How to Learn Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is the best way to reach internet users and connect with potential customers. Before you do that, you will need to learn the tools and techniques of digital marketing. The number of options for learning digital marketing might seem overwhelming at first glance. There are podcasts, books, video tutorials, classes, and more to choose from, depending on your learning style and personal preferences.

Here, we’ll discuss the various methods of learning digital marketing so you can make an informed decision about how you’d like to get started.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing uses online channels and tools to promote products and services. As the popularity of the internet continues to grow, digital marketing has become one of the most effective ways to publicize a business and help it succeed. Knowledge of digital marketing can be an asset to entrepreneurs and owners of businesses large and small, and many companies are hiring Digital Marketers to conduct research, build brand loyalty, and create community. Digital Marketers also analyze data collected from online marketing efforts to make a business more efficient and profitable.

Because it is based on data, digital marketing is highly targeted and measurable. With digital marketing, you can adapt and make changes in real-time to reflect your advertising. You can also create targeted ads to ensure products and services reach an interested audience.

Using analytics, you can quickly tell how many people see your ads, how they react, and what action they take. Measuring your success (and where you need to improve) can help overall strategy. Plus, digital marketing levels the playing field, allowing businesses of any size to compete for clicks. Additionally, there’s a low barrier to entry: you can start your paid digital marketing campaign for a minimum amount and build as the company grows.

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

What Can You Do with Digital Marketing?

Marketing has changed drastically since the advent of the internet. While early ways to promote a business included yellow page listings, print advertisements, and ads on buses and billboards, many marketing efforts have now moved online. With digital marketing, you can adapt and make changes in real-time to reflect your advertising. You can also create targeted ads to be sure your products and services reach an interested audience.

Digital marketing efforts are highly measurable. Using analytics, you can quickly tell how many people see your ads, how they react, and what action they take. Measuring your success (and where you need to improve) can help you develop your overall strategy. Plus, organic digital marketing levels the playing field, allowing businesses of any size to compete for clicks.

Additionally, there’s a low barrier to entry to advertise with digital marketing. You can start your paid digital marketing campaign for a minimum amount and build as your company grows. Digital marketing offers the unique chance to control where you spend those crucial advertising dollars.

In-Person Digital Marketing Training

Some people prefer to attend in-person classes at a bricks-and-mortar location when learning new information. If you like to interact face to face with your instructor and classmates, this would be a good option for you when it comes to learning digital marketing. In an in-person class, you can ask the instructor questions, get help when you have difficulties with assignments, and make connections with other students and do some networking. Of course, there are drawbacks to in-person classes, too. You will need to factor in the time spent commuting to the site and finding parking or paying for transportation, and sometimes the class schedule isn’t convenient.

Noble Desktop offers a Digital Marketing Certificate in person in New York City from their state-of-the-art campus in Midtown Manhattan. Students use classroom computers with the necessary tools already downloaded to their workstations, and the instructor is in the room with the students. Other in-person training options in the US include Brainstation’s Digital Marketing Certificate, General Assembly’s Digital Marketing Course, and Georgetown School of Continuing Studies’ Digital Marketing Strategy Bootcamp.

Live online Digital Marketing Training

Live online digital marketing classes, bootcamps, and certificate programs provide the same advantages as their in-person counterparts: they’re interactive, comprehensive training courses led by expert instructors. Virtual courses offer flexibility for attendees who may not be able to travel to in-person classes so that students have the chance to master digital marketing from the comfort of their homes or offices. Thanks to virtual options, aspiring digital marketers can benefit from online classes taught and delivered anywhere, no matter where the school or the student is based.

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

Free Online Courses & Tutorials

If you are unsure if digital marketing is for you, free courses and tutorials can help you decide. You can check out Noble Desktop’s YouTube channel, where you will find The Pillars of Digital Marketing Success and other introductory tutorials.

You can find plenty of free digital marketing video courses online. Google offers a class called Fundamentals of Digital Marketing as well as free tutorials on its digital marketing products. HubSpot Academy offers a free course on search engine optimization, as does SEMRush. If you want to explore social media marketing, you could watch a free video on the subject from Constant Contact.

Read about more free digital marketing videos and online tutorials.

On-Demand Digital Marketing Classes

Many online digital marketing classes are delivered asynchronously. These on-demand digital marketing classes are not live but prerecorded, so you can watch them whenever and wherever it is convenient. The main drawback to on-demand classes is that you often can’t contact the instructor, ask questions, or get help if needed.

LinkedIn Learning has many on-demand classes on topics like SEO, data analytics, digital ads, and understanding social media. Udemy has a 20-hour digital marketing course, and Skillshare has many on-demand digital marketing videos.

You can find many free on-demand classes, but paid on-demand courses are also available. Classes at LinkedIn, Udemy, and Skillshare are all accessible by subscription. You can find many free on-demand tutorials on YouTube, and classes from Google and various social media platforms are all free.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a great way to learn about digital marketing and keep up with current trends. Here are some popular offerings.

