Advancements in tech coupled with the onset of the pandemic have changed not only how consumers shop but how they discover new products and interact with brands. Data shows that it takes 6-8 marketing touchpoints to generate a lead (think social media, digital ad banners, blog posts), and 7-13 touchpoints to get the lead to convert into a paying customer.
Marketers are taking heed: according to a survey from Salesforce, 90% of marketing leaders say their digital engagement strategy has changed since the pandemic began.
These changes are reflected in the job market, with demand for digital marketing professionals climbing rapidly. “Digital marketing specialist” placed sixth in the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2020, with 860,000 job openings, according to LinkedIn’s Economic Graph.
Meanwhile, brands have responded by shifting focus and spending onto digital channels. US digital ad spending is expected to hit $238.9 billion in 2022—a 16% increase from 2021. In fact, this rate of growth will persist at least through 2025, essentially more than doubling the value of the digital ad market over this period.
Today, we’re excited to announce that we’re launching a brand new program focused on one of tech’s fastest-growing job fields. Say hello to Springboard’s Digital Marketing Professional Certificate.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing refers to all marketing activities that occur over the internet and other digital channels. Unlike traditional marketing, which takes the form of print, broadcast, direct mail, and outdoor advertising such as billboards, digital marketing uses a mixture of inbound and outbound strategies: attracting leads organically through content marketing and social media, while also promoting brand awareness using paid advertising.
Digital marketing campaigns take many forms, including online video, display ads, email, search engine marketing, paid social ads, and social media posts. With US e-commerce sales slated to cross the $1 trillion mark for the first time in 2022, it’s clear that digital channels are the number-one conduit for brands to engage with consumers.
Digital marketers work for both B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) companies to collect and analyze customer information, design targeted marketing campaigns, and send marketing messages at the right time to the right audiences.
Is Springboard’s Digital Marketing Professional Certificate Right for Me?
Springboard’s Digital Marketing Professional Certificate is designed to train you on job-ready digital marketing skills, including the core mindset, tools, and best practices.
You’ll work on 13 hands-on projects using real-world scenarios and current industry tools such as Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and more.
This course covers the full campaign spectrum, from developing customer personas, the value proposition, and messaging through to creative execution across SEO, SEM, social, email, and more. Finally, you will learn how to track, test, and iterate on your campaigns via A/B testing and analytical analysis. This ensures you can develop brand awareness, generate leads and drive conversions.
This course would best suit:
- Early-career and established marketers looking to shift into a digital marketing role or complement their existing marketing skill set
- Consultants and freelancers seeking to expand their service offering
- Entrepreneurs that want to connect and convert target customers more efficiently
- Professionals in adjacent fields and executives wanting to better understand the opportunities available and connect with digital marketing departments.
Did you know? This course is the first in a series of Digital Marketing Professional Certificates Springboard will be launching this year. This first course teaches the foundations of digital marketing and enables students to learn how to launch multi-channel campaigns. Our next two Professional Certificates, Social Media Marketing and Search Marketing, will be for students who want to specialize and go deeper in those disciplines. They will launch this summer.
What Will Springboard’s Digital Marketing Professional Certificate Cover?
Springboard programs are designed to help you get where you want to go. That means our digital marketing program has been designed for the real world, with online classes to fit your schedule and access to industry experts and career coaches.
The Digital Marketing Professional Certificate will take most students 8 weeks to complete at a pace of less than 10 hours/week.
The 60-hour curated curriculum features videos, articles, and quizzes developed by digital marketing experts. The course is broken up into units that feature a combination of materials intended to build your digital marketing skills.
You’ll apply the skills you learned in each unit by working on projects tailored to digital marketing skills.
Topics covered include:
- Digital marketing fundamentals
- Overview of digital marketing channels
- Buyer personas, positioning, and value proposition
- Content marketing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Social media marketing
- Email, influencer, and affiliate marketing
- Digital marketing analytics, measurements, and A/B testing
What Can I Expect to Get Out of the Digital Marketing Professional Certificate?
As with all Springboard courses, the Digital Marketing Professional Certificate will be a 100% online and self-paced learning experience. As a digital marketing student, you’ll also benefit from one of Springboard’s most sought-after features: a community of support that includes a dedicated student advisor, a career coach, a course teaching assistant, and an expert mentor in the field matched specifically for your goals and needs.
Here’s what else you can expect from the course:
- Mentorship and advice. Once you enroll, you’ll be asked to fill out a profile. You’ll answer questions about your background, your availability, and the skills you want to develop. Your student advisor will use this information to match you with an industry mentor who suits your specific needs. You’ll then have regular calls with your mentor throughout the course.
- A hands-on curriculum curated by experts. We believe that diverse perspectives lead to better learning outcomes. Our online curriculum is packed with videos, articles, quizzes, and projects, created and curated by digital marketing experts from tech leaders including Google and Facebook. Our in-house instructional designers organize all resources to build a cohesive curriculum that guides you each step of the way.
- A Springboard support team that includes a student advisor and mentor. Your Teaching Assistant and office hours host can answer technical questions or connect you to helpful resources via Slack. They also host weekly office hours where you can ask live questions and learn about topics relevant to your studies.
- The Springboard community. While online learning sounds isolating, it’s important to remember that you have a whole community learning alongside you. You’ll get access to this community so you can share triumphs and trials, get feedback, and attend weekly live Office Hours.
- Certification. Students will not only graduate with a professional certificate, they will have the confidence to strategize, execute and analyze digital campaigns, bringing value to any business.
Do I Need Any Prior Experience to Sign Up?
No! The course will teach you everything you need to know about digital marketing strategy including how to execute successful digital campaigns, use content marketing and SEO to attract organic traffic to a company’s website, and use social media channels to build brand awareness.
In addition, you’ll learn how to evaluate if your marketing campaigns are effective using a suite of analytics tools.
Ok, I’m Sold. How Do I Sign Up and What’s It Going to Cost Me?
Cost and schedule. The course is fully online, featuring a flexible pace so you can study anytime, anywhere—even with a full-time job. Most students complete the course in 8 weeks when dedicating 6-9 hours per week. You will have lifetime access to the curriculum and projects, but a limited number of mentor calls to finish the curriculum.
Upfront tuition is $2,495.
Enrollment. We have monthly cohorts with enrollment windows the week before each cohort starts. To enroll, all you need to do is pay tuition and fill out your student profile so you can be matched with an expert mentor. Cohorts start at the beginning of each month.
Want more info? Find more details about the Digital Marketing Professional Certificate here.
