Digital marketing courses can offer a lot of value to veterans and beginners alike. But in a web that is flooded with free information on this subject, is paying for a digital marketing course even worth the investment? The answer is yes, and here is why.
The current scope of digital marketing
It’s hard to overstate how pervasive digital marketing has become in modern society. Marketers and businesses have always known the value of going where the audience is, which is why television and newspaper ads took up most of the world’s ad spending before the rise and democratization of personal computing. Today money spent on digital marketing is on the verge of overtaking how much is spent on traditional channels around the world, with an estimated total of $450 billion spent on digital marketing around the world in 2020.
This growing popularity is important because there has always been an arms-race element to marketing. Businesses see their competitors finding success by adopting a certain marketing strategy, and they naturally try to adopt the same strategy. If a strategy is successful enough, it keeps spreading that way until it becomes an industry standard. And that is what is happening to digital marketing.
We are slowly approaching a reality where having an online presence is as important as having a storefront or a sales team — in fact, in some industries this is already the case. And this trend means that companies are going to need a lot more people who have experience in the digital marketing space, which takes us to the first reason why a digital marketing course is worth the investment.
1 – Rising demand
No conversation about the value of learning digital marketing can start without mentioning the current skill deficit in the market. While the web is filled with people who can handle the basic task associated with digital marketing, experienced marketers who can put comprehensive long-term digital marketing strategies together are in short supply. And many companies are reporting difficulty in finding experienced professionals to lead their digital marketing teams.
There are many routes that can place you on the shortlist of names being considered for some of these lucrative leadership positions, but all the fastest routes involve taking digital marketing classes.
2 – Certifications
In a sea full of self-taught digital marketing experts, getting some certifications under your belt will instantly set you apart from the crowd. Not only does getting certifications from reputable institutions prove that you had what it takes to finish their courses, but it also shows that you are serious about making digital marketing your career. This may catch the eye of potential employers on platforms like LinkedIn and will look great on your resume.
3 – Networking
One of the most valuable and overlooked benefits of online courses is the ability to network. Between interacting with teachers and other students, digital marketing courses give you a chance to meet and form connections with dozens of other people who are interested in the same fields as you are. These connections can not only become a source of knowledge in the future, but they can also be the source of business opportunities.
Some courses even encourage this networking by forming mailing lists, forums, and online groups where former classmates can stay in touch and continue to collaborate after the classes are done.
4 – Updated knowledge
One of the challenges of trying to learn digital marketing on your own is separating what’s current and what’s outdated. Many of the online gurus who doll out content and information for free haven’t worked in the field for many years, and SEO advice that worked in 2017 may no longer be relevant today.
A good online course, on the other hand, will constantly review its curriculum to make sure its students are getting the latest in digital marketing knowledge.
5 – Course structure
It’s hard to overstate how useful it is to have a structured curriculum to guide your learning, especially as a beginner. While it is possible to pick up many SEO skills through research and experimentation, that approach is slower and may leave many gaps in your knowledge. To make matters worse, you may not even realize you have a certain gap in your knowledge until it causes you to make a serious mistake when working for a client.
Working your way through a carefully put-together curriculum avoids that issue. A good curriculum will give you all the information you need in just the right order to help you learn as much as possible as efficiently as possible. This usually means you get to spend less time fumbling around and more time working in the field.
6 – Pricing
Compared to the cost of training in other fields, digital marketing training online is shockingly affordable. Forget spending years repaying someone for your education, some of the best digital marketing courses on the market are affordable enough that you’ll be able to pay it back within a few months of getting your first job.
This also means that if you are already working in the field, it should be easy to budget for the cost of taking an online course at least once a year. It’ll help you stay sharp on the basics, stay updated on new developments, and it’s a chance to connect with others who are interested in the field.
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