For most marketers, trying to organize and analyze spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel can feel like walking into a brick wall repeatedly if you'e unfamiliar with Excel formulas. You're manually replicating columns and scribbling down long-form math on a scrap of paper, all while thinking to yourself, "There has to be a better way to do this."
Truth be told, there is — you just don't know it yet.
Excel can be tricky that way. On the one hand, it's an exceptionally powerful tool for reporting and analyzing marketing data. It can even help you visualize data with charts and pivot tables.
On the other, without the proper training, it's easy to feel like it's working against you. For starters, there are more than a dozen critical formulas Excel can automatically run for you so you're not combing through hundreds of cells with a calculator on your desk.
Excel formulas help you identify relationships between values in the cells of your spreadsheet, perform mathematical calculations using those values, and return the resulting value in the cell of your choice. Formulas you can automatically perform include sum, subtraction, percentage, division, average, and even dates/times.
We'll go over all of these, and many more, in this blog post.
You might wonder what the "Formulas" tab on the top navigation toolbar in Excel means. In more recent versions of Excel, this horizontal menu — shown below — allows you to find and insert Excel formulas into specific cells of your spreadsheet.
The more you use various formulas in Excel, the easier it'll be to remember them and perform them manually. Nonetheless, the suite of icons above is a handy catalog of formulas you can browse and refer back to as you hone your spreadsheet skills.
Excel formulas are also called "functions." To insert one into your spreadsheet, highlight a cell in which you want to run a formula, then click the far-left icon, "Insert Function," to browse popular formulas and what they do. That browsing window will look like this:
Now, let's do a deeper dive into some of the most crucial Excel formulas and how to perform each one in typical situations.
To help you use Excel more effectively (and save a ton of time), we've compiled a list of essential formulas, keyboard shortcuts, and other small tricks and functions you should know.
NOTE: The following formulas apply to the latest version of Excel. If you're using a slightly older version of Excel, the location of each feature mentioned below might be slightly different.
All Excel formulas begin with the equals sign, =, followed by a specific text tag denoting the formula you'd like Excel to perform.
The SUM formula in Excel is one of the most basic formulas you can enter into a spreadsheet, allowing you to find the sum (or total) of two or more values. To perform the SUM formula, enter the values you'd like to add together using the format, =SUM(value 1, value 2, etc).
The values you enter into the SUM formula can either be actual numbers or equal to the number in a specific cell of your spreadsheet.
Keep in mind you can also find the total value of a list of numbers in Excel. To find the SUM of the values in cells B2 through B11, type the following formula into a cell of your spreadsheet: =SUM(B2:B11). Note the colon between both cells, rather than a comma. See how this might look in an Excel spreadsheet for a content marketer, below:
The IF formula in Excel is denoted =IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false). This allows you to enter a text value into the cell "if" something else in your spreadsheet is true or false. For example, =IF(D2="Gryffindor","10","0") would award 10 points to cell D2 if that cell contained the word "Gryffindor."
There are times when we want to know how many times a value appears in our spreadsheets. But there are also those times when we want to find the cells that contain those values, and input specific data next to it.
We'll go back to Sprung's example for this one. If we want to award 10 points to everyone who belongs in the Gryffindor house, instead of manually typing in 10's next to each Gryffindor student's name, we'll use the IF-THEN formula to say: If the student is in Gryffindor, then he or she should get ten points.
To perform the percentage formula in Excel, enter the cells you're finding a percentage for in the format, =A1/B1. To convert the resulting decimal value to a percentage, highlight the cell, click the Home tab, and select "Percentage" from the numbers dropdown.
There isn't an Excel "formula" for percentages per se, but Excel makes it easy to convert the value of any cell into a percentage so you're not stuck calculating and reentering the numbers yourself.
The basic setting to convert a cell's value into a percentage is under Excel's Home tab. Select this tab, highlight the cell(s) you'd like to convert to a percentage, and click into the dropdown menu next to Conditional Formatting (this menu button might say "General" at first). Then, select "Percentage" from the list of options that appears. This will convert the value of each cell you've highlighted into a percentage. See this feature below.
