Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
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A marketing analyst turns marketing data into decisions: channel and campaign analysis, attribution, budget return and the reporting that tells marketing what to fund next. Tool lists are easy to write, so we screen for analysis that changed what a team did, data they refused to trust and answers they led with.
A new marketing analyst is judged on whether marketing trusts the numbers and acts on them. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 to 3
Every source mapped: ad platforms, web analytics, CRM, marketing automation and spend. Definitions agreed for a lead, an opportunity and a channel, and the known gaps and double counting listed.
On track looks like a data map and a definitions sheet agreed with marketing operations and sales operations, with the three biggest data problems named.
How we test for it before you meet them
A data-quality exercise in our screen: an anonymized export from an ad platform and a CRM. We score what they check before they chart anything.
Weeks 4 to 6
A single report from spend to pipeline by channel and campaign, refreshed on a schedule, with a note on what it cannot show.
On track looks like a report marketing and sales both use, with spend that matches the finance view.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask what they built that people were still using six months later, and check with a former manager.
Weeks 7 to 10
A question marketing leadership cares about, answered with data: which channels return, where the budget is wasted, which campaigns convert to pipeline.
On track looks like a written analysis, with a recommendation, that led to a budget or campaign decision.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for an analysis that changed what the team did, and who acted on it. A former marketing leader confirms.
Weeks 11 to 13
Attribution limits stated plainly, a method chosen with marketing and finance, and return by channel reported with ranges where the data is thin.
On track looks like a monthly budget review that uses the analyst's numbers, with caveats the team understands.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how they handled a channel attribution cannot see, such as events, content or word of mouth.
After day 90
Strong marketing analysts retire reports nobody reads, flag changes in the data early and tell marketing what the numbers do not support.
On track looks like fewer, better reports, data issues flagged before a review meeting and decisions made on the analyst's recommendation.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask what they stopped reporting and why. Removing a report on evidence predicts someone who will not bury leaders in dashboards.
Five responsibilities. If the seat also builds pipelines and models for the whole company, it is a data analyst or scientist; if it runs the systems that produce the data, it is a marketing operations manager.
Performance by channel and campaign, from spend through leads to pipeline and revenue.
The method that credits channels and campaigns, and what it cannot see.
Return by channel, so marketing knows what to fund, cut or test.
Dashboards and reviews built for decisions, on definitions marketing and sales agreed.
Checks on tracking, UTMs, CRM fields and duplicates before the numbers reach a meeting.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a marketing analyst search ends with a report builder who cannot advise or a modeler nobody can brief.
That seat ownsThe systems behind marketing: the automation platform, CRM integration, lead routing, data hygiene and process.
Hire it instead whenthe data is wrong because the systems and process are, not because the analysis is.
That seat ownsStatistical models and machine learning: forecasting, scoring and experiments built in code.
Hire it instead whenthe question needs a model, not a report.
That seat ownsCompany-wide reporting and dashboards across finance, sales and operations on a shared data warehouse.
Hire it instead whenthe need spans several teams and the reporting stack is the problem.
The title stays the same; the questions do not. Pick the one that matches what marketing needs answered.
Builds and maintains the reports marketing runs on, and answers the questions that follow.
Models how spend turns into pipeline and revenue, and advises on where to move budget.
Covers reporting, analysis and tracking for a company with no other analyst.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Analysis that changed decisions | Dashboards and reports with no decision attached. | Analysis that carried a recommendation, and the decision that followed, confirmed by a marketing leader. |
| Data judgment | Trusts whatever the platform shows. | Reconciles to spend and the CRM, and can say where the data is wrong. |
| Technical skills | Tool names with no work behind them. | SQL, spreadsheets and a BI tool used on real marketing data, shown in the exercise. |
| Communication | Explains the method and not the answer. | Leads with the answer, states the limits and adjusts to the audience. |
| Fit with your stack and questions | A different data stack, channel mix or sales motion. | Has worked on a stack and a channel mix like yours. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Marketing analyst pay is mostly base: Salary.com’s employer-reported band is $84,504 to $105,186 with a median of $94,038, and Built In’s self-reported figures show an $82,150 median base and a $102,543 average total. Industry, SQL and modeling skills and whether the seat advises on budget or only reports move the number most.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Average total pay, base plus variable
Marketing Analyst
Salary.com base, Built In total
$84,504 to $105,186 base$102,543 average total
Business Intelligence Analyst
Salary.com base, Built In total, neighboring seat
$102,090 to $123,502 base$97,350 average total
Marketing Operations Manager
Salary.com base benchmark, neighboring seat
$112,100 to $135,400 base
Market research analysts and marketing specialists
BLS, all industries, the nearest category
$58,350 to $108,310
Bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Rings: Built In average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 21 and 22, 2026 for Marketing Analyst and October 19, 2026 for Business Intelligence Analyst. Market research analysts and marketing specialists: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 13-1161), all industries. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A marketing analyst turns marketing data into decisions: channel and campaign analysis, attribution, budget return and the reporting that tells marketing what to fund next. They reconcile ad platforms, web analytics and the CRM, state what the data cannot show, and recommend. The measure is decisions changed, so we check analysis that moved budget, not the number of dashboards built.
Salary.com puts a marketing analyst at $84,504 to $105,186 base, with a median of $94,038 (October 2026). Built In’s self-reported figures show an $82,150 median base and a $102,543 average total. Industry, SQL and modeling skills, and whether the seat advises on budget or only reports, move the number. Ask for the full package and the tools the seat will own.
A marketing analyst works marketing questions: channels, campaigns, attribution and budget return, with the context to say what a number means for the plan. A data analyst works across the business, often from a warehouse, on finance, product and operations questions too. Hire a marketing analyst when the gap is marketing decisions; hire a data analyst when many teams share one reporting stack.
When marketing spends real money and cannot say which channels produce pipeline, or when two reports show different numbers for the same month. A marketing analyst needs access to spend, web analytics and the CRM, and a marketing leader who will act on the answer. If the data is broken at the source, fix tracking and systems first with marketing operations.
We run a data-quality exercise on an anonymized ad platform and CRM export, ask candidates to walk through an analysis that changed a decision, and check it with a former marketing leader. Skills are tested on real data, not by tool name. Every candidate is scored on the five criteria on this page, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included.
Expect fluency in spreadsheets, SQL, web analytics, a BI tool such as Looker or Tableau, and a CRM such as HubSpot or Salesforce. Python or R helps for modeling but is not required for every seat. Tools matter less than judgment: reconciling to spend, stating attribution limits and putting the answer first. We test those on real data in the screen.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated candidates, each with a data-quality exercise scored and past work checked with a former marketing leader. Interview speed decides the rest: marketing analysts with a record usually have several processes open, so a decision within two weeks of the first interview keeps them.
Tell us the data stack, the channels and which decisions need better numbers. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for data roles, or send your CV and we will come to you, in confidence, when a seat opens.
The marketing analyst is one of seven seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.