a steady base of customers for the business. Many Marketing Researchers also help to develop and implement marketing content strategies, as well as conduct data analysis on the company, its products or services, and customer purchasing trends. A key part of any Marketing Researcher’s job is being aware of current marketing trends across their industry and staying up-to-date on new marketing technologies.

Where do Marketing Researchers Work?

Because nearly every industry uses Marketing Researchers to sell their products and services, Marketing Researchers are employed throughout the economy. While many marketing researchers will work for individual companies, which we will talk about below, many also start with research suppliers. Research suppliers are organizations that specialize in providing targeted research for their client companies. Clients can range from major corporations to government agencies to mid-size advertising firms, and often contract research suppliers on a project-by-project basis. Because research suppliers have a wide range of clients, they are a great place for marketing researchers to get experience in a variety of projects, methodologies, and survey designs. Sometimes research suppliers will provide data from different sources, specialize in digital and social media research, or provide customized research to meet their clients’ needs. Marketing Researchers also often for for individual companies as part of an internal marketing department. In this case, marketing researchers will work intimately with the rest of the marketing team to devise research needs, analyze data, and produce marketing plans. In small businesses, marketing researchers might have more general marketing responsibilities, like social media marketing, in addition to their role as marketing researcher. In some instances, marketing researchers might need specialized knowledge in their given industry that require additional certifications, coursework, or on-the-job training. For instance, a Marketing Researcher working in banking would need to be aware of financial regulations as well as marketing trends for that specific industry.

Marketing Researcher Salary and Job Prospects

The median salary for a Marketing Researcher is $62K a year, but that median salary can vary greatly depending on location, size of company, and industry. For instance, in the advertising industry, Marketing Researchers make over $69K annually but in Wireless Telecommunications they make an average $100K a year. Job growth is also booming for Marketing Researchers, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimating 23% growth over the next 10 years. That’s triple the expected growth for many other jobs. Many Marketing Researchers move up the corporate ladder into Marketing Manager or Marketing Director positions.

Valuable Skills for Marketing Researchers

• Strategic Planning
• Database Manipulation
• Systems and Data Analysis
• Project Management
• Statistics and Data Modelling
• Written and Verbal Communication
• Create and Run Usability Tests

Education for Aspiring Marketing Researchers

Most companies require marketing researchers to hold at least a bachelor’s degree in marketing, as well as experience in the field. Some undergraduate business degrees might have additional coursework in marketing research and analytics or allow for specializations in marketing research within the general business degree. To gain more experience or even move up into management, Marketing Researchers might consider gaining additional knowledge through Marketing Bootcamps, MOOCs, or Certificates. Many of these non-degree education programs focus on new technological innovations, which Marketing Researchers can implement at their own organizations, like Enterprise Resources Planning Software and Development Environment Software. Most marketing research degrees come at the graduate level. As such, many companies also want their marketing researchers and analysts to hold master’s degree in marketing research or business administration. Like many graduate level business degrees, a degree in marketing research combines coursework with hands-on experience and research. Graduate students typically take focused courses in research methodology, coding, database construction, focus group development, statistics, and consumer behavior. Typically students conduct several research projects, including a major thesis project, that has them apply the marketing research skills covered in class to learn new information about a specific business, often one where the student is already employed.

Helpful Certifications and Skill Clusters for Marketing Researchers

• Professional Certified Marketer (PCM)
• Professional Researcher Certification (PRC)
• Certified Management Consultant
• Structured Query Language or SQL
• Oracle Hyperion
• Social Media and Web Analytics
• Job Control Language JCL
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft Excel
• Google Analytics
• Python
• AJAX
• Linux