Keep in mind if you're using other formulas, such as the division formula (denoted =A1/B1), to return new values, your values might show up as decimals by default. Simply highlight your cells before or after you perform this formula, and set these cells' format to "Percentage" from the Home tab — as shown above.
To perform the subtraction formula in Excel, enter the cells you're subtracting in the format, =SUM(A1, -B1). This will subtract a cell using the SUM formula by adding a negative sign before the cell you're subtracting. For example, if A1 was 10 and B1 was 6, =SUM(A1, -B1) would perform 10 + -6, returning a value of 4.
Like percentages, subtracting doesn't have its own formula in Excel either, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. You can subtract any values (or those values inside cells) two different ways.
To perform the multiplication formula in Excel, enter the cells you're multiplying in the format, =A1*B1. This formula uses an asterisk to multiply cell A1 by cell B1. For example, if A1 was 10 and B1 was 6, =A1*B1 would return a value of 60.
You might think multiplying values in Excel has its own formula or uses the "x" character to denote multiplication between multiple values. Actually, it's as easy as an asterisk — *.
To multiply two or more values in an Excel spreadsheet, highlight an empty cell. Then, enter the values or cells you want to multiply together in the format, =A1*B1*C1 ... etc. The asterisk will effectively multiply each value included in the formula.
Press Enter to return your desired product. See how this looks in the screenshot above.
To perform the division formula in Excel, enter the cells you're dividing in the format, =A1/B1. This formula uses a forward slash, "/," to divide cell A1 by cell B1. For example, if A1 was 5 and B1 was 10, =A1/B1 would return a decimal value of 0.5.
Division in Excel is one of the simplest functions you can perform. To do so, highlight an empty cell, enter an equals sign, "=," and follow it up with the two (or more) values you'd like to divide with a forward slash, "/," in between. The result should be in the following format: =B2/A2, as shown in the screenshot below.
Hit Enter, and your desired quotient should appear in the cell you initially highlighted.
The Excel DATE formula is denoted =DATE(year, month, day). This formula will return a date that corresponds to the values entered in the parentheses — even values referred from other cells. For example, if A1 was 2018, B1 was 7, and C1 was 11, =DATE(A1,B1,C1) would return 7/11/2018.
Creating dates in the cells of an Excel spreadsheet can be a fickle task every now and then. Luckily, there's a handy formula to make formatting your dates easy. There are two ways to use this formula:
In either usage of Excel's date formula, your returned date should be in the form of "mm/dd/yy" — unless your Excel program is formatted differently.
An array formula in Excel surrounds a simple formula in brace characters using the format, {=(Start Value 1:End Value 1)*(Start Value 2:End Value 2)}. By pressing ctrl+shift+center, this will calculate and return value from multiple ranges, rather than just individual cells added to or multiplied by one another.
Calculating the sum, product, or quotient of individual cells is easy — just use the =SUM formula and enter the cells, values, or range of cells you want to perform that arithmetic on. But what about multiple ranges? How do you find the combined value of a large group of cells?
Numerical arrays are a useful way to perform more than one formula at the same time in a single cell so you can see one final sum, difference, product, or quotient. If you're looking to find total sales revenue from several sold units, for example, the array formula in Excel is perfect for you. Here's how you'd do it:
In revenue calculations, this can cut down on your time and effort significantly. See the final formula in the screenshot above.
The COUNT formula in Excel is denoted =COUNT(Start Cell:End Cell). This formula will return a value that is equal to the number of entries found within your desired range of cells. For example, if there are eight cells with entered values between A1 and A10, =COUNT(A1:A10) will return a value of 8.
The COUNT formula in Excel is particularly useful for large spreadsheets, wherein you want to see how many cells contain actual entries. Don't be fooled: This formula won't do any math on the values of the cells themselves. This formula is simply to find out how many cells in a selected range are occupied with something.
Using the formula in bold above, you can easily run a count of active cells in your spreadsheet. The result will look a little something like this:
To perform the average formula in Excel, enter the values, cells, or range of cells of which you're calculating the average in the format, =AVERAGE(number1, number2, etc.) or =AVERAGE(Start Value:End Value). This will calculate the average of all the values or range of cells included in the parentheses.
