By Christopher Hill
In the day and age of digital learning, there’s no shortage of options for those who want to pick up a new skill to gain an edge in their professional careers. And if you are interested in digital marketing, it’s no different. Try searching for a tutorial video or article on how to use ChatGPT; you’ll see what I mean. However, in the case of digital marketing, there is a key component in videos, articles, or short, free courses, that isn’t always available: the ability to learn how to create and use digital marketing strategies specific to your needs.
While the information you’d get from a free completion or certification course is indeed very useful at little to no cost, you would still need to be able to apply it forward. That’s where some online learning environments – such as the Google, Facebook, or Hubspot digital marketing certificates – come up short. Most of the lessons include prompts, though related to the material, that aren’t focused on your specific needs. Instead, they opt for general scenarios to make their points, not too dissimilar to a test you’d take in school.
Learning Digital Marketing Strategies is Key to Career Growth
Learning with a student-focused strategy is something that is readily available through UVM’s Digital Marketing Fundamentals Professional Certificate. During the 10-week online course, students not only have the opportunity to learn techniques from digital marketing subject matter experts – in live sessions and asynchronous modules – but are also given strategies to apply in their current or potential careers.
For example, if a student is taking the course to learn ways to parley a growing Instagram following for their bakery into more foot traffic to their shop, there’s plenty of opportunity to discover how to achieve that goal in the section centered around social media. In Week 3, instructor Tyler King provides insight into the ever-changing world of social media and how to use different networks – especially emerging channels like TikTok and Snapchat – to your advantage. Besides a live, virtual session with a lively back-and-forth with the instructors and students, the assignments and material give students simple strategies to utilize on their chosen brand.
The course also offers perspective and plans for how to implement different strategies, no matter whether you work for a large for-profit company, a small non-profit, you’ve got a large budget, or are just getting started with a minimal one.
Vice President of Paid Search at Tinuiti and UVM Digital Marketing Instructor Aaron Levy explains in this video that the key to success in digital marketing is to go beyond learning how to turn on a paid digital campaign, to understanding digital marketing strategies and how to apply them to your business.
Perhaps you’ve recently launched a website for your business in an effort to finally enter the digital age, but aren’t sure how to keep progressing without spending more money than you’re comfortable with. UVM’s Digital Marketing course will illustrate which marketing channels may be low-cost for high-benefit and which channels it may make sense to invest in. For example, during Week 2, our Data Analytics section, instructor Krista Park discusses how to maximize your impact by using analytic platforms to identify your consumer’s most likely entryways to your site at little to no cost! The Search Engine Optimization or SEO section of Week 1 likewise offers ways to optimize your website on your own so you can produce search engine growth using the new skills gained in the course.
So even if you plan to take a free technical certification course, the UVM Digital Marketing Fundamentals course can supplement the otherwise lack of real-world experience – which is key for those who want to interview for similar positions and land a job in digital marketing. The UVM course does this by fostering an environment where students and instructors can share their relative ideas, trails, and strategies.
From an open discussion board for students to post and gain educated answers to their digital marketing questions to a end of the course Capstone project in the final week that allows students to apply strategy toward the marketing tools they just learned – the fundamentals course is a must addition to any planned online learning to grow in a digital marketing career.
Digital Marketing Fundamentals alumnae Anilka Lopez explains in this video how she leveraged her Capstone project to demonstrate the strategic thinking skills she gained in the program.
Christopher Hill is a Senior Account Executive at PureRED and Academic Coach in The University of Vermont’s Digital Marketing Professional Certificate program. In addition to his work as a digital marketer, Hill is a published author, father, husband, and avid sports fan.
