Digital marketing took flight with the invention of the internet, becoming a buzzword in the early 1990s. Since its debut, it’s moved and transformed along with the web in general to become a bigger and more exciting field. That’s why there are many marketing teams in Boston that need experts who understand social media marketing, SEO processes, and much more. It’s a rapidly growing field with high earning potential for the right person.
Thankfully, Boston, as one of the most important educational hubs on the Atlantic, has many digital marketing courses that can help prepare you for this field. Whether you’re interested in joining a marketing firm, starting your own company, or even advertising personal projects such as art sales, estate deals, or band performances, completing these courses can give you the skills you need to become a great Digital Marketer across many different channels.
What Can You Do with Digital Marketing Training?
Digital marketing skills can be surprisingly useful outside of a marketing career. For example, if you have a small business site that you use to market your services (or even art), you can use SEO marketing and Google Analytics to rank higher in search results. Furthermore, you can use these techniques to clean up your digital resume and get more interviews. Showcasing your digital marketing skills on a resume can make it clear that you’re good at what you do.
These are huge advantages, especially if you try transitioning into an advertising-related field. Even if you don’t, you can still use the graphic design skills you learn in many marketing courses to create interesting artwork and photos for your family. You could even produce cool family trees and photo displays to share at family reunions, Christmas parties, and other big events. In this way, you can build stronger relationships with your loved ones or children.
What Will I Learn in a Digital Marketing Class?
When taking a digital marketing class in Boston, you’ll learn a myriad of unique skills that can help you become a skilled and expert-level marketing professional. Many of these concepts are transferable to other fields, while others are specifically focused on digital marketing. Look through each to get an idea of what you’ll be learning; use it to identify courses that work well for you.
SEO Processes
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of making your website and its content easier to find in search engines. These skills focus on steps like integrating keywords into your content, creating scannable pages with images, and producing high-quality writing. As one of the most important steps in all digital marketing, SEO should be the first thing you master as a Digital Marketer. Research classes that focus on the most modern SEO processes and techniques.
website Development and Marketing
As a Digital Marketer, you’ll have to learn things like HTML and CSS, JavaScript coding, Google Analytics, social media marketing, email marketing, and Facebook marketing to succeed. You’ll use HTML and CSS to produce your site’s structure and look, JavaScript to add functionality, and other marketing concepts to successfully advertise a firm’s products/services. When done right, your training should make it much easier for you to minimize web design issues.
Graphic Design
Though not all digital marketers need to use graphic design, it’s a smart idea to learn it when laying out websites, creating advertisements, and using marketing materials. Tools like InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Captivate make this process easier. Furthermore, if you work in UX design and UI design fields (not uncommon in digital marketing), mastering these skills will further improve your career and make it easier to transition into these related fields.
Copywriting
Filling your pages out with high-quality content requires you to know great copywriting, particularly how to choose copy that fits with your brand and image. You don’t necessarily need to write it yourself—thankfully—but you must understand what makes good content. Things like calls to action, great keyword integration, and well-researched information helps make your copy strong. If you’re a good writer, learning copywriting can fine-tune your skills even further.
Planning
All marketing strategies require a lot of planning (sometimes months before you ever post an ad), so understanding how to properly schedule and release content is essential. Even better, knowing how to plan in general can improve your life in many ways. For example, trying to coordinate multiple sports situations with your family can be challenging, as can working to set up a vacation. Better planning skills can streamline these experiences and minimize struggles.
How Hard is It to Learn Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is unique because it includes so many different elements. You not only need to understand basic human empathy (to pitch your ads to your customers) but also know graphic design and content production techniques and know how to synthesize all this information into a coherent whole. That said, the basic skills themselves aren’t too complex: many people can learn how to use marketing tools fairly easily but need help fully grasping their scope.
What Are the Most Challenging Parts of Learning Digital Marketing?
As hinted above, the toughest part of digital marketing isn’t necessarily any single thing but rather pulling together all the knowledge needed to properly execute a strategy. For many people, though, the toughest individual thing might be looking at a marketing campaign through their customers’ eyes. You have to know how they might respond to your ads or you will fail. It takes a lot of research and empathy to learn those skills: even then, some never do master them.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Digital Marketing?
The complexity of digital marketing means that it can take 1-3 months to learn the basic skills (not bad) but between six months to a year to master it (oof). By that, we mean it shouldn’t take too long to understand basic things like Google keywords and other tools, but it will take much longer to use them as effectively as possible. You can speed up your learning time, though, if you practice regularly (2-3 hours a day) after you complete your marketing training.
Should I Learn Digital Marketing in Person or Online?
Boston has many in-person courses that can help you master digital marketing. They work well if you prefer a hands-on environment (such as working directly with a teacher who can help sharpen your skills) alongside fellow learners. You also get class materials from the facility, meaning you don’t have to own a computer to learn digital marketing with in-person classes. However, you do have to drive there…which on Boston’s insane streets is always scary.
If you’d rather not deal with Boston’s congested highways (or simply like to learn at home), virtual courses might work best for you. They let you sit at home and learn using either a) a series of videos and lessons you take at your leisure (asynchronous) or b) guided live lectures that feel more like in-person courses. Often, these programs are much cheaper than in-person classes and more widely available but do lack personal time with your teacher, unfortunately.
Can I Learn Digital Marketing Free Online?
You’ve done some research and found many free learning resources, including YouTube videos, seminars, and lengthy articles about digital marketing…can you learn everything you need to know from them? The short answer to that question is “No, of course not.” The longer version is that you can learn a lot from those resources, as they’re a great supplement to guided teaching. But they’re not comprehensive enough to use when mastering digital marketing.
