Digital Marketing Certifications and Certificates

If you’re looking for a way to demonstrate your skills in digital marketing, you might be overwhelmed by the different certifications and certificate programs available. You might also have questions: Will a digital marketing certificate help you get a job? What is the difference between a certificate and a certification? How do I prepare for these credentials? This article will offer clear answers to these questions so you can choose the right path toward a digital marketing certification.

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.

Certifications vs. Certificates: What’s the Difference?

If you want to work as a Digital Marketer, you can get a college degree in marketing or enroll in a certificate program. Four years at a college or university is costly, so many people instead opt to earn a professional certification to learn about digital marketing. Certificate programs take two to four months to complete, a considerably shorter time commitment than going to college. These intensive courses focus exclusively on the most up-to-date best practices in digital marketing.

Once you complete a certificate program, you will be awarded a certificate that you can attach to your online resume or profile on LinkedIn. This certificate tells prospective employers that you have been trained in the latest techniques in digital marketing, such as social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), content management, and analytical tools. Training programs generally hire Digital Marketers with current industry experience as instructors. These marketing professionals can be more familiar with rapidly changing internet trends than college professors.

Certifications differ from certificates in that you need to take an exam and get a minimum score to earn them. These certifications are usually administered by professional associations or companies that create digital marketing tools. Some certifications are good for life, while others expire and need to be renewed periodically.

Digital Marketing Certificates

Many career centers and colleges offer digital marketing certificate courses.

Noble Desktop Digital Marketing Certificate

Noble Desktop offers a Digital Marketing Certificate course that includes classes on many aspects of digital marketing. This program is perfect for small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to move their businesses online or for people wanting to change careers and become a Digital Marketer. When you complete the course, you will receive a verified digital certificate of completion licensed by the New York State Department of Education.

Cornell Digital Marketing Certificate

The business school at Cornell University has developed a five-course digital marketing program through the university’s Elearning platform.

Content Marketing Institute

The Content Marketing Institute offers a Content Marketing Certificate. To earn the certificate, students must complete 10 online modules and pass quizzes.

Northwestern University

The Kellog School of Management at Northwestern University offers a certificate course in Digital Marketing Strategies.

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning offers many certificate courses in different aspects of digital marketing. You have to pay for a monthly subscription, but your first month is free, and that is plenty of time to get through several asynchronous classes and earn a certificate.

Digital Marketing Certifications

You can become certified in many different areas of digital marketing, such as data analytics, social media marketing, SEO, and content management.

American Marketing Association (AMA) Digital Marketing Certification

This national marketing group offers a self-paced certificate in partnership with the Digital Marketing Institute. After completing the cumulative exam, graduates receive a PCM Digital Marketing and Certified Digital Marketing Professional certification.

Google

Search giant Google has several opportunities for Digital Marketers to take tests and earn certifications in using their products. Students can seek certification in Google Ads, Google Analytics, and a collection of digital marketing skills called Google Digital Garage. All of the courses and tests are free. The downside of Google certifications is that they expire after a year, but as Google is constantly changing, students will want to regularly refresh their skills.

Hootsuite Social Media Marketing

The social media management platform Hootsuite offers 15 lessons on social media marketing towards a certification that doesn’t expire.

HubSpot

Digital Marketers can earn certification in 12 different areas at HubSpot Academy. The classes are free and online and take between three and five hours each to complete.

YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. YouTube offers a certification covering how to create content, grow an audience, and optimize and monetize your channel. The certificate is good for 18 months.

Facebook Blueprint

Meta offers several certifications covering different aspects of using Facebook for digital marketing.

SEMRush Digital Marketing Certifications

SEMRush has a library of free courses on how to use its products and offers certification in SEO, PPC, and content and social media marketing.

Should I Get Certified in Digital Marketing?

Is pursuing a certification in digital marketing with it? Few digital marketing job advertisements list certification as a requirement, so you may decide not to invest the time or money. However, certifications let hiring managers know you made the effort to dive deep into digital marketing by pursuing certification.

How to Get Certified in Digital Marketing

Certificate programs are designed to give you the skill set you need to succeed as a Digital Marketer. Noble Desktop offers a Digital Marketing Certificate course that includes classes on Digital Marketing Strategies, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing, Google Ads, and Google Analytics. Participants will learn to develop, execute, and measure marketing strategies using a variety of tools and metrics. Students will work with each tool to launch campaigns across Google Ads and social media channels, analyze web data with Google Analytics, and learn about other key digital marketing strategies. This course is excellent for individuals looking to start a career in digital marketing, entrepreneurs looking to start a business and leverage digital marketing, or business owners looking to grow a business using digital marketing techniques. This program also includes a free retake so students can come back to refresh the material. You can take classes in person or live online from anywhere in the world. Live online classes have a set-up similar to in-person instruction, with a real-time, remote instructor who can answer questions and the ability to share your screen to show you how to do things. You get the same level of attention as in in-person classes.

Key Insights

• There are numerous opportunities to take certification courses in digital marketing or to get certified in some aspect of the field.
• Certificates are awarded upon completing a certificate course
• Certification requires passing an exam administered by a professional organization or program creator.
• While certification is not usually required to get a job as a Digital Marketer, earning one shows that you know what you are doing.

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.