Not everyone is blessed (or cursed?) to be a “numbers person.” But when it comes to marketing, ignoring data and numbers is not a luxury brands can afford. So here are some tips to sharpen your analytical skills and find stories in data.

1. Patterns & pattern breaks: This can be visual. Which peaks and valleys are “normal” and what sticks out?
2. Absolute numbers & percentages: Look at both numbers and percentages to see the relationship between the parts and the whole.
3. Variance: How much did X change month over month? Year over year? Have industry standards changed, too?
4. Expected vs. actual: Compare expected vs. actualized numbers so you can better understand your performance.
5. Percent contribution to whole: Think in if-then statements like “X accounts for X% of total dollars/visitors/whatever.”
6. Zoom out to a broader scale: We mentioned peaks and valleys. Figure out the “why” behind those to see how you can repeat the peaks.
7. Check profit margins: Revenue is cool, but what about low margins and profits?
8. Consider incentives: If someone tells you x, how do they benefit?
9. Poke holes in your own logic: Look for data that proves or disproves your hypothesis.

These tips are from a LinkedIn post by Wes Kao. Check out the full post for more tips and conversations in the comments!

Even if you are a numbers person, you should be seeing a full view of your data story. Improvado is a marketing analytics tool made for advertising and analytics pros. The platform allows marketers to gather all of their data into a single destination without logging into each individual platform. Automated reporting and dashboards in real-time makes manual reporting a thing of the past. Check it out to start visualizing and reporting your data.

Numbers aren’t everyone’s favorite … but if you do love them, we wanna talk to you.

Carney is looking for a paid media and analytics pro!

Some Responsibilities of the Role:

• Owner of paid campaigns which includes tracking, measurement, attribution, and optimization.
• Manage audiences, creatives, budget, and bidding strategies.
• Manage SEM and PPC campaigns on Google and other ad platforms.
• Track, report, and analyze website analytics, SEM/PPC results and other campaigns.
• Optimize landing pages for search engine and conversion rate optimization.

Some Good Things to Know:

• Remote (with the option for being at a dog-friendly office for Pittsburgh candidates)
• Salary: $70K+ based on experience
• Flexible work hours and UNLIMITED PTO

Sounds good and sounds like you? Send us over your resume!

Would you be someone your teenage self would admire? Ever had your own 13 Going on 30 moment?

Swarovski released this ad featuring Aimee Lou Wood enjoying her free time. Sometimes that means getting proper, adulthood stuff done. Sometimes that means just having fun. With this colorful jewelry collection, Swarovski reminds everyone not to take life so seriously.