The US Census Bureau released a report showing that e-commerce sales have grown by 3 percent in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter of the same year. Adjusted for seasonal variation but not price changes, this adds up to a staggering $265.9 billion! The growth is also reflected in total retail sales – an impressive 0.7 percent increase from last quarter amounts to a hefty $1,792 billion!
E-commerce sales in the third quarter of 2022 also increased by 10.8 percent compared to the previous year’s numbers. It was also observed that total retail sales increased by 9.1 percent during the same period. Moreover, regarding market share, e-commerce accounts for 14.8 percent of all total sales worldwide and is expected to continue growing at an impressive rate moving forward.
The figures signify the importance of online marketing for businesses to increase revenues and stay afloat. Due to this, small business owners should consider enrolling in reputable online digital marketing courses to enhance their marketing skills.
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is the perfect way to promote your message while tracking its success along customers’ journeys. Also called online marketing, it’s usually contrasted with conventional marketing practices, such as magazine ads, billboards, or direct mail services. Surprisingly though, television is almost always grouped in with traditional methods.
From text messages to emails, digital marketing allows you to reach more potential customers than ever! You can utilize the internet and various forms of communication, such as social media and web-based advertising so that your brand can connect with a larger audience.
Types of Digital Marketing
From interacting on social media to leveraging paid advertising, digital marketing offers many paths for brands. Here are a few key examples of the possibilities available in this ever-evolving sector.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is an indispensable marketing tool that requires a certain degree of technical know-how to be successful. It’s no secret that higher rankings on the SERP (search engine results page) will lead to increased web traffic and better visibility for your brand–which makes SEO a science.
Knowing which factors are relevant when formulating your SEO strategy is critical; researching and evaluating these elements can help you reach maximum success with your website. An SEO course can benefit businesses looking to drive more traffic and visibility.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing can effectively grow your brand’s visibility and boost website traffic by engaging people in conversations on the internet. You have access to billions of potential customers through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – making it a smart move for any business looking to reach a larger audience. Social media marketing is also ideal for highlighting what makes your product or service unique and sharing elements of your company culture with new followers!
When it comes to social media marketing, the most commonplace platforms are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. LinkedIn and YouTube come in close behind. Your decision regarding which platform is best for your business should depend on your objectives and your target audience. If you have a FinTech startup looking for leads, then targeting professionals via LinkedIn will be beneficial since that’s where they tend to spend more time online. However, running ads over Instagram may bring better results if your business focuses on younger consumers.
Content Marketing
Content marketing uses engaging stories and helpful information to amplify brand recognition. The ultimate aim is to have the reader take a desired action, such as seeking more details, joining an email list, or buying products/services. Content can be in various forms, including blog posts, resources like e-books and white papers, digital videos, or podcasts, which should primarily present value rather than just merely promoting the brand or attempting to make sales.
Content marketing strategies focus on building an enduring, trustworthy relationship between you and your customers that can result in multiple sales over time. Utilizing content marketing works hand-in-hand with other digital promotion strategies like SEO to drive organic website traffic while crafting shareable social media posts and emails for potential customers!
Email Marketing
Social media, mobile applications, and other digital channels have overtaken the marketing world. Despite this, email remains one of the most effective ways to reach customers – even when it comes to content marketing strategies.
Email marketers understand how to build mesmerizing campaigns that add value for customers while gradually turning them into loyal buyers! They are experts in optimizing audience outreach and proficient at evaluating customer data and making informed decisions based on those insights. According to The American Marketing Association (AMA), these digital marketing professionals could be just what your business needs right now!
Email marketing software boasts a myriad of analytical tools. Yet, two that marketers tirelessly seek to improve are the open rate – or how many people opened their messages – and the click-through rate – which specifies those who not only read an email but also clicked through its links.
Pay-Per-Click Marketing
Pay-per-click (PPC) is an effective form of digital marketing that allows businesses to show up in the most prominent places on search engine results, ranging from ads at the top and sides of a page to ads before YouTube videos. Unlike SEO, PPC requires one’s investment as these advertisements are temporal. Once you stop paying for them, they simply vanish. This short-term technique can significantly increase website traffic while appearing across multiple platforms, such as web browsing and mobile applications!
If you’re considering pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns like those on Google AdWords, one of the key advantages is that you are only charged if someone clicks your ad and arrives at your site. It doesn’t matter what budget you have. Whether it is small or large, some companies experience results quickly with a few hundred dollars in investment. In contrast, others decide to spend tens of thousands monthly on PPC advertising – each will achieve success!
Affiliate Marketing
Online marketing has seen a surge in popularity in recent years. This kind of promotion is known as affiliate or influencer marketing, and many businesses are turning to it for the invaluable connection between customers and organizations.
You can leverage the reach of recognized industry leaders and social media influencers in your affiliate marketing strategy. By working with third-party influencers, you’ll join forces to drive more traffic towards your products or services – all while being compensated for it. These partners will draw attention through posts and blogs that help you create new leads and improve brand awareness. Some even create compelling video content to connect with their audience, ensuring you get the most out of your investment.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is an effective strategy that requires working with influential people with a wide reach, such as celebrities, industry insiders, or content creators. In return for their services, these influencers will promote your products and services to their followers across multiple social media channels. Affiliate marketing works similarly but uses online versions of word-of-mouth advertising instead of real-life endorsements from individuals.
Employing influencer marketing is a great strategy for B2B and B2C businesses to tap into new audiences. However, you must partner with reliable influencers since they are essentially extensions of your brand. Incorrectly chosen partners can erode the trust consumers have in your business – so it pays to be picky!
