By Khondker Faraz Shafiq

Whether it is to follow your passion or learn something interesting to add to your resume, e-learning is perhaps the cheapest and the most easily attainable option available to you. As the job market is becoming increasingly competitive and job requirements are getting fluid gradually, today’s youths are veering towards e-learning solutions to proliferate their skillset. One certain topic of interest that many companies are focusing on is Digital Marketing.

As internet penetration and digital payment solutions in Bangladesh increase, a sizeable amount of interested customers may soon be shopping or at least checking out products online beforehand. Understanding Digital Marketing and the vast areas it covers can help you – the marketer or the entrepreneur – capture the crowd effectively, convert visits to sales and overall gain useful insights on your customer base.

A quick Google search can show plenty of websites or YouTube tutorials on graphic designing, SEO content generation, Google Analytics and much more. However, there are too many sites and tutorials to choose from and many find them incomplete or incoherent. Sifting through so many tutorials and topics can be exhausting or confusing. To tackle this, it can be tactful to know about the best courses available out there by some of the best platforms.

LINKEDIN LEARNING

LinkedIn Learning is an e-learning platform that provides a wide range of courses that can broaden your skillset, and supplement classroom, government and organizational learning. The website analyzes your LinkedIn profile and provides a personal list of courses that you can take to improve upon important areas. One notable course is the “Online Marketing Foundations” course.

This course covers many topics of the current digital landscape and is helpful for marketers or new entrepreneurs to understand core digital marketing concepts or brush up on their knowledge. The course consists of 13 video lessons (totaling 4.5 hours), quizzes, exercise files, and written transcripts. It covers areas of SEO, email marketing, web analytics, content marketing, influencer marketing, and social media marketing.

LinkedIn Learning requires a monthly or annual subscription to be able to take their courses; however, the fee is very small compared to the large wealth of information that awaits – you can check out the LinkedIn Learning Price for more information. Furthermore, this course can also be completed during the first free trial month that the website offers its prospective users.

COURSERA

Coursera is founded by Stanford University Professors and includes courses and course materials in partnership with 150 universities in 29 countries. It is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provider and has the highest number of users. The courses are specially designed by professors and professionals covering various topics and skills ranging from science to business and data management. It even offers full Master’s degree programs and Project Certifications online from some of the top ranked universities in the world at very affordable costs. Whilst many courses are completely free to view and learn on Coursera, getting your assignments graded and obtaining certificates require the user to pay for the course.

One of the most popular courses available at Coursera is the “Marketing in a Digital Market” course. This introductory level course deals with fundamentals of digital marketing, notably how digital tools are utilized and combined in the marketing mix. The entire course completion time is estimated at 31 hours, as this is a university level course. It is part of the ‘Digital Marketing’ specialization consisting of seven courses in total, provided by the University of Illinois.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS ACADEMY

Web analytics – the technical aspect of digital marketing – is becoming an important dimension to businesses. Monitoring traffic, identifying consumer behavior online or measuring digital marketing campaign reach would not have been possible without web analytics. Therefore, all marketers should have basic knowledge about understanding and using analytics data. It pays to be able to use the free Google Analytics tools. Google’s Analytics Academy offers an in depth course for beginners on how to use their service to analyze traffic.

The course is free of charge and the lesson plans are split into four parts. Since this is the beginner level course, it covers introduction to the web analytics tool, how to implement it, and how to interpret data. Google also offers advanced courses for those who wish to take their knowledge a step further.

EDX

edX is another MOOC platform that is quite similar to Coursera and is created by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. It too is affiliated with various high ranking universities, non-profit education organizations and schools, all of which offer university level courses at a competitive cost. While most courses offered are non-credit courses, some courses carry credits determined by the university offering them. In addition to that, completion of any course results in certification from edX. Many courses are free to view, however, to be able receive certification and accreditation, one must pay for the course fees.

The “Writing for Social Media” is a useful short course that has been prepared as a beginner level free-of-cost course by University of California, Berkeley. It teaches all the necessary skills, techniques and strategies that content writers can use in order to know and attract their audience, and tune their delivery method to create impact. A lot of companies look for social media managers and content writers, and this course will surely give you an edge over others.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Both Udemy and Skillshare are e-learning platforms online which have several learning courses on Digital Marketing on their sites. Udemy’s “Digital Marketing Masterclass” and Skillshare’s courses on digital marketing covers digital marketing strategies, brand identity building, SEO, Facebook, Google and Instagram advertisements, copywriting etc. Udemy’s digital marketing bundle is comparatively more expensive than Skillshare’s monthly subscription model.

Both Udemy and Skillshare also provide a wide range of courses on graphic design, videography, and infographic designing; engagement tools that are invaluable for digital marketers to produce content in platforms such as YouTube and Facebook where a big chunk of the customer base resides online.

SET YOUR OWN PACE

Perhaps the greatest advantage with e–learning is that you get to set the pace for how you want to develop yourself. There is no hassle of scheduled classes, and no time frame within which you must finish. You can learn during your free time or when you’re on the go and have nothing to do but sit in traffic with your handheld device at your disposal. Whatever pace you set for your learning, and whichever courses you choose, it is important that you learn something that is relevant in today’s changing landscape and helps you become a versatile performer in the digital realm.