Nowadays, most of our communication with people happen over the internet. Texts and calls can now be done through iMessage and FaceTime. Knowing the latest news and trends, and keeping up with our friends can be done through social media platforms. This is why Digital Marketing is slowly becoming an essential skill – especially in business. If you want to reach the biggest audience, go to a place where most people are. In this case, it’s the internet. But if everyone already knows how social media works, it begs the question, is it worth getting a digital marketing certificate?
Some may think that if they just wanted to market something online, it’s easy as posting it and just adding some hashtags. However, there’s a lot more that goes on in digital marketing besides posting. Digital marketers need to be aware of current trends, the algorithm of different social media platforms, and figure out how to stand out from competition. Moreover, they also need to know how to communicate with their target market. How to catch their attention, engage with them, and eventually convince them to trust the brand. At the end of all this, digital marketers finally have to analyze which strategies work best.
Digital marketing is not so easy that anyone can do it effectively. It’s a skill that you continuously improve since the ways we communicate constantly change as well. However, if you’re actually interested in digital marketing, there are great digital marketing certificate programs that are worth joining!
Best Digital Marketing Certificate Programs
Free
For those who are just beginning to take interest in digital marketing, the Google Digital Garage is a great place to start. This is a learning platform owned by Google where they offer various online courses including digital marketing. Their Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course is one of their more popular ones. The course has 26 modules which can take 40 hours to complete. Some of the things that you will larn from Google’s Digital Marketing Course is building a web presence, creating an online business strategy, an intro to SEO and more. Best of all, the whole course is free!
Coursera is another popular learning platform where people can enroll in courses for free. The Digital Marketing Specialization program they have on their website is offered by the University of Illinois. This program, like Google Digital Garage, is also perfect for beginners. It has 7 courses which can take 8 months to complete if you’re taking it for 5 hours a week. What’s great about this program is that it will teach you things both in theory and practice. You will learn digital analytics, digital media and marketing principles, and strategies. At the end of the course, you will participating in a capstone project under W.W. Grainger, the program’s corporate partner.
Paid
If you have a budget, you can look into enrolling for Duke University’s Digital Media and Marketing Program. It is a self-paced online class that costs $3,195. The program is great for both beginners and for those who have experience. To complete the program, you need to take modules comprised of:
- Digital Marketing Certified Associate (DMCA) (Required to be completed prior to moving on to advance modules)
- Advanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Advanced Content Marketing
- Advanced Social Media
- Advanced Mobile Marketing
- Advanced Pay Per Click (PPC)
- Advanced Website Conversion Rate Optimization
- Advanced Web Analytics
- Advanced Email Marketing
(To earn a certificate of completion, students must complete 6 of the 8 advanced modules after the DMCA prerequisite)
Moreover, students under this program can also take elective courses like Twitter Marketing and Advertising, Personal Branding, and Social, Mobile Analytics and Cloud (SMAC). As soon as you enroll, you will be given access to their material for 12 months. Estimated time of going through the module is 350 hours, which means you’ll probably dedicate about 10 hours per week for this course.
Another great place to get your certification from is the Digital Marketing Institute, an organization known for its digital marketing training. They offer several courses and programs with the DMI Pro being the most popular. The DMI Pro is a comprehensive 30-hour online course where you can learn different areas of digital marketing. Lessons include Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Website Optimization, and more. The whole course costs #1,368 which includes the learning materials and examination. This program is not only great for beginners, but also for business owners and start-ups who have an interest in marketing their brand effectively.
Other than building your skills and learning from experts, a digital marketing certificate can act as a stepping stone for your career. Having a certificate doesn’t automatically make you an expert, but it does make you look attractive to future employers. Combining the things you’ve learned and your practical experience may even result into opening your own marketing agency eventually.
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