What Is a Customer Insight Analyst? Your 2025 Guide

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on

Discover what a customer insight analyst does and the education and skills required to begin your career.

[Featured Image] A customer insight analyst meets with two company leaders to review their findings and begin strategizing how the business can better meet customers’ expectations.

A customer insight analyst, also known as a consumer insight analyst, researches and analyzes data to better understand a business’s customer preferences. In an age where data is trackable and recorded digitally to create stronger marketing strategies, a customer insight analyst benefits a company by providing a comprehensive view of their customers, consumer trends, and evolving preferences to optimize marketing efforts to increase profits.

Explore what a customer insight analyst does, the salary and job outlook for the role, and how to begin your career in this marketing position.

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What is a customer insight analyst?

A customer insight analyst is a researcher who tracks market trends and customer behavior. In this position, you may examine how consumers make purchases, the types of products and services they buy, or their issues with a product or service. You may also collect and analyze data to predict what a customer will do in the future, improve products, and optimize the customer experience to meet overarching business objectives. These insights empower businesses to make better decisions, improve customer engagement, and make customers feel their voices matter. 

Read more: Market Analysis: What It Is and How to Conduct One

What does a customer insight analyst do?

As a customer insight analyst, you review various data types to understand how customers engage with a business or any challenges they experience when accessing an online platform or service. Although your day-to-day tasks may vary according to the needs of the company you work for, the following offers a snapshot of some of the more common aspects of the job.

Customer insight analyst tasks and responsibilities

You'll perform various duties in this position, from gathering consumer data and researching the market to reporting your findings to the company’s leadership. A few everyday tasks and responsibilities you may have as a customer insight analyst include:

  • Conducting market research: In this role, you may get your data from social media activity, such as likes or comments on posts. You may also get valuable insights from clickable links, consumer surveys, or focus groups.

  • Developing customer segmentation: After collecting customer data, you may develop customer segmentation, which involves generating consumer groups based on your research. As you separate customers into groups, you may create refined marketing strategies to target better specific groups based on the trends and insights you’ve studied in their behavior.

  • Performing predictive analysis: Using the data you’ve collected, you may be able to predict what consumers may do in the future. For example, you could use data that detects a customer’s previous purchasing behavior or engagement in marketing tactics to determine if they would be likely to open an email advertising a similar product in the future, resulting in a product sale.

  • Presenting insights to stakeholders: As a customer insight analyst, stakeholders and other executives may look to you to present them with your findings and pitch strategies to increase revenue and growth within the company.

Customer insight analyst skills

Building your skill set is vital as you work toward becoming a customer insight analyst and can help you excel in the position. These skills may range from knowledge of programming languages to effectively communicating your research findings to a group of executives.

Technical skills

This position requires robust skills, including coding and familiarity with essential tools. Technical skills you may need in the role of customer insight analyst include:

  • Knowledge of programming languages: Customer insight analysts and other marketing analyst roles typically require that you have a background in programming languages, such as Structured Query Language (SQL). You may use programming languages to create reports after data mining.

  • Statistical analysis software: As you analyze data and track market trends, you may need to use statistical analysis software, such as SPSS, to collect data and generate conclusive customer behavior reports. Knowledge of this software and experience using it will help you perform your role to the best of your ability.

  • Data visualization tools: When presenting your findings, you may need to showcase your data visually using software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Tableau.

Workplace skills

In addition to a robust set of technical skills, you’ll also need solid workplace skills. Examples of some popular  workplace skills for a customer insight analyst to have may include:

  • Data analysis: Analyzing consumer data is one of your essential tasks as a customer insight analyst. To excel in this role, you should have experience working with data, researching variables, and drawing conclusions from your findings.

  • Communication: Your responsibilities in this role may involve presenting your research to others; thus, your communication skills should be solid and effective. You want stakeholders and top executives to understand what they’re looking at and why your proposed marketing strategies will benefit the company.

  • Attention to detail: When analyzing consumer data, it’s essential to pay close attention to your findings so that your reports and predictions are as accurate as possible.

Customer insight analyst salary and job outlook

According to Glassdoor’s September 2024 data, a customer insight analyst in the United States makes an average median salary of $99,367 [1]. However, your salary will likely vary depending on factors such as your geographical location, the company you work for, and your years of experience in the field. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that market research analysts, a role similar to customer insight analysts, will grow at a projected rate of 8 percent over the next decade [2]. Compared to other occupations, this is a faster-than-average rate, which suggests a promising job outlook for the profession.

How to become a customer insight analyst

To become a customer insight analyst, you typically need a bachelor’s degree. For more advanced positions, employers may prefer candidates with a higher level of education or someone with additional credentials, including Professional Certificates or certifications, such as the Customer Insights Certificate Program.

Education and training

To begin your career as a customer insight analyst, consider exploring a bachelor’s degree in marketing or a related field, such as business or communications. If you want to stand out to a potential employer, you may choose to further your education by completing your master’s degree. 

The Association of National Advertisers offers the Customer Insights Certificate Program, where aspiring marketing professionals can learn to understand consumers on a deeper level by examining their purchasing behavior, effectively collecting customer data, maximizing the impact of their findings, and improving marketing strategies.

Pursue opportunities to gain experience.

Entering the field and building your expertise with internships and entry-level roles in data analysis or market research can also be helpful. In addition to accumulating practical experience, these opportunities can help you begin networking and creating a portfolio you can later use to showcase your best work.  

Starting your customer insight analyst career on Coursera

Customer insight analysts research consumer behavior using data to create more effective marketing strategies that generate revenue for a business. 

Expand your knowledge by pursuing Professional Certificates and courses that build your skills, specifically the ability to consume and analyze marketing data for your career. Consider Customer Analytics, offered by Wharton University, or Marketing Analytics: Know Your Customers, from Macquarie University—both available on Coursera.

Article sources

1

Glassdoor. “Customer Insight Analyst Salary in the United States, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/customer-insights-analyst-salary-SRCH_KO0,25.htm.” Accessed January 21, 2025.

Updated on
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Coursera Staff

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