The 5 Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2012: Analytics

Today I’m discussing Analytics. The Inc.com article prompting this series of posts says “smart companies are increasingly making decisions driven by analytics ... we are seeing a high level of demand for analytics and business intelligence professionals who almost act like internal consultants: they help determine what should be measured and then build out the capability for a company.” Exactly.

Those of us from the direct marketing discipline have pounded on analytics forever. My book, Direct Marketing Quantified: The Knowledge is in the Numbers, is foundational for any direct marketer using direct mail media. And while my book wasn’t intended to measure online marketing, many of the principles I’ve been classically trained in, and practice routinely, belong in today’s marketing and sales conversation.

In fact, for some time I’ve pondered adapting my book to the online space. It would work out fairly easily. But honestly, I’m kept so busy with client projects that there hasn’t been time to write it.

Yet, metrics and analytics are our lifeblood when we work with clients. If you don’t like working with numbers, find someone who does. Or better yet, figure it out! You’ll need it.

Our consulting practice has been sought out for years because of our ability to interpret the numbers and bring client’s marketing to greater profitability. We’d love the opportunity to work with you, too.