Though tech tools offer a wide variety of data management solutions, consolidating information from multiple sources remains a challenge. Making sense of disparate datasheets often relies on manual effort. This is where power query can help by wrangling data from various origins into an integrated view. As a marketing consultant, I work with multiple teams across a client’s business. To get a true picture of what’s going on with a SaaS company’s revenue funnel, for example, I typically need data from marketing, sales, customer success, and product. However, the data I need typically gets collected across multiple locations and in […]

Excel is a powerful spreadsheet program from Microsoft that makes it easy to work with numbers and other values. While Excel contains a lot of power, it’s also quite useful for simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In fact, Excel’s simple formulas make it easy to add and subtract numbers and cell values without breaking out a calculator. How to Use Subtract Function in Excel Many of Excel’s most powerful capabilities come via the use of functions, which are a kind of predesigned formula. For example, the SUM function automatically sums or totals a range of cells without you having […]

If you’re like millions of other users, you use Excel spreadsheets to plan your budgets, track sales or expenses, and organize all sorts of data. You may even use Excel to work with private or confidential information. If you have data in a spreadsheet that you don’t want just anyone else to see, you can password protect that Excel file. I’ve found that requiring people to enter a password to access an Excel file keeps your private information private — while still allowing you, and anyone else with the password, proper access. Let’s go through how you can password protect […]

Excel can do more than just simple math. That’s thanks to its bevy of built-in functions and min-formulas that simplify the creation of more complex formulas. In my decade-long experience with Excel, I’ve found that one of the more useful functions is the COUNTIF function. You can use COUNTIF to count the number of cells that contain a specific value or range of values. It’s easier to use COUNTIF than to manually count yourself. How to Use the COUNTIF Function in Excel The COUNTIF function in Excel counts the number of cells in a range that meet the given criteria. […]

Coordinating a massive amount of data in Microsoft Excel is a time-consuming headache. Thankfully, you don’t have to. The VLOOKUP function can help you automate this task and save you tons of time. What does VLOOKUP do, exactly? Here’s the simple explanation: The VLOOKUP function searches for a specific value in your data, and once it identifies that value, it can find — and display — some other piece of information that’s associated with that value. Microsoft Excel’s VLOOKUP function is easier to use than you think. What’s more, it is incredibly powerful, and is definitely something you want to […]

Knowing the ins and outs of Excel is essential for organizing data, understanding analytics, and getting the most from your marketing efforts. The tool is great for quickly processing vast amounts of data, but it can be overwhelming if you don’t spend the majority of your workday whipping up spreadsheets. Fortunately, a few basic skills are all you need to put together an easy-to-read spreadsheet. One is knowing how to merge cells in Excel. Whether you’re planning blog articles for the upcoming quarter, creating an email list for a targeted campaign, or designing SEO-friendly Google ads, merging cells is a […]

Heat maps in Excel help businesses to visualize large data sets, transforming a pool of numbers into easily interpretable graphs. For example, a retailer can use a heat map to analyze sales data and find products that sell more during specific seasons. In short, heat maps help you find and color-code correlations that may have been difficult to discern from raw data. This guide will show you how to create heat maps in Excel of different types: A simple heat map with conditional formatting. A heat map with a custom color scale. A geographic heat map. Let’s get started. What […]

Microsoft Excel remains the go-to option for many businesses to perform data calculations and create charts based on the results. The Gantt chart is a useful guide that isn’t naturally available in Excel. Great for project management and milestone tracking, Gantt charts can help companies better visualize operations and streamline current processes. In this piece, we’ll dive into the basics of Gantt charts and explore their benefits, then provide a step-by-step guide to creating them in Excel, along with some useful examples. Before long, you’ll be able to use Excel like a pro. What are Gantt charts? The Benefits of […]

To enjoy Excel fully, you must know how to use the IF-THEN function. The IF-THEN is one of Excel’s most impressive functions, as you can use it to analyze data, draw inferences and make decisions under certain preset conditions. But what exactly are IF-THEN statements, and how can you start using them? In this guide, we’ll show you how to use IF-THEN statements to improve your mastery of Excel. Table of Contents What are IF-THEN statements in Excel? The Benefits of IF-THEN Statements in Excel How to Use IF-THEN Statements in Excel Best Practices for IF-THEN Statements in Excel What […]

Excel is one of the world’s most popular spreadsheet programs, with an estimated 1.1 billion people using it for data organization, analysis, and reporting. While it’s a commendable data system for teams within a business, it’s not free. A standalone copy of Excel costs $159.99, and a personal Office subscription is $69.99 per year for one user. Microsoft Excel might be the big cheese of data analysis and management, but it’s not the only tool in town. So, whether you’re looking for a free alternative, a cloud-based solution, or a tool with more advanced features, this article has something for […]