Finding the average of a range of cells in Excel keeps you from having to find individual sums and then performing a separate division equation on your total. Using =AVERAGE as your initial text entry, you can let Excel do all the work for you.
For reference, the average of a group of numbers is equal to the sum of those numbers, divided by the number of items in that group.
The SUMIF formula in Excel is denoted =SUMIF(range, criteria, [sum range]). This will return the sum of the values within a desired range of cells that all meet one criterion. For example, =SUMIF(C3:C12,">70,000") would return the sum of values between cells C3 and C12 from only the cells that are greater than 70,000.
Let's say you want to determine the profit you generated from a list of leads who are associated with specific area codes, or calculate the sum of certain employees' salaries -- but only if they fall above a particular amount. Doing that manually sounds a bit time-consuming, to say the least.
With the SUMIF function, it doesn't have to be — you can easily add up the sum of cells that meet certain criteria, like in the salary example above.
In the example below, we wanted to calculate the sum of the salaries that were greater than $70,000. The SUMIF function added up the dollar amounts that exceeded that number in the cells C3 through C12, with the formula =SUMIF(C3:C12,">70,000").
The TRIM formula in Excel is denoted =TRIM(text). This formula will remove any spaces entered before and after the text entered in the cell. For example, if A2 includes the name " Steve Peterson" with unwanted spaces before the first name, =TRIM(A2) would return "Steve Peterson" with no spaces in a new cell.
Email and file sharing are wonderful tools in today's workplace. That is, until one of your colleagues sends you a worksheet with some really funky spacing. Not only can those rogue spaces make it difficult to search for data, but they also affect the results when you try to add up columns of numbers.
Rather than painstakingly removing and adding spaces as needed, you can clean up any irregular spacing using the TRIM function, which is used to remove extra spaces from data (except for single spaces between words).
Here's an example of how we used the TRIM function to remove extra spaces before a list of names. To do so, we entered =TRIM("A2") into the Formula Bar, and replicated this for each name below it in a new column next to the column with unwanted spaces.
Below are some other Excel formulas you might find useful as your data management needs grow.
Let's say you have a line of text within a cell that you want to break down into a few different segments. Rather than manually retyping each piece of the code into its respective column, users can leverage a series of string functions to deconstruct the sequence as needed: LEFT, MID, or RIGHT.
In the example below, we entered =LEFT(A2,4) into cell B2, and copied it into B3:B6. That allowed us to extract the first 4 characters of the code.
In this example, we entered =MID(A2,5,2) into cell B2, and copied it into B3:B6. That allowed us to extract the two numbers starting in the fifth position of the code.
For the sake of this example, we entered =RIGHT(A2,2) into cell B2, and copied it into B3:B6. That allowed us to extract the last two numbers of the code.
This one is an oldie, but a goodie — and it's a bit more in depth than some of the other formulas we've listed here. But it's especially helpful for those times when you have two sets of data on two different spreadsheets, and want to combine them into a single spreadsheet.
My colleague, Rachel Sprung — whose "How to Use Excel" tutorial is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn — uses a list of names, email addresses, and companies as an example. If you have a list of people's names next to their email addresses in one spreadsheet, and a list of those same people's email addresses next to their company names in the other, but you want the names, email addresses, and company names of those people to appear in one place -- that's where VLOOKUP comes in.
Note: When using this formula, you must be certain that at least one column appears identically in both spreadsheets. Scour your data sets to make sure the column of data you're using to combine your information is exactly the same, including no extra spaces.
In this example, Sheet 1 and Sheet 2 contain lists describing different information about the same people, and the common thread between the two is their email addresses. Let's say we want to combine both datasets so that all the house information from Sheet 2 translates over to Sheet 1. Here's how that would work:
There's a great article that likens Excel's RANDOMIZE formula to shuffling a deck of cards. The entire deck is a column, and each card — 52 in a deck — is a row. "To shuffle the deck," writes Steve McDonnell, "you can compute a new column of data, populate each cell in the column with a random number, and sort the workbook based on the random number field."
