Boost Your Digital Marketing Skillset: Online Learning and Certification Courses

By Caitlyn Smith Blog September 3, 2020

Whether you’re an aspiring digital marketer or you’ve been in the business for 20 years, there will always be something new to learn and get the hang of. Digital marketing changes rapidly, as the rest of the digital world does. Social media transforms on a regular basis, and 269 billion emails are sent every single day – it’s a lot to keep up with.

That’s why it’s important to always be learning. Emerging trends, new skills, applicable data, and analytics – these are things to always consider, especially in the world of digital marketing. If you’re trying to change career paths or beef up your current position, certifications can show future or current employers that you’re a well-versed and highly skilled digital marketer.

In this post, we’ll review some of the best options for building your digital marketing skillset.

MECLABS

The MECLABS Institute offers several certification courses and in-depth training based on 15 years of testing experience and marketing research. Their courses are filled with case studies from both B2B and B2C companies. On their website, you can find online courses such as:

Value Proposition Development
Landing Page Optimization
Online Testing
Email Messaging

Digital Marketing Institute + American Marketing Association

Digital Marketing Institute offers the “world’s most recognized digital marketing course.” They offer a dual certification from the American Marketing Association and Digital Marketing Institute. In their course, you’ll gain key skills and competencies such as:

Digital Strategy
PPC Strategy and Principles
SEO
Social Media Management
Email Data and Data Protection
Data and Analytics
Content Marketing Planning

SEMrush

SEMrush is one of the leaders in online visibility, such as SEO, PPC, content, social media, and competitive research. They offer several courses and certifications, such as:

SEO Fundamentals
Keyword Research
Backlink Management
Mobile SEO
Local SEO
SEMrush Site Audit
Technical SEO
Content Marketing Fundamentals
PPC Fundamentals
PPC Automation
SMM Fundamentals
Competitor Analysis
Advanced Competitive Research Practices

Hubspot Academy

Hubspot has been at the height of inbound marketing, sales, and service software for a fairly long time now. You’ll learn the latest business trends from leading experts. Their courses are built upon experiences, such as:

Social Media Marketing
Inbound Marketing
Inbound Sales
Content Marketing
SEO Training
Email Marketing
Frictionless Sales
Sales Management Training

Copyblogger

Copyblogger offers a collection of 16 high-impact ebooks plus their 20-installment email course, titled “Internet Marketing for Smart People.” In this online marketing course, you’ll learn the “techniques and strategies you need to know to become a much smarter marketer online.”

OptinMonster University

OptinMonster University is “where entrepreneurs, business owners, and marketing professionals learn how to attract and convert website traffic into customers.” If you purchase any OptinMonster plan, you automatically gain access to their courses, which include:

How to Create a Lead Magnet
How to Get Started with Email Marketing
How to Reduce Cart Abandonment
How to Attract and Convert Targeted Traffic
How to Create a Welcome Email Series
How to Write a Promotional Email Series

Coursera

Coursera’s Digital Marketing Specialization certification is offered by the University of Illinois and is part of their Master of Business Administration degree. It’s a six-course overview of the latest digital marketing skills taught by industry experts. In this course, you will:

Gain an understanding of the motivations behind data collection and analysis methods used by marketing professionals
Understand frameworks and approaches to measuring consumers’ digital actions
Learn to evaluate and choose appropriate web analytics tools and techniques
Earn familiarity with the unique measurement opportunities and challenges presented by New Media

The skills you’ll gain include:

Digital Marketing
Pricing Strategies
Marketing Mix
Product Strategies
Data Collection
Analytics
Data Analysis
Data Visualization
Social Media
Mobile Marketing

SimpliLearn

This digital marketing course from SimpliLearn will transform you into a complete digital marketer with expertise in eight marketing domains:

SEO
Social Media
PPC
Conversion Optimization
Digital Analytics
Content
Mobile
Email Marketing

WordStream Growth Academy

Growth Academy powered by Wordstream offers free, flexible, on-demand video training for small business and marketing agencies. They cover several digital marketing courses, including:

Learn the Basics of Online Advertising
Get More Leads
Sell More Products Online
Grow My Agency

Hootsuite Academy

If you’ve used Hootsuite’s social scheduling tools, you’re likely familiar with their expertise in the social media industry. Earn industry-recognized credentials with their courses and stand out from the crowd.

Social Marketing Certification
Advanced Social Advertising Certification
Social Media ROI and Value Analysis
Social Selling Certification
Advanced Social Media Strategy

Google Skillshop

If you use Google tools for your business, you’ve likely wondered how you can utilize your usage to improve your business. In their Skillshop, Google offers several tools and courses and certifications to go with them, such as:

Google Ads
Google Marketing Platform
Analytics Academy
Google My Busines
Google Ad Manager
Google AdMob
Authorized Buyers
Waze

Content Marketing Institute University

Content Marketing Institute offers comprehensive virtual learning for today’s content marketing leaders. CMI models their curriculum after your average higher education model, with a Core Curriculum, Elective Courses, and Quarterly Elective Tracks. Their current core curriculum includes:

The 2020 State of Content: The Rise of a Functional Strategy
The Performer: The Content Marketing Product Plan
Personas: Investing in Audiences vs. Buyers
The Architecture of Business Storytelling
Measurement by Design
Story Map Your Operation

In addition to all of these marketing-centric companies and courses, all of the big e-learning sites offer their own digital marketing courses:

Jobs are constantly changing, and the formal educational system hasn’t really caught up to that reality. Ongoing education and learning should be essential to the current and future workforce to keep up with the new skills and trends. Luckily, in 2020, we can learn new skills in an accelerated way, on our own time, while we continue to work in our current or proposed career. Online learning and certifications are the most agile way to move forward.