Which Content Marketing Training Format Is Right for Me?

Content marketing builds a relationship with your audience, leading to brand loyalty and higher sales. Good quality content creates a community, improves search engine rankings, and leads to higher conversion rates. When comparing types of content marketing training, there are many factors to consider. Everyone learns differently, and choosing the right training is critical to your experience.

Keep reading to learn more about the different formats of content marketing training, how they compare, and how to determine which is best for you.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing relies on content created with a specific audience in mind and designed to appeal to the interests or problems of that audience. This could be blog posts, articles, reports, ebooks, videos, podcasts, or other media. The content builds and supports a relationship with the audience through social media, email, or websites.

Content doesn’t push a product, service, or brand. It focuses on what the audience is interested in, and Content Marketers learn that through data analytics. The content is relevant and valuable to the audience and rarely mentions the brand or product. Relevant content tells consumers a relatable story and gives them a sense of belonging to a group.

Read more about what content marketing is and why you should learn it. 

What Can You Do with Content Marketing?

Content marketing helps you connect with your audience, improve brand loyalty, generate leads, and increase sales. Unlike traditional marketing, which makes a direct pitch for products, content marketing is based on storytelling and rarely mentions a brand or sales. The content appeals to readers by helping them with a problem or issue. 

The first step in content marketing is to determine your audience and what they care about using Google Analytics and social media analytics tools. Once you know your audience’s interests, you can begin to draft content that addresses those needs. This helps build a relationship with your readers, which is crucial to improving brand loyalty. 

Although content rarely mentions the brand or product, relevant content tells a story that consumers relate to best. It gives them a sense of belonging to a group. Content marketing creates more customers than traditional marketing, and these customers are also more loyal. They feel connected to the company or brand and are more likely to buy again. This connection develops through storytelling that resonates with followers.

Content marketing also generates more leads than traditional marketing. Consumers prefer to learn about companies and products through articles and blog posts rather than advertising. Finally, content marketing costs less than traditional marketing and leads to higher conversion rates.

Training Formats for Content Marketing

If you’ve decided to learn content marketing to switch to a new career, you need to decide how to do that next. You can study content marketing in person, live online, on-demand, or through free tutorials. You can choose a method that fits your current schedule, budget, and comfort level.

In-Person Content Marketing Training

When you think about learning a new skill, do you imagine going to a school or training center and taking a seat among other students? Do you look forward to interacting with the teacher, asking questions, and discussing finer points? You can find in-person content marketing classes that meet those expectations. Of course, you will need to find a class that fits your current schedule. You will also need to spend time commuting and finding parking or paying for transportation.

Noble Desktop offers a Digital Marketing Certificate in person in New York City from a state-of-the-art campus in Midtown Manhattan. Instructors are experienced digital marketing professionals, and class sizes are small, so you can get the attention you need. Students use Noble’s classroom computers equipped with the necessary tools, so there is no need to purchase anything extra. Other in-person training options include Brainstation’s Digital Marketing Certificate, General Assembly’s digital marketing course, and Georgetown School of Continuing Studies’ Digital Marketing Strategy Bootcamp.

Live Online Content Marketing Training

You might prefer in-person instruction, but maybe you can’t find a class near you or don’t want to face the hassle of commuting. Live online content marketing classes and bootcamps give you the same top-quality, interactive instruction when you can’t travel to in-person classes. You can master content marketing from the comfort of your home, office, or anywhere with internet access and a quiet environment. These virtual options allow you to learn content marketing no matter where you live and change to a new career.

You can take Noble Desktop’s Digital Marketing Strategies Bootcamp or Digital Marketing Certificate in person or live online to start a new career in content marketing. You have a real-time virtual instructor, and you can ask questions and get help when you need it. Other options for live online classes include Thinkful’s Digital Marketing Flex, Jelly Academy’s Digital Marketing class, and Digital Marketing Ops from The Bridge.

Free Online Courses & Tutorials

Maybe you aren’t sure what content marketing is all about or if it is for you. You can take some free courses and tutorials to find out. Check out Noble Desktop’s free seminar, The Pillars of Digital Marketing Success, to learn about content marketing and other digital marketing topics.

There are many free video courses to give you an idea of how content marketing works. Udemy offers Content Marketing 101: A Free Guide for Beginners and Pros. Hubspot has the Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing in 2022, and many free tutorials are available on YouTube to get you started.

Read about more free content marketing videos and online tutorials.

