7 Habits of Highly Effective Analysts

The 4^th of July weekend is upon us. To different people this means different things. To some, it means a day away from the office, to others – having to look at the analytics reports on their smartphones under the tablecloth during a family dinner.

As scary as it sounds, I have met a few people who get separation anxiety from their reports, dashboards and GA alerts to which they have become accustomed. This blog post is for people who miss data even when they are lying in their hammock under the warm July sun.

Since time is limited and at any point over the long weekend a family member can start screaming at us for working too much, it is very important to be effective in your analysis of the available data. This is exactly what inspired this blog post. Thank you everyone who shared his or her tips and habits.

1. Always focus on consumer centric data. This is probably the most popular tip that I have received from fellow analysts. At the end of the day, it is all about consumers. Data that you should be looking at has to help you understand your consumer – what they do, why they do it, and how they do it. Fill in the blank to get started:  “Today, I want to learn ______________________ about my audience. How do I do this?”
2. Think like an executive. This tip came from Rachelle Maisner, Sr. Analyst at Digitaria (@5ftdynamite). Rachelle suggests that analysts should start with the question of “Why does this matter?” There are always plenty of pie charts and graphs to obsess about, but does this information really matter? Here is what I can add – think like an executive, operate like a surgeon. Once you know what you need to find, be very precise at isolating key materials from everything else. Custom segments and custom variables are there for a reason – put them to good use.
3. Focus on measuring the Moments Of Truth. One second too late and people do not open your email, one second too late and people do not click on your ad, one second too late and your competitors win the moment of truth when a buying decision is made. Too often analysts focus on analyzing what customers and prospects are doing but not at what time.
4. No matter how dense the analysis is, keep insights short, sweet and actionable. Hayley Bruton, Analyst at Digitaria stresses the importance of keeping the analysis insights short, relevant, and actionable. If your colleague from the marketing department or an executive calls you on Saturday asking about synopsis for how the campaign is doing, remember that they also have family. Do not send excel sheets. Your data is proof, for the insights that you are providing, not a substitution. My friend Dan Swanson from School Outfitters said it well:  “Most importantly, analysts will have a deep intellectual curiosity and a need to explain why something has occurred, not just what has occurred.”
5. Create clarity. My senior year in college, I took a philosophy course on Spinoza. The final paper that I wrote, I ended with Q.E.D. an acronym  of the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum, meaning “which had to be demonstrated”. Everyone is always talking about creating actionable information. However, what does actionable really mean? In my opinion, actionable information is the information that is presented so clearly that you do not have to do any other persuasion.
6. Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood. This habit is from Stephen Covey book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” My colleague Amin Shawki takes this habit to the next level. Before he will begin any analysis, he will ask dozens of questions to ensure that he knows what problem he is solving. Develop mechanism and process for getting to the bottom of the issues. I have worked with a few agencies that had analytics protocols – templates that they used to understand and analyze data. First part of their protocols was a series of questions that was used to get to the bottom of the issue.
7. Stay Engaging. Being good with numbers is a good start. Your insights have to tell a story that people are interested in. Most likely people do not know what you know. Engage people with your findings; get everyone curious and excited about the information. Make people SCREAM for more.

I would like to expand this post, and add/alter the habits. Please send me your suggestions and ideas. Good luck with the 4^th of July weekend, and remember that even the most effective analysts take a day off.

Cheers!