Many articles have written about why digital marketing is critical to any 21st-century business strategy, regardless of company size or what they sell. It’s an increasingly digital world, folks, and any business that wants to thrive and stay ahead of the pack must factor in digital marketing. This shift to digital marketing includes ensuring that some of their staff have undergone digital marketing training, learning all they can about the subject.
This new reality brings us to digital marketing certification and digital marketing certification programs. This article deals with digital marketing certification and why it’s a good idea to get digital marketing training online. We will also list some better digital marketing certificate programs to pursue if you want the most comprehensive digital marketing skill set.
But before we show you those certifications, let’s address why it’s wise to take a digital marketing course online.
Why Become Certified in Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing training is vital to any marketer’s skill set today. Digital marketing certifications are an excellent way for professionals to keep up with the latest industry trends and developments and to show their value to current or potential employers.
Organizations in the market for digital marketing professionals are more apt to hire candidates who have certification. Now, let’s get into some concrete specifics about why taking a digital marketing course online and earning a certification is the perfect way to deal with marketing challenges in the 21st century.
Is a Digital Marketing Certification Worth It?
So, is it worth the time, resources, and effort to take a digital marketing course, study hard, and get certified? Here’s a list of reasons you should pursue digital marketing certification, ideally by taking a digital marketing course online.
1) Digital marketing spending is projected to increase. According to Statista.com, online digital marketing spending will exceed $450 billion in 2021 and is expected to skyrocket by 40 percent by 2024. Talk about career security!
2) Digital marketing certification makes you job-ready. Structured learning environments are an ideal means of learning new hard skills. But digital marketing certification programs take a different approach from traditional degree programs since they focus only on digital marketing material, so they will take less time to finish. Depending on which certificate provider you choose, a digital marketing certification program could provide you with a complete career-change package. This resource can take you from a total digital marketing beginner to a job-ready candidate in just a few months. It’s a great option if you’d like to either upskill and improve your current digital marketing job standing or completely change careers but lack the time, resources, mental bandwidth, or funds to take the traditional route.
3) An ideal digital marketing online course will help you network better. When you enroll in a digital marketing online course, you’re part of a learning community offering you fantastic networking opportunities. You will study with your peers and members of your social circle and form connections that could be beneficial in the future. Digital marketing courses also provide you with mentoring opportunities. Mentors share their experiences with you, offering advice and guidance. That’s the beauty of digital marketing courses; you’re not in this endeavor alone. There is always help.
4) Digital marketing certifications help you keep your digital marketing skills current. The digital world is constantly growing, innovating, and changing. No matter how skilled you are in digital marketing techniques, there’s always something new, and you need to keep up with those changes.
Getting a Job After Your Digital Marketing Certification
So you have taken your digital marketing course online and earned your digital marketing certification. Great! You’re the proud owner of a digital marketing certificate. Now what?
Fortunately, digital marketing certification opens the door to many different digital marketing jobs, such as:
1) Content marketing manager
2) Digital marketing analyst
3) Digital marketing copywriter
4) Digital marketing specialist
5) Digital marketing manager
6) Director of digital marketing
7) Email marketing manager
8) SEO specialist
9) Social media manager
10) Social media specialist
Start by checking out different job sites, such as LinkedIn, and see what’s out there. This stage is also an excellent time to turn to some of the connections you made while taking the digital marketing certification course.
Make sure your resume or CV is up to date. Then, conduct your online research into which companies are hiring and what positions are open, compile a list of the places you would like to work at and start reaching out to them.
It is also wise to prepare for the inevitable interviews by brushing up on interview questions in digital marketing general knowledge, and specialized areas such as content marketing or e-mail marketing.
Note: Interested in learning about the current digital marketing salary trends? Check out our guide for all the details.
Which Digital Marketing Certifications are Best for Me?
The digital marketing field has many specializations to choose from, including SEO, digital content marketing, and social media advertising. Before you decide on what certification works best for you, you should first decide which type of digital marketing you want to specialize in. Granted, you can (and should) become proficient in more than one discipline, but there’s no harm in selecting one to be especially good at and letting the others follow in due time. In fact, by initially selecting one discipline to specialize in, you narrow and sharpen your focus and become better at learning it without other distractions.
