Marketing graduates should consider taking a course in Digital Marketing. Digital marketing is known as the use of numerous digital tactics and channels to connect with customers where they spend much of their time: online. From the website itself to a business's online branding assets, digital advertising, email marketing, online brochures, and beyond, there's a spectrum of tactics that fall under the umbrella of "digital marketing." The most successful digital marketers have a distinct picture of how each individual digital marketing campaign supports their overarching goals. Depending on the goals of their marketing strategy, marketers can support a larger campaign through the free and paid channels at their disposal. A content marketer, for example, can create a series of blog posts that serve to generate leads from a new ebook business recently created. The company's social media marketer might then help promote these blog posts through paid and organic posts on the business's social media accounts. Perhaps the email marketer creates an email campaign to send those who download the ebook more information on the company. We live in a world surrounded by and constantly interacting with different facets of the internet. Today is not like it was years ago and with that, change is inevitable. The marketing world moves at breakneck speed, and with that, new marketing techniques and tools are created to combat this competitive career. Put yourself in a prospective employer’s shoes. Companies clamor for talented digital marketers to give them a competitive advantage in the market which I’m sure you may notice by now is a good thing for aspiring digital marketers. They like to see that their potential employee has relevant experience and training that will make them produce results if hired. No company wants to spend resources training new employees on principles and strategies they should have taken the initiative to learn on their own, that’s where a training course comes in. Digital marketing training can be had by taking an e-course online or by hands-on training working under the direction of another person who has demonstrated successful digital marketing experience. Having a mentor with the relevant experience can put you ahead of the curve and allow you to learn strategies and trends that would have taken you a significant amount of time to uncover on your own. There are web seminars and courses available online. Take advantage of the opportunity and you will not regret it. As an upcoming marketer it is important that you stay up to date with the new trends and strategies. So what are the reasons why marketing graduates should take a course in Digital Marketing? Its’ a career with a future. The world of marketing is moving gradually towards a digital landscape, and following the trend can set you up yo becoming an effective marketer. This relatively new field has a vast amount of positions that may be appealing to graduates. It is different from the traditional marketing path, however, there are transferable skills that can be beneficial and possible to pivot through both. From Direct Marketing Associate, SEO Specialist, PPC Specialist to Digital Marketing Manager the wide assortment of options can add excitement to your future career depending on the path you decide to take. The earning potential is there. It should go without saying but wage differs based on location, years of experience and other factors, however, there are real opportunities to make good money in digital marketing. With the increasing interest companies have in discovering competent and talented digital marketers coupled with the small supply of marketers with relevant skills necessary, especially out of college there is an opportunity present for marketers to demand higher wages with enough experience. At the management level, an e-commerce manager is looking at between $83k and $130k, an account director will earn $93k - $155k and a digital marketing manager will take in $80k - $126k. The opportunity to build specific and relevant skills. With a course in digital marketing, you will learn and build specific skills designed to be proficient in the job like PPC, SEO, and SEM. Many universities although beneficial to know the principles behind theoretical marketing will not give you a hands-on approach that will arm you will practice skills to be competitive in the field. This affords you with options to get in-demand jobs and the ability to choose where you would like to work for depending on your preferences. It provides you with analytical skills. Data and statistical analysis of past marketing projects are becoming more relevant with the emergence of technology that can easily track if a campaign is doing well or not. Using electronic media makes it possible to collect huge amounts of information, but these data are useless if not properly analyzed. You will track KPIs and get a better understanding of what works With Digital Marketing you gain practical skills that many institutions do not teach that will allow you to be competitive in the marketing world. It makes you more competitive. Being competitive in marketing or any field for that matter is important if you want to progress in your career. Have you met many people that can say they have a professional certificate that is recognized that gave them specific skills and training to be proficient at their job? No? Well, then that’s good news for you. Taking a course in Digital Marketing will teach you in-demand skills for the job which may lead you being able to demand higher pay for those skills. Supply and demand in it’s finest. Deployment of skills from one company to another. Many different types and sizes from small, mid and large companies are recognizing the need for digital marketers, even companies like Google. Digital marketers have the opportunity and freedom to transfer their skills from one company to the next with relative ease and use the expertise gained to solve the problems of the other. There is plenty of room for people looking to enter the world of digital marketing and related careers. According to Smart Insights, some of the most in-demand skills for 2017 were digital advertising, content creation, content strategy, and social media, which is great news for those who veer towards the creative, social and business end of the spectrum. For those who are more technically minded, there’s still plenty of demand and quite a high earning potential for those who specialize in technology like SEO and SEM since this is what can be at the base of what drives profits in any business. Content marketing relies on traffic and anyone with the technical expertise to analyze these patterns is going to be a valuable asset, especially as these types of jobs become more complex with the advent of AI. So is why take a course? Taking a digital marketing course is a great way to gain foundational knowledge of the field and essential disciplines of digital marketing and will help to provide you with a lot of other personal assets that will accelerate your long-term professional success. While rich in information and covering a wide range of material, a good digital marketing course is pretty learner-driven as it allows a student to learn at a pace that suits their personal preferences and needs. This kind of support yet autonomous learning model will give you the ability to continue your learning a personal quality that is vital if you want to remain relevant and enjoy ongoing success as a digital marketer. What is a Digital Marketing Professional? So what can you expect to be doing as a Digital Marketer: Creating promotional messages and themes to drive business Coordinating marketing strategies across multiple channels Write, edit, and produce original content Build email marketing campaigns Develop PPC campaigns and bidding strategies Managing budgets for media and marketing campaigns Testing new marketing messages, channels, and opportunities Building relationships with national and local media Directing the company's social media strategy Evaluating the performance of campaigns and troubleshooting those that unperformed Monitoring and improving the website and digital presence through SEO Managing third-party vendors and in-house employees Working with the customer service department to address problems Brainstorming ways to promote new products or initiatives Educating employees and other departments about industry marketing trends Listening to customer feedback from customer service reps and social media platforms Analyzing advertising return and reporting findings to upper management So to recap: We live in a world surrounded by and constantly interacting with different facets of the internet. Companies clamor for talented digital marketers to give them a competitive advantage in the market which I’m sure you may notice by now is a good thing for aspiring digital marketers. So why take the course? Its’ a career with a future, The earning potential is there, Build specific skills, it provides analytical skills, Makes you more competitive, able to deploy skills from one company to another. Digital marketing training can be had by taking an e-course online or by hands-on training working under the direction of another person who has demonstrated successful digital marketing experience.