On-Demand Classes

Another option for learning content marketing is to enroll in on-demand video classes. These are pre-recorded sessions that you can watch at your convenience wherever and whenever you decide. On-demand classes are available on different learning platforms, like Coursera, Udemy, or LinkedIn Learning. Although you have to pay for these classes, they tend to be less expensive than in-person or live online offerings, and many platforms offer a free trial before you need to pay for a subscription.

Comparison of Content Marketing Training Formats

When you think of taking a class, a room with a live teacher and other students often comes to mind. Face-to-face training offers bonuses like the ability to ask the teacher questions and get extra help if you need it. You also have the opportunity to network with the other students and use computer labs with up-to-date software.

Thanks to video conferencing, now you can take live online classes from anywhere that has internet available. These live online sessions often run concurrently with in-person classes, so they are engaging and interactive, just like an in-person setting. Students can ask questions, get immediate feedback, receive guidance building portfolios, and interact with like-minded peers. Another good thing about live online training is it does not require a commute. You can sign in to class from your home, office, or the quiet corner of your favorite cafe.

On-demand learning is typically the most affordable option. It can be a good way to start learning the basics, but this method doesn’t offer the benefits of live instruction and has the potential to be outdated. You can watch the videos again if you need to review key points, but you don’t have a live instructor available to assist.

Before enrolling in a content marketing class or bootcamp, ask yourself some questions to discover your preferred instruction method. Does the class cover the information you need? Are you looking for a beginner class that presents an overview? Are you looking for more specific information, like how to use a particular tool? Does that class fit your current financial budget, and do you have time to take a course? What is the format of the class? Can you repeat it if you need to? The most important thing is to choose a method that works best for your needs.

Is it Possible to Teach Yourself Content Marketing?

How you choose to learn content marketing is completely up to you. You can choose to watch free video tutorials like Noble Desktop’s The Pillars of Digital Marketing to get an idea of what content marketing is, then decide where to go from there. 

You can find free hours and hours of on-demand content marketing classes on YouTube. After video tutorials, you can sign up for on-demand classes. These classes are pre-recorded videos that you can watch whenever and wherever you want. There are also subscription platforms offering on-demand courses for a fee. The main drawback to on-demand classes is that you can’t contact the instructor, ask questions, or get help if needed.

At this point, the best plan is to sign up for a class. Some people prefer to sign up for in-person classes because that is what's familiar to them. They prefer having an instructor in the room and like to get to know other students. Unfortunately, that option isn’t always available in your area. You can take one online if you can’t find an in-person digital marketing class.

Live online classes are one of the best ways to learn content marketing. This hybrid model blends the best of in-person classes with the convenience of online instruction. You have access to a real-time live instructor, but you don’t have to commute and can take the class from anywhere with internet access. Live online classes usually run at the same time as in-person classes, and tuition costs are the same.

How to Decide the Best Way to Learn Content Marketing

What is the best way to learn content marketing? That is your decision. You can take an in-person class or a live-online option. Choose a convenient schedule with classes that meet during the week, on the weekends, or in the evenings. Start where you are comfortable, either at the beginning or if you have some experience, take a class that builds on that knowledge.

If you are completely new to content marketing, you can get started with a general overview of the basic features of how content marketing works, how to do it, and the tools available. A free introductory seminar, like The Pillars of Digital Marketing Success, from Noble Desktop, provides an overview of digital marketing, including content marketing, for beginners.

Once you understand what content marketing is, you might want to learn more about how to do it. You can sign up for a bootcamp course that covers content marketing in more depth, like Noble Desktop’s Content Marketing Bootcamp. Learn about content marketing strategy, content creation, promotion, and common tools. 

If you want to master content marketing to change careers, you may want to take a full digital marketing certificate course. Noble Desktop’s Digital Marketing Certificate covers all aspects of digital marketing, including SEO, analytics, website optimization, and social media marketing. This multi-section course includes 1-on-1 mentoring and a class to help design and assemble your professional portfolio.

Learn Content Marketing with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

You can learn content marketing with hands-on classes at Noble Desktop. Taught by expert instructors, class sizes are small and give you ample opportunity to interact with the instructor and the other students. If you want to learn more about content marketing, sign up for Noble's Content Marketing Bootcamp. This course covers an introduction to content marketing and techniques for content creation and promotion, including how to measure the success of your content marketing.

If you want to go a step further, try Noble's Digital Marketing Certificate course. It covers email marketing, SEO, Google Analytics and Google Ads, and all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn Marketing. You also get a Streaming for Social Media course and a portfolio class. If you want, you can retake any class for free for up to a year. To find out more about content marketing and change careers, visit Noble Desktop's digital marketing page.