Let’s look at what certifications you can get depending on the type of digital marketing.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a marketing tool that makes web pages more attractive to search engines. Your primary goal with SEO is to ensure that your organization’s website appears on the first page of the search engine’s result page (SERP). If you’re interested in search engine optimization certification, consider these areas:
1) SEO Fundamentals
2) SEO Essentials
3) Advanced SEO Certification Training
4) Google Analytics
5) Comprehensive SEO Certification Training
Content Marketing
Content marketing’s purpose is to attract leads that ultimately convert into active customers. However, content marketing takes a different approach from traditional advertising. Rather than attracting potential customers by singing the praises of the company’s goods and services, content marketing offers customers something interesting and informative for free in written material form, such as:
1) Blog posts
2) Ebooks
3) Infographics
4) Newsletters
5) Video or audio transcripts
6) White papers
Content marketing certification courses are typically offered in:
1) Basic Content Writing
2) Advanced Content Writing
3) Content Marketing Foundations
4) Content Marketing and Blogging
5) Inbound Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Social media remains one of the most popular places to find large online audiences, so it pays to take a digital marketing course that covers this subject. Social media marketing, typically involving platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, drives traffic and brand awareness by engaging people through online content, participation, and discussion. A social media marketing expert should be familiar with best practices like:
1) Crafting high-quality and engaging content
2) Professionally addressing comments and questions from the public
3) Creating a social media posting schedule, including knowing the right times to post
4) Hiring social media assistants and managers to support the organization’s marketing efforts
5) Knowing your audience and which social media platforms they’re most involved with
You can usually find social media certifications for these topics:
1) Meta Social Media Marketing
2) Google Digital Marketing
3) Advanced Social Media Strategy
4) Social Media Marketing Professional
5) Social Media Advertising
6) Social Media Analytics
Email Marketing
Email marketing is easy, inexpensive, and typically offers a great return on investment (ROI). But the trick is you must ensure that the e-mail recipients open the email and act on it. E-mail marketers have a better chance of success if they take courses that offer training in creating compelling subject lines, individualizing content, and offering attractive promotions. The optimal email certification courses include:
1) Email Marketing Basics
2) Email Marketing Essentials
3) Advanced Email Marketing Certification Training
4) Email Strategy and Optimization
Mobile Marketing
Most everyone has a mobile device these days, so smart digital marketers acquire skills in mobile marketing to better reach this ever-increasing audience. Mobile marketing allows you to engage with your target audience via their mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets. These engagement efforts can be done with SMS and MMS messages, mobile app alerts, social media notifications, and many more. It’s also critical that a company’s content is fully optimized for mobile devices. Mobile marketing certification courses include:
1) Mobile Marketing and Facebook Ads
2) SMS Text Message Marketing
3) Mobile App Essentials
4) Advanced Mobile Marketing Certification
Marketing Analytics
Digital marketing has many advantages, including how easy it is to measure and track. Analytics allow today’s digital marketers to track user behavior in great detail, such as how many times people click on a link, how much time visitors spend on a company’s web page, how often they open e-mails, and lots more. Unfortunately, there is typically too much information, and that’s why businesses need marketing analytics professionals to understand the data and how to use it to make sound strategic decisions.
Digital marketing professionals seeking digital marketing training and solid certification in various forms of marketing analytics can choose from:
1) Google Data Analytics
2) Marketing Analytics Foundation Certification
3) Professional Certified Marketer
4) Certified Blockchain and Digital Marketing Professional
5) Post Graduate Certification Program in Data Analytics
Pay-Per-Click Marketing (PPC)
Pay-per-click, otherwise known as PPC, is a digital marketing strategy where you pay a fee every time an online user clicks on your digital advertisements. Thus, rather than paying a fixed price to continually run targeted ads on various online platforms and channels, you pay only for the ads people interact with. The trick is to get people to see those ads and click on them!
Search engine advertising is one of the most common types of PPC, and Google is the most popular search engine. When a spot is available on a SERP (search engine results page), the engine fills the spot with a process resembling an instant auction. An algorithm prioritizes each available online ad based on criteria like:
1) Ad quality
2) Bid amount
3) Keyword relevance
4) Landing page quality
These factors then determine PPC ad placement at the top of the SERP.
Typical PPC marketing certification courses include:
1) Google Ads Search Certification
2) Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certification
3) Google Ads Display Certification
4) Advanced PPC Certification
5) Microsoft Advertising Certified Professional
A Word About Digital Marketing Tools
Many digital marketing tools are available for today’s professionals, and it’s possible to gain certification in many of them. Among the more popular digital marketing tools are:
1) YouTube Advertising
2) Hootsuite
3) Google Optimize
4) YouTube Analytics
5) Google Search Console
6) SE Ranking
7) Google Ads Video
While the above-mentioned tools and various digital marketing specialization certifications are excellent resources for digital marketers to take advantage of and master, there is a more convenient option: getting certified in all these disciplines. How can that happen? Read on.
Go a Step Further with UMass Digital Marketing Certification
We have already seen how taking a digital marketing course is the best way to gain certification. If you’re looking for a solid digital marketing course to study online, look no further. Simplilearn has the means of making the digital marketing certification process more accessible. In collaboration with the University of Massachusetts, this comprehensive six-month bootcamp equips you to build effective, creative digital marketing campaigns to boost customer engagement and attract new customers.
Once you successfully finish your digital marketing training program, you will be awarded a certificate from UMass Amherst and Simplilearn and inducted as a member of the prestigious UMass Amherst Alumni Association.
Indeed.com reports that digital marketers in the United States make an average yearly salary of $60,434. The typical digital marketing expert’s salary range begins at $36,313 and tops out at $100,579. But be aware that these salary ranges may vary due to mitigating factors like applicant experience level, the type of company doing the hiring, and the supply and demand of local job markets.
Take your digital marketing plans to the next level, and be amazed at the jobs you can choose once you’re certified. Sign up for this digital marketing course online today!
