We need many tools and above all, other disciplines. It’s difficult here in France to create synergy between Analytics and UX, SEO, SEM, etc.

I’m not yet an Analytics ninja but I’m working on it. Thanks to your articles, it’s easier for me

Charisma will go a long way, and that’s why hiring a good fit is so important, but charisma (and its spinoff plusses) can be tough to bring to those without it.

You can have the best tool, and can also be very good at sythesizing information but at the end of the day, one will have to do a lot of “talking”, “selling”, “persuading” etc. to prove to others how they can benefit from your Ninja status.

Also, in many cases logic and rational sometimes does not make a dent , so one might also have to be well-versed in a little finance to prove the ROI from the web analytic efforts.

Regards,
Ned

I was presenting on this topic at an eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit in Munich. I explained that one really needs to know the over-arching business goals first and the individual department goals next, and the specific campaign goals next and it would really help if you know how each person you are trying to influence is compensated so you can show them how your analysis can help them.

At this point, one of the attendees, looking rather incredulous, asked, “You mean, in addition to knowing all about web analytics, I have to know how the whole company works and how people do their jobs?”

I replied, “Only if you want to be successful.”

Communication skills; both verbal and written are critical (RE: Jim’s ‘sales skills’).

Discipline. By that I mean; decide to make changes, advancements, tests or optimizations for strategic reasons and stick to your guns. Data you can’t wont use is a waste of analytical time ($). Always ask ‘why’ (in a productive way not in an ass way) so to be sure efforts align towards the goal.

Leadership. Provide team members with problems/challenges not solutions. It’s the only way to get them to advanced degrees. (For example: This is crap, “Change the headline and button color to red!” This is leadership, “OMG! Our bounce rate is increasing!”)

Don’t rely too much on technology. It sounds weird but experience is the real currency. As they say…a hammer cannot swing itself.

Killer post. I totally agree that unless you have a basic understanding of all the moving pieces it is impossible to create change. I wish I had the developer chops though, it definitely makes it a must to have technical people I can trust.

One thing I think might be interesting to add to your PhD criteria would be sales skills. I have always felt that having a background in sales has made it easier to understand the important steps in the persuasion process, and therefore the most critical data to focus on. Sales skills also make it easier to sell your information up to the HiPPOs too….

Cheers,

Jim