What Should I Learn Alongside Digital Marketing?
Typically, it’s smart to learn graphic design, various coding languages, and other skills when studying digital marketing. Some of these concepts were already briefly discussed, though others were not. For example, programming can help you market more successfully by creating applications and tools that work well for your customers. This step may include producing data forms that sync to a company’s contacts: building out their potential conversion leads!
Industries That Use Digital Marketing
Boston’s rapidly expanding tech industry includes several sub-markets that utilize digital marketing nearly every day. The most obvious of these is the marketing/advertising field, though just about every business in operation today needs expert digital marketing support. Here are four in Boston that might interest you, including several potential employers that may hire you. Read through these options to find out more about these fields and your career options.
Advertising
Boston’s marketing and advertising industry includes a surprising number of employers that might interest you. For example, companies like LiveRamp, Cybba, Funnel, Sapient, MMB, Genuine, Allen & Gerritsen, and Digitas provide high-quality digital marketing support for businesses throughout the Boston region. With these companies, you’ll have to work tightly with a marketing team to identify great advertising opportunities across multiple digital channels.
Retail
No matter how big or small, retail firms throughout Boston need digital marketing to help their websites stand out and gain new customers. Firms like Mirakl, Babylist, Gopuff, Rue Gilt Groupe, Chewy, SharkNinja, OneView Commerce and DUST Identity need digital marketing teams that can help them stand out compared to their competitors. Even larger, multi-national firms like Walmart need marketing teams that can provide high-quality advertising support.
Law
Have you ever been online and saw many banner ads for a Boston law firm on your social media or on every page you visit? Legal teams—usually lawyers—often market heavily online to capture the attention of as many people as possible. In Boston, you might find employment as a marketer with teams like Cooley LLP, Goodwind Procter LLP, Gunderson Dettmer, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and Latham & Wakins LLP, either as a freelancer or with a marketing firm.
Education
The educational market is far broader than simply elementary, middle, and high schools or even community colleges and universities. Private institutions, training teams, and even edtech companies (such as edX, Ellevation Education, Flywire, BetterLesson, Cognii, CueThink, and Panorama Education in Boston) all need digital marketers to stand out from their peers. Join a marketing team or set up independent contracts with these firms to get started!
Digital Marketing Job Titles and Salaries
You might think that digital marketing training only prepares you for a single profession in your life…however, there are far more roles that you might fill after training! These fall within a myriad of industries and markets and often include fascinating job roles and a high-earning potential. Note that the salaries list here are averages (specific to Boston, when possible) and may vary highly, depending on your employer. They also indicate a starting and not an ending wage.
Digital Marketer
As a Digital Marketer, you’ll focus on creating targeted ads for multiple platforms, social media campaigns, and content solutions that can help your customers stand out from their peers. Currently, the US average salary is $64,000, while Boston marketers can make as much as $72,000—over 12% higher than the median! Remember: that’s a starting wage, too.
Web Optimization Specialist
A career as a Web Optimization Specialist requires you to understand important digital marketing concepts such as proper page layout, keyword integration, and ad placement on appropriate sites. This career earns about $69,000 on average, while areas close to Boston (such as Fairfax, VA) make as much as $72,000, which is about 4% higher than the average.
Search Manager
Starting a career as a Search Manager is a great option for people who finish a digital marketing course. You’ll use your knowledge of search engines to boost organic search results, focusing heavily on keyword usage and site optimization. Making an average of $80,000 nationally, areas near Boston (Washington, D.C. specifically) make $114,000, over 42% higher than average.
Digital Analyst
What exactly does a Digital Analyst do? You analyze digital marketing campaigns to see how well they’re converting customers. You’ll collect and measure data using Google Analytics and examine how well they interact with your advertisements. Expect to make a national average of $88,000 in this role, though higher-earning opportunities may be available elsewhere.
Digital Marketing Classes Near Me
If you’re fascinated by the world of digital marketing, it’s important to know what programs are available to you. The following classes are available either in-person in Boston or online, depending on their setup and your needs. Choose wisely to get the results you deserve.
Marketing Bachelors
Boston College offers a four-year bachelor’s program in marketing that focuses heavily on traditional and digital marketing strategies. At the end of your studies, you’ll take an independent study class to focus on your career. The cost runs into thousands, though scholarships help.
Master of Professional Studies in Digital Media
Focused heavily on digital media production (useful for marketing), Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies provides a graduate program that helps prepare you for an advanced career. Try this option if you already have a bachelor’s and want to learn more.
Digital Marketing Course
General Assembly provides a Digital Marketing Course, a 40-hour class that costs just $4,500 to complete. In it, you’ll learn about proper digital marketing usage, including how to apply modern marketing strategies and integrate multiple channels across all your campaigns.
Digital Marketing Certificate
Noble Desktop provides high-quality online education: they practically invented live virtual training and include multiple in-depth lessons. Over 120 hours (after paying just under $4,000), you’ll study digital marketing strategies, SEO, and social media marketing (and more).
Digital Marketing Corporate Training
Do you need to train your whole marketing team or simply want to upgrade their skills a little? Noble Desktop provides large, corporate-sized training options with bulk vouchers, free setup support, financing options, and skilled professors. Your team will work hand-in-hand with their live online professor to master digital marketing on every level. Interested in working in this setting? Email corporate@nobledesktop.com to get more information about your options.