As the web becomes the more prevalent marketing channel, the role of the Business Analyst in the marketing agency becomes more critical for the success of a project.
Traditionally, Business Analysts (BAs) have served as the intermediary between the business owners/users and the software developers. Typically, the BA is part of the IT team, but could also be part of the business or marketing teams. The primary function of a BA is to gather the appropriate requirements and needs from the end users, document the requirements, and work with the software development team to develop solutions that meet the end users’ needs. This can be for anything from an intranet, to an internal operations tools, to shopping carts.
Normally, the BA works with or within marketing teams to understand product development and user needs, but typically has not influenced those marketing decisions. This is changing.
The skilled BA is proficient at uncovering what is working, what is not working and discussing possible solutions to solving the inefficiencies of technical systems. As the web (social networking tools, search, media, etc.) becomes a greater share of marketing budgets, the BA plays a critical role in helping the entire interactive team – from the UE to the Designers to the Developers – understand what is working, what is not working, and what the client expects from the system (ROI, Click-through rates, KPIs, etc.).
However, to become an influential part of the strategy and end solution of marketing projects the BA may need to undergo an ideological shift. While most BAs are very comfortable with technical requirements, use case, process flows, etc. they may be less confident in understanding creative or content requirements and articulating front-end design needs.
I encourage Business Analysts and organizations who hire or plan on hiring them to shift their perception of the BA as a technical and functional analyst and start to view them as an “entire-solution” analyst. For example, most consumers need to be educated and inspired before they actually put products in their basket and check-out. The BA should be thinking about how or why someone even gets to the point of interacting with the shopping cart. This will make the BA more valuable and more importantly, the end-solution even better for the users.
This is what we have done at Engauge and continue to do on our big projects. Seeing the value that this “entire-solution” analysis can bring internally with our team, I believe we provide more value to the client.
The Business Analyst in Marketing
As the web becomes the more prevalent marketing channel, the role of the Business Analyst in the marketing agency becomes more critical for the success of a project.
Traditionally, Business Analysts (BAs) have served as the intermediary between the business owners/users and the software developers. Typically, the BA is part of the IT team, but could also be part of the business or marketing teams. The primary function of a BA is to gather the appropriate requirements and needs from the end users, document the requirements, and work with the software development team to develop solutions that meet the end users’ needs. This can be for anything from an intranet, to an internal operations tools, to shopping carts.
Normally, the BA works with or within marketing teams to understand product development and user needs, but typically has not influenced those marketing decisions. This is changing.
The skilled BA is proficient at uncovering what is working, what is not working and discussing possible solutions to solving the inefficiencies of technical systems. As the web (social networking tools, search, media, etc.) becomes a greater share of marketing budgets, the BA plays a critical role in helping the entire interactive team – from the UE to the Designers to the Developers – understand what is working, what is not working, and what the client expects from the system (ROI, Click-through rates, KPIs, etc.).
However, to become an influential part of the strategy and end solution of marketing projects the BA may need to undergo an ideological shift. While most BAs are very comfortable with technical requirements, use case, process flows, etc. they may be less confident in understanding creative or content requirements and articulating front-end design needs.
I encourage Business Analysts and organizations who hire or plan on hiring them to shift their perception of the BA as a technical and functional analyst and start to view them as an “entire-solution” analyst. For example, most consumers need to be educated and inspired before they actually put products in their basket and check-out. The BA should be thinking about how or why someone even gets to the point of interacting with the shopping cart. This will make the BA more valuable and more importantly, the end-solution even better for the users.
This is what we have done at Engauge and continue to do on our big projects. Seeing the value that this “entire-solution” analysis can bring internally with our team, I believe we provide more value to the client.