Plenty of professionals are eager to learn digital marketing but hesitate because of the perceived up-front costs. However, it is easy to start learning digital marketing because so many free resources are available. You can choose from video tutorials, podcasts, and books to get an idea of what digital marketing entails. This article covers the different types of free resources and tutorials available to help you learn digital marketing.
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.
Free Digital Marketing Resources
Noble Desktop’s Digital Marketing YouTube channel offers many free digital marketing video tutorials, and the content is updated regularly to present the most up-to-date information in the rapidly changing world of digital marketing. The videos are each about an hour long and include graphics, images, and explanations by digital marketing instructors. Watching these videos is a great way to learn the basics of digital marketing and decide if you want to change careers.
- The Pillars of Marketing Success introduces viewers to digital marketing and is an excellent place to start. It covers an overview of different channels, presents a framework for digital marketing success, and discusses the importance of market research and how to do it.
- Intro to Social Media Marketing focuses on the four fundamentals of social media: determining the best social media platform for your goals, developing a successful social media strategy, creating content that increases engagement and drives sales, and gaining a following and expanding your reach.
- Intro to Social Media Marketing with Video shows you how to make an engaging and lasting impact through video. This tutorial mainly focuses on YouTube and TikTok, but also touches on Instagram and Facebook videos. The main points discussed are setting goals and tracking results, knowing your audience and engaging with them, scheduling your content and maintaining consistency, and determining a strategy for paid advertising.
- Intro to Facebook Marketing covers the fundamentals of Facebook marketing, which are similar to social media and video marketing but more specific to Facebook. This tutorial covers creating earned media and surveys the ins and outs of Facebook Ads.
- Intro to Email Marketing discusses why email marketing should be a part of your marketing strategy, how to get started with email marketing, and how to build your email list. Email is almost 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined in terms of helping a business attract new customers.
- Website Fundamentals & Conversion Optimization covers best practices for building an effective website, including tips for enhancing your website to increase traffic and actions to improve website performance. It also covers how to track website activity and conversions, which is crucial to increasing sales.
- Intro to Google Analytics gives an overview of web analytics and Google Analytics in particular. Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of web data to understand and optimize website performance. Google Analytics is a free tool within the Google Marketing Platform that collects data and compiles it into valuable reports that you can use to see who visits your website and what they do there.
- Dominate Local Search with Google My Business focuses on the importance of local search listing and how to use Google My Business (GMB). The tutorial demonstrates how to add your business to GMB, what is included in a GMB listing, how to complete your GMB profile, and where to get additional help setting up your listing.
Other Free Tutorials
- Facebook Blueprint is a collection of more than 80 courses on Facebook advertising and how to use it. You need to create an account but the classes are free.
- The Strategy of Content Marketing through Coursera covers how to plan, organize, and implement a successful content marketing campaign.
- Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google is a free class including practical exercises in digital marketing. Google also has other free tutorials on its products like Google Ads, Google Analytics, and Google My Business.
- HubSpot Academy offers a free digital marketing certificate course covering search engine optimization (SEO) to improve website performance and paid and unpaid advertising strategies.
- SEMRush Academy is a collection of free classes from the company that creates SEO tools. Topics include SEO crash course, content-led SEO and How to Get Hired as a Digital Marketer.
- Social Media 101 at Constant Contact offers free seminars on the basics of social media marketing. They cover the differences between using social media as a private person and using it as a business, how to create a business page and profile, creating effective content to increase engagement, and using paid advertising.
- Internet Marketing for Smart People is a free class from Copyblogger covering the four pillars of online marketing: building relationships, creating quality content, marketing that content, and having something worth selling.
Podcasts
Podcasts are a great way to learn about digital marketing and keep up with current trends. Here are some popular offerings.
- Paid Search Magic with Amy and James Hebdon is on Apple Podcasts. The Hebdons run a marketing agency of the same name and share their wisdom on paid search marketing.
- PPC Rockstars Podcast is a long-running show about Pay Per Click strategies available on Apple, Spotify, and Podchaser.
- Entrepreneur on Fire with John Lee Dumas is on iTunes. Each week, Dumas interviews different guests about marketing and entrepreneurship.
- The Suitcase Entrepreneur with Natalie Sisson is on Apple, iTunes, and Stitcher. Sisson built a successful online business to have the freedom to travel and live how she wants. She is especially good at helping listeners discover what they are passionate about in their product or service.
Books
While books are technically not free, you can borrow them from the local library without paying for them. Here are some that are highly recommended.
- Digital Marketing Strategy: An Integrated Approach to Online Marketing by Simon Kingsnorth: This classic book on digital marketing has just been updated. Kingsnorth covers social media, website optimization, user experience design, content strategies, automation, and data analysis.
- The Digital Marketing Handbook: Deliver Powerful Digital Campaigns by Simon Kingsnorth. This practical, step-by-step guide shows readers how to create different kinds of digital marketing campaigns.
- Digital Marketing for Dummies, by Ryan Deiss and Russ Hennesberry. The Dummies series offers good introductions to many topics, and digital marketing is no exception. It covers paid and unpaid marketing, email, social media, and data analysis, focusing on how-tos.
- Digital Mastery for Women: The First 5 Digital Marketing Components You Need to Master in Your Business, by Vanessa Collins. Women often lack confidence where technology is concerned, but Collins encourages women entrepreneurs and shows them how to embrace Digital Marketing.
Taking the Next Step
Once you have watched several free tutorials, listened to some podcasts, and read a few books, you may be ready to take the next step and sign up for a paid class in digital marketing. Many schools offer online courses in digital marketing, and some of them are asynchronous classes that you can take in your spare time. Certificate programs take two to four months to complete. These are intensive courses focusing exclusively on digital marketing subjects.
Noble Desktop offers a Digital Marketing Certificate program 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 various 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 great 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 share your screen to show you how to do things. You get the same level of attention as in in-person classes. When you complete a certificate course from Noble Desktop, you will receive a verified digital certificate of completion licensed by the New York State Department of Education.
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.
Key Takeaways
Here are some things you can do to get started on your digital marketing journey:
- Watching free video tutorials
- Listening to podcasts
- Reading books
After you have worked your way through some free resources, you might try a paid class. Courses are the most effective and efficient way to learn digital marketing before switching to a new career.