Course list

The increasing availability and granularity of customer data in the modern age has forced a shift in focus toward customers as the most critical unit of analysis in business strategy. While this makes sense, as customers are the true source of revenue for any business, it requires that a number of additional factors are quantified, managed, and leveraged effectively for that strategic shift to be successful.

In this course, you will explore customer lifetime value (CLV) as an objective metric with which customers can be managed more effectively, evaluating the ways in which it can be quantified and improved. You will go from learning what a customer is and performing the calculations necessary to quantify their value from an organization's perspective to determining how the various levers contributing to that value can be managed for a real-world business in the course project. Along the way, you will review some of the challenges and limitations of this approach, finding ways to facilitate the management and allocation of resources such that business success can be achieved.

  • May 13, 2026
  • Jul 8, 2026
  • Sep 2, 2026
  • Oct 28, 2026
  • Dec 23, 2026
  • Feb 17, 2027
  • Apr 14, 2027

Evolution of the consumer market is an ongoing and inevitable process, driven to new heights in recent decades by the strategic shift in focus toward customers as the most critical unit of analysis. To spur innovation and growth in this increasingly tumultuous environment, a test-and-learn culture must be fostered to understand customers and harness the power of new ideas.

In this course, you will explore testing as a means of adapting to that evolution, analyzing and leveraging data to inform business and marketing decisions. You will go from learning what testing is and how it can be applied at a basic level to designing and conducting tests in RStudio to understand how to target customers. Along the way, you will evaluate the efficacy of a variety of approaches, finding ways to enhance your analytics and communicate results to better inform business decisions.

The following courses are required to be completed before taking this course:

  • Leveraging Customers for Growth

Note: While familiarity with R/RStudio is not a prerequisite for this course, you will be asked to use R/RStudio for a variety of analytical activities. Solution code provided for practice opportunities can be copied, pasted, and adjusted for graded assessments, but some manipulation of that code will still be required.

  • May 27, 2026
  • Jul 22, 2026
  • Sep 16, 2026
  • Nov 11, 2026
  • Jan 6, 2027
  • Mar 3, 2027
  • Apr 28, 2027

Improvements in marketing practices in recent decades have had a significant impact on productivity, driven by the increasing efficiency and relevance of customer data collection. Leveraging that data effectively, however, requires that marketing efforts are directed only toward those who are likely to respond, rather than casting as wide a net as possible. Yet to target the right customers, you have to know who they are, which requires that customer data is leveraged such that relevant behaviors can be identified, differentiated, and understood at a granular level. Only then can the value they provide be classified and segmented, allowing for productive management of customers based on those characteristics.

In this course, you will explore RFM (recency, frequency, and monetary value) analysis as a means to classify customer purchase behavior characteristics indicative of a likely response to marketing efforts. You will go from identifying the implicit purpose and value of RFM metrics and workflow to developing and assessing the performance of response models with respect to profitability. Along the way, you will evaluate the pros and cons of RFM analysis in the real world.

The following courses are required to be completed before taking this course:

  • Leveraging Customers for Growth
  • A/B Testing and Analytics

Note: While familiarity with R/RStudio is not a prerequisite for this course, you will be asked to use R/RStudio for a variety of analytical activities. Solution code provided for practice opportunities can be copied, pasted, and adjusted for graded assessments, but some manipulation of that code will still be required.

  • Apr 15, 2026
  • Jun 10, 2026
  • Aug 5, 2026
  • Sep 30, 2026
  • Nov 25, 2026
  • Jan 20, 2027
  • Mar 17, 2027

The success of any targeting strategy is dependent on the validity of the models used to select customers, which requires that value distinctions are optimized within the constraints of a marketing budget. While there are a variety of methods available to identify and assess likely drivers of customer response, their ability to differentiate and approximate relative influence on purchase behavior can be limited in scope.

In this course, you will explore logistic regression as a means to enhance the predictive specificity and granularity of response likelihood, estimating and iterating on logistic models to maximize expected profitability. You will go from identifying and leveraging categorical response data common to real-world business interactions to evaluating the probabilistic relevance of associated predictor variables to optimize customer selection for targeting. Along the way, you will compare the relative efficacy of a variety of approaches in their ability to improve return on investment, recognizing the potential implications of those differences with regard to marketing success.

The following courses are required to be completed before taking this course:

  • Leveraging Customers for Growth
  • A/B Testing and Analytics
  • Customer Behavior Segmentation Analysis

Note: While familiarity with R/RStudio is not a prerequisite for this course, you will be asked to use R/RStudio for a variety of analytical activities. Solution code provided for practice opportunities can be copied, pasted, and adjusted for graded assessments, but some manipulation of that code will still be required.

  • Apr 29, 2026
  • Jun 24, 2026
  • Aug 19, 2026
  • Oct 14, 2026
  • Dec 9, 2026
  • Feb 3, 2027
  • Mar 31, 2027

While the centricity of business strategy may ebb and flow with time, the rapid escalation of data availability in recent decades has driven a shift in focus toward customers that is likely permanent. Success in the current environment is increasingly dependent on the strategic and contextual relevance of customer management strategies, both of which depend on a highly granular characterization and utilization of customer value.