Mobile Marketing
You can also reach your target audience with mobile marketing! By utilizing SMS/MMS, social media notifications, and alerts from a specialized app or another platform – you’ll be able to engage customers on their smartphones and tablets. With this digital strategy in place, you can ensure that every communication is delivered where it matters the most.
Crafting content for mobile devices is critical in this day and age. With around 85 percent of Americans owning a smartphone, optimizing your marketing efforts for these devices will result in substantial success.
The importance of digital marketing is undeniable in today’s market. If you want to stay a step ahead of the competition, consider investing in online digital marketing courses that can help you better understand this sector’s ins and outs. You can also work with a reputable digital marketer with the technical skills to take your online business to new heights – so don’t wait any longer and ensure you get on board.
Digital Marketing Course
You also have the option of looking for online marketing courses so you can gain the digital marketing skills that you need to enhance your business. You can look for a paid marketing course or look for free digital marketing courses on the internet. Some of these free online courses allow you to learn digital marketing at your own pace.
You can also leverage what you learned from your digital marketing training to start a new business as a digital marketing specialist. But before you look for real-world projects to apply what you learned from the training courses you took, you should look for the best digital marketing courses available in the market.
Top Digital Marketing Courses
By enrolling in a digital marketing course, you will be provided with the tools to hone and develop your skills for maximized success. The program will cover essential strategies, tactics, and best practices for online promotion.
When you learn online marketing, it can assist in earning an undergraduate or graduate degree connected to business-related topics. With these skill sets, you’ll have all that is needed to become a successful digital marketer and run digital marketing campaigns.
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing – Google Digital Garage
Launched in 2015, Google Digital Garage empowers all individuals with the Google fundamentals of online marketing so that they can leverage digital platforms for their business. Through this free learning platform, learners will be introduced to relatable examples and tips on how different small businesses use digital channels in various ways.
After completing the Google course material, students get a certificate accredited by both Google and the Interactive Advertising Bureau-Europe (IAB-Europe) as proof of their skills.
The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course is an expertly crafted free course bundle created by Google’s trainers with novice digital marketers in mind. This comprehensive guide takes you step-by-step through all digital marketing fundamentals, featuring modules covering everything from digital marketing analytics and data insights to e-commerce and social media platforms. With a user-friendly platform and streamlined design, this beginner-friendly program will give you the knowledge and confidence to take your digital marketing skills to new heights!
Upon completing the 26-module free digital marketing course, you’ll demonstrate mastery by taking a 40-question final exam. Pass with flying colors and receive a shareable certificate to proudly feature on your resume and LinkedIn profile – showcasing your knowledge for all potential employers!
Hubspot Email Marketing Course
The HubSpot Email Marketing Course has everything – from the fundamentals of email marketing to applying these ideas on their platform. This certification program provides a comprehensive understanding of how to effectively create an email advertising plan, compose compelling emails that deliver results, and improve your campaigns through testing. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to skyrocket your success in no time!
You’ll also discover how to craft an email marketing plan that addresses the needs of real people and earns their trust for the long term. At the end of each lesson, you’ll have to pass a quiz before moving on to the next lesson.
After completing all nine lessons, you’ll receive a digital marketing certification from HubSpot that confirms your expertise in email marketing. The digital marketing certificate will be a valuable asset to make you stand out from the competition and demonstrate your prowess in the digital marketing field.
Udacity Digital Marketing Course
The Digital Marketing Nanodegree course from Udacity is designed to prepare students for employment. It is also accessible to anyone interested in honing their skills to start a digital marketing job.
The design philosophy for the online course is based on three key components: brevity, affordability, and practicality. In just a few months, you can become an expert under the guidance of industry professionals while gaining hands-on experience that will be evident in your impressive portfolio when you graduate!
If you want to become a digital marketer, this comprehensive course is the perfect place for you! The topics in the course include
- Online Marketing Principles
- Social Media Advertising with Facebook Blueprint
- Content Strategy
- Search Engine Marketing with Google Ads
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Email Marketing
- Display Advertising
- Measurement and Optimization with Google Analytics
MSc Masters in Digital Marketing – Digital Marketing Institute
If you’re serious about becoming a digital marketing expert, the two-year distance learning program of the Digital Marketing Institute is perfect. Upon completing this comprehensive and time-intensive course, you will earn a Master of Science degree that unlocks opportunities to become an expert in your field. You’ll learn how to play the game and gain an understanding of becoming “an expert’s expert.”
This innovative and interactive platform is designed to equip students with the skills required for modern communications, digital strategy planning, consumer marketing, social media platform management, SEO, e-commerce strategies, email campaigns, and mobile advertising. The program has a near-even split between theoretical learning and practical application of research findings in real-world scenarios. It will provide you with the ideal opportunity to hone your knowledge of marketing fundamentals. Before joining this digital marketing specialist course, you should have an undergraduate degree in business or Marketing. Additionally, you should have at least one year’s experience in the digital marketing landscape.
Digital marketing courses are an invaluable resource for businesses looking to take their online presence to the next level. With a wide range of options available, such as Google Digital Garage and Hubspot Email Marketing Course, you’ll find something that fits your business needs perfectly – from beginner-friendly modules to advanced Masters’s degrees. Whichever route you choose, these digital marketing courses will provide you with the essential skills required for success in this ever-evolving field and help set your business apart from competitors. Investing in digital marketing education is one of the best investments any company can make – so don’t wait any longer!