In marketing, you might use this feature when you want to assign a random number to a list of contacts — like if you wanted to experiment with a new email campaign and had to use blind criteria to select who would receive it. By assigning numbers to said contacts, you could apply the rule, “Any contact with a figure of 6 or above will be added to the new campaign.”
Helpful stuff, right? Now for the icing on the cake: Once you've mastered the Excel formula you need, you'll want to replicate it for other cells without rewriting the formula. And luckily, there's an Excel function for that, too. Check it out below.
Sometimes, you might want to run the same formula across an entire row or column of your spreadsheet. Let's say, for example, you have a list of numbers in columns A and B of a spreadsheet and want to enter individual totals of each row into column C.
Obviously, it would be too tedious to adjust the values of the formula for each cell so you're finding the total of each row's respective numbers. Luckily, Excel allows you to automatically complete the column; all you have to do is enter the formula in the first row. Check out the following steps:
Perhaps you're crunched for time. I mean, who isn't? No time, no problem. You can select your entire spreadsheet in just one click. All you have to do is simply click the tab in the top-left corner of your sheet to highlight everything all at once.
Just want to select everything in a particular column or row? That's just as easy with these shortcuts:
This shortcut is especially helpful when you're working with larger data sets, but only need to select a specific piece of it.
Need to open, close, or create a workbook on the fly? The following keyboard shortcuts will enable you to complete any of the above actions in less than a minute's time.
Have raw data that you want to turn into currency? Whether it be salary figures, marketing budgets, or ticket sales for an event, the solution is simple. Just highlight the cells you wish to reformat, and select Control + Shift + $.
The numbers will automatically translate into dollar amounts — complete with dollar signs, commas, and decimal points.
Note: This shortcut also works with percentages. If you want to label a column of numerical values as "percent" figures, replace "$" with "%".
Whether you're logging social media posts, or keeping track of tasks you're checking off your to-do list, you might want to add a date and time stamp to your worksheet. Start by selecting the cell to which you want to add this information.
Then, depending on what you want to insert, do one of the following:
If you've got a ton of different sheets in one workbook — which happens to the best of us — make it easier to identify where you need to go by color-coding the tabs. For example, you might label last month's marketing reports with red, and this month's with orange.
Simply right click a tab and select "Tab Color." A popup will appear that allows you to choose a color from an existing theme, or customize one to meet your needs.
When you want to make a note or add a comment to a specific cell within a worksheet, simply right-click the cell you want to comment on, then click Insert Comment. Type your comment into the text box, and click outside the comment box to save it.
Cells that contain comments display a small, red triangle in the corner. To view the comment, hover over it.
If you've ever spent some time formatting a sheet to your liking, you probably agree that it's not exactly the most enjoyable activity. In fact, it's pretty tedious.
For that reason, it's likely that you don't want to repeat the process next time — nor do you have to. Thanks to Excel's Format Painter, you can easily copy the formatting from one area of a worksheet to another.
Select what you'd like to replicate, then select the Format Painter option — the paintbrush icon — from the dashboard. The pointer will then display a paintbrush, prompting you to select the cell, text, or entire worksheet to which you want to apply that formatting, as shown below:
In many instances, duplicate values — like duplicate content when managing SEO — can be troublesome if gone uncorrected. In some cases, though, you simply need to be aware of it.
Whatever the situation may be, it's easy to surface any existing duplicate values within your worksheet in just a few quick steps. To do so, click into the Conditional Formatting option, and select Highlight Cell Rules > Duplicate Values
Using the popup, create the desired formatting rule to specify which type of duplicate content you wish to bring forward.
In the example above, we were looking to identify any duplicate salaries within the selected range, and formatted the duplicate cells in yellow.
If the column isn't wide enough to display the contents in the cell, Excel may display ### instead. To fix and make the column wider, simply double-click the top right corner of the column header and drag it to the size you want.
Alternatively, you could also shrink the contents to fit the cell by going:
Home > Alignment and then check the Shrink to fit box in the Format Cells dialog box.
In marketing, the use of Excel is pretty inevitable — but with these tricks, it doesn't have to be so daunting. As they say, practice makes perfect. The more you use these formulas, shortcuts, and tricks, the more they'll become second nature.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.