In this course, you will explore customer centricity from a holistic perspective, reviewing and aligning various strategies to consolidate your approach to customer management. You will go from identifying and contextualizing value derivation as it pertains to customer portfolios to developing and applying a comprehensive framework to efficiently diagnose, predict, and resolve potential obstacles to customer lifetime value for a real-world business in the course project. Along the way, you will review tactics for the acquisition, retention, and development of customers, aligning their deployment with value considerations and predictions to achieve overarching business goals and drive profitable growth.

The following courses are required to be completed before taking this course:

  • Leveraging Customers for Growth
  • A/B Testing and Analytics
  • Customer Behavior Segmentation Analysis
  • Predicting Customer Response
  • May 13, 2026
  • Jul 8, 2026
  • Sep 2, 2026
  • Oct 28, 2026
  • Dec 23, 2026
  • Feb 17, 2027
  • Apr 14, 2027

Symposium sessions feature three days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today's most pressing topics. The Marketing Symposium offers you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond. Using the context of your own experiences, you will take part in reflections and small-group discussions to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained from your courses.

Join us for the next Symposium, in which we'll share experiences from across the industry, inspiring real-time conversations about best practices, innovation, and the future of marketing work. You will support your coursework by applying your knowledge and experiences to some of the most pressing topics and trends in the marketing field. By participating in relevant and engaging discussions, you will discover a variety of perspectives and build connections with your fellow participants from across the industry.

All sessions are held on Zoom.

Future dates are subject to change. You may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete any certificate program. Once enrolled in your courses, you will receive information about upcoming events. Accessibility accommodations will be available upon request.

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How It Works

“
This journey has been incredibly rewarding, and I am proud of the knowledge and skills I've gained, which I am eager to apply in my marketing career. From understanding consumer behavior to developing digital strategies, this program has given me the tools to drive innovation in the marketing world. I’ve learned so much, and I’m looking forward to leveraging this expertise in future projects and collaborations.
‐ Yana K.
Yana K.

Frequently Asked Questions

Marketing performance is increasingly determined by how well you turn customer data into decisions that improve profitability, not just clicks or short-term conversion. Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate is built around that reality, with customer lifetime value (CLV) as the central metric for prioritizing customers and guiding acquisition, retention, and development choices.

In this certificate program, authored by faculty from Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, you will learn how to quantify CLV, test ideas through controlled experimentation, and use predictive modeling to improve targeting. You will practice translating analytics into recommendations leaders can act on, including how to set break-even thresholds, evaluate lift and ROI, and choose strategies that support customer-centric growth.

You will also learn in a cohort-based format designed for working professionals, with expert facilitation, structured discussions, and feedback on your work as you apply frameworks to realistic business situations.

If you want profit-based customer metrics, hands-on experimentation and predictive modeling skills, and the confidence to make customer-centric marketing decisions, you should choose Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate.

Many online analytics programs focus on passive content and generic exercises. Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate is designed as a facilitated, cohort-based learning experience where you apply customer analytics to decision making, then pressure-test your thinking through discussion and feedback.

You will build capability across the core pillars of customer analytics that marketing teams use to allocate budget and prove impact: profit-based customer valuation (CLV), experimentation and A/B testing, segmentation for targeting, and predictive modeling for response likelihood. The coursework is structured to move from defining and quantifying customer value to testing tactics, analyzing experiments in R/RStudio, and using models to make profitability-based targeting decisions.

The learning experience across Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate is also intentionally human centered. You learn with a small cohort and receive guidance from an expert facilitator who leads discussions and provides feedback on graded, practical work. Many programs offer content. This one is built to help you translate analytics into actions that make sense in your organization.

Plus, by enrolling in Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate, you get two years of access to Marketing Symposium featuring two days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today’s most pressing topics, giving you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond.

Enrolling in this certificate also provides you with a 6-month All-Access Pass to eCornell's live online AI Workshops, interactive sessions led by world-class Cornell faculty that combine Ivy League insight with practical applications for busy professionals. Each 3-hour Workshop features structured instruction, guided practice, and real tools to build competitive AI capabilities, plus the opportunity to connect with a global cohort of growth-oriented peers. While AI Workshops are not required, they enhance certificate programs through:

  • Integrating AI perspectives across most curricula
  • Responding to emerging AI developments and trends
  • Offering direct engagement with Cornell faculty at the forefront of AI research

Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate is a strong fit if you work in marketing, growth, product, or analytics and you want to make better decisions with customer and campaign data. The program is designed for:

  • Marketers who want to connect targeting and retention decisions to profitability
  • Marketing and business analysts who want a structured way to evaluate customer value, experiments, and response models
  • Managers who need to assess marketing performance and allocate resources using measurable, defensible metrics

You do not need to be an advanced data scientist to benefit from Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate. The program is built to develop your analytical confidence step by step, including guided practice in R/RStudio where solution code is provided for learning activities, with some required adjustment and interpretation on graded work.