• Paid Search Magic with Amy and James Hebdon is on Apple Podcasts. The Hebdons run a marketing agency of the same name and share their wisdom on paid search marketing.
• PPC Rockstars Podcast is a long-running show about Pay Per Click strategies available on Apple, Spotify, and Podchaser.
• Entrepreneur on Fire with John Lee Dumas is on iTunes. Each week, Dumas interviews different guests about marketing and entrepreneurship.
• The Suitcase Entrepreneur with Natalie Sisson is on Apple, iTunes, and Stitcher. Sisson built a successful online business to have the freedom to travel and live how she wants. She is especially good at helping listeners discover what they are passionate about in their product or service.

Books

While books are technically not free, you can borrow them from the local library without paying for them. Here are some that are highly recommended.

• Digital Marketing Strategy: An Integrated Approach to Online Marketing by Simon Kingsnorth: This classic book on digital marketing has just been updated. Kingsnorth covers social media, website optimization, user experience design, content strategies, automation, and data analysis.
• The Digital Marketing Handbook: Deliver Powerful Digital Campaigns by Simon Kingsnorth. This practical, step-by-step guide shows readers how to create different kinds of digital marketing campaigns.
• Digital Marketing for Dummies, by Ryan Deiss and Russ Hennesberry. The Dummies series offers good introductions to many topics, and digital marketing is no exception. It covers paid and unpaid marketing, email, social media, and data analysis, focusing on how-tos.

• Digital Mastery for Women: The First 5 Digital Marketing Components You Need to Master in Your Business, by Vanessa Collins. Women often lack confidence where technology is concerned, but Collins encourages women entrepreneurs and shows them how to embrace Digital Marketing.

Which Learning Method is Right for Me?

With so many different resources available to help beginners learn digital marketing, you might be unsure about which one is best for you. Everyone has different learning styles and preferences, and you can experiment with multiple tools to see which one feels right for you. One of the great things about self-directed learning is that you don’t have to stick only with what a teacher chooses—you get to pick which combination of tools work best for you.

It’s also essential to consider your current schedule before selecting a learning method. If you have many responsibilities like a full-time job or family commitments, you may not be able to devote time to a structured course that requires you to attend at the same time every day. In this case, a self-paced class or video tutorials may be better since you can access them when your schedule allows. On the other hand, those with a more flexible schedule may prefer a structured course offered in-person or live online. You can choose to attend part-time in the evenings or on the weekends if you can’t do full-time weekday classes.

Why Learn Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing can help you reach across the world to drive traffic to your website, increase sales, build a brand, or educate the public. Using the principles of Search engine optimization can help you determine your target audience, choose keywords to track content performance, engage with potential customers on social media, and gain organic search results. The best thing about digital marketing is that most of its tools are free.

Another benefit of digital marketing is that it can be the basis of a great career. You can work for other businesses as a Digital Marketer, Social Media Marketer, Web Optimization Specialist, Digital Strategist, Data Analytics Specialist, or Brand Marketer. Careers in marketing are in demand, and the average base salary for a Digital Marketer in the US is $58,500 annually.

Read more about why you should learn digital marketing.

Level of Difficulty, Prerequisites, & Cost

Whether or not digital marketing is difficult to learn depends upon your level of interest, the time you have to devote to study, and your motivation. Do you love having a passion project? Do you enjoy multitasking and keeping track of data? Is creating content for social media followers your idea of a good time? Then it probably wouldn’t be hard for you to learn digital marketing and change careers, especially if you sign up for a certificate course.

Enrolling in a class doesn’t necessarily require any prerequisites to learn digital marketing, but a few skills can make the experience easier. Being comfortable with technology and enjoying working with numbers will make learning to use digital marketing tools easier. Some familiarity with social media and good communication skills are a plus, too. Beyond that, a solid writing ability, creativity, persistence, and the ability to multitask will make learning digital marketing smoother.

Beyond the cost of a class, learning digital marketing is not very expensive. Some of the most widely used tools like Google Analytics are free, and others like Moz have a free version to get you started. SEMRush is another useful digital marketing tool, and while it can be expensive, you get a seven-day free trial to try it out first.

Read about how difficult it is to learn digital marketing.

Key Insights

There are many ways to learn digital marketing:

• In-person classes
• Live online classes
• On-demand tutorials and classes
• Podcasts
• Books

The best method for learning digital marketing depends upon your learning style and how much time you have to devote to studying.

Learn Digital Marketing with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop’s digital marketing courses teach skills that can help you start a career in the industry. Classes are small, with expert instructors, and you can retake a course for free up to a year after you take it. Those ready to dive into the field can attend in-person classes at Noble Desktop’s New York City location or attend live online digital marketing courses from anywhere in the world.

Noble Desktop also offers more detailed courses for those looking to hone their skills on specific channels. Students can take individual classes on Facebook Marketing, Email Marketing, Social Media Content Marketing: Blogs & Twitter, and Video Marketing: TikTok & YouTube. Students can also study for a Digital Marketing Certificate and learn a comprehensive set of tools and skills for digital marketing. Another Noble Desktop resource that can help prepare for a career in digital marketing includes its digital marketing blog, which has detailed articles about social media marketing, SEO, and other essential tools for digital marketers. Students can also watch Noble’s seminar on The Pillars of Digital Marketing Success, which is available on YouTube.