Across Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate, projects are designed to look like the work you would do when you are trying to justify a marketing decision with data. In the program, you will complete multi-part assignments that build from calculations and interpretation to clear, profitability-based recommendations, supported by analysis in R/RStudio in several courses.

Examples of project work you will complete include:

  • Selecting a real brand and recommending specific actions to improve customer lifetime value, then defending one high-impact action using CLV logic
  • Analyzing an A/B test dataset in R to validate randomization, quantify impact across funnel outcomes, and summarize results for stakeholders
  • Building customer segments using recency, frequency, and monetary value (RFM), then using lift, gains, and break-even response thresholds to choose which customers to target
  • Estimating and iterating on a logistic regression model to predict response probability, evaluating performance (such as with a confusion matrix and AUC), and calculating ROI based on a breakeven cutoff
  • Creating a customer-centric plan that addresses life cycle challenges by aligning acquisition, retention, and development tactics with value drivers and analytics

By the end of Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate program, you will have practice producing the kind of analysis-and-action narrative that helps marketing teams prioritize customers, allocate budget, and explain results in business terms.

Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate helps you build the practical, profit-oriented analytics skill set that employers look for when they need to improve customer acquisition, retention, and growth decisions.

After completing the Marketing Analytics Certificate, you will have the skills to:

  • Recognize the importance of a customer-centric approach based on customer lifetime value
  • Leverage customer data to develop business opportunities
  • Unify the marketing process with the notion of customer centricity
  • Attain analytical competency to act on customer information as an efficient way to measure data
  • Leverage customer information strategically to improve marketing performance

Students in Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate often report that the experience helps them turn customer and campaign data into clearer, more profitable marketing decisions, using practical frameworks they can apply immediately at work. Commonly cited outcomes include stronger capability with customer lifetime value thinking, customer prioritization and segmentation (including RFM), a test-and-learn mindset through A/B testing, and quantitative decision tools that connect analytics to business impact. Learners also frequently mention that the coursework is structured in a logical progression and reinforced through multiple learning formats, and that facilitator support helps them stay on track and deepen understanding.

What truly sets eCornell apart is how our programs unlock genuine career transformation. Learners earn promotions to senior positions, enjoy meaningful salary growth, build valuable professional networks, and navigate successful career transitions.

Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate, which consists of 5 short courses, is designed to be completed in 3 months. Each course runs for 2 weeks, with a typical weekly time commitment of 5 to 8 hours.

Most learning can be completed on your own schedule, with structured deadlines to keep you moving forward. Facilitated discussions and opportunities for live sessions add interaction and support while still keeping the overall format flexible for working professionals.

Students in Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate often say the program helps them turn customer and campaign data into clearer, more profitable marketing decisions, with practical frameworks they can use immediately on the job. They frequently highlight the depth of the analytics content, the step-by-step progression, and the way the coursework blends strategy with hands-on, metric-driven application.

Common themes students mention include:

  • Customer lifetime value and customer value growth strategies they can apply right away
  • Customer prioritization and segmentation approaches such as RFM analysis
  • Experimentation and measurement mindsets, including A/B testing for marketing optimization
  • Quantitative, real-world decision tools that connect analytics to business impact
  • A strong focus on understanding customer behavior using data
  • Clear, structured modules that build concepts in a logical sequence
  • Multiple learning formats that reinforce comprehension, including videos, readings, exercises, and knowledge checks
  • Practical assignments that help translate concepts into workplace-ready deliverables
  • Flexible online pacing that works well alongside full-time roles
  • Supportive facilitators who help students stay on track and deepen understanding

Modern marketing teams are expected to prove what worked, what did not, and why. Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate gives you structured practice with A/B testing and experiment analysis so you can make confident recommendations based on evidence.

You will learn how to form testable hypotheses, use control groups, and interpret results using common statistical approaches. You’ll also practice analyzing experiment data in R/RStudio, including using regression to quantify the impact of multiple variables. Just as importantly, you’ll build skill in explaining what the data means for the business, with guidance on how to present purpose, design, analysis, results, and actionable next steps.

Better targeting usually comes from two upgrades: a clearer way to segment customers and a clearer rule for deciding where your budget should go. Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate helps you do both by teaching segmentation methods grounded in customer behavior and profitability.

You will learn how to build segments using recency, frequency, and monetary value and then evaluate how well those segments predict response using tools like lift and gains. You’ll also practice setting break-even thresholds so targeting decisions reflect unit economics, not intuition. As you progress, you’ll move from segment-level selection to individual-level predictions using probability models, then use those predicted probabilities to decide who should receive an offer to maximize expected ROI.

You will work with analytics in a hands-on way, including using R/RStudio for several applied activities. Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate is designed so you can succeed even if you are new to coding, as long as you are willing to follow guided steps and spend time practicing.

In the R-based work, you will run provided code, review outputs, and make adjustments to complete graded activities. You will use R to do common marketing analytics tasks such as analyzing A/B test results, building and assessing segmentation models, and estimating response probability with logistic regression.

The goal of Cornell’s Marketing Analytics Certificate is not to turn you into a software engineer; the goal is to help you become comfortable using modern analytics tools to support real marketing decisions.