So much has changed in the field of marketing over the last three years. The world has grown more reliant on gadgets and the Internet, and content marketing continues to be an important component of any business marketing strategy. Therefore, if you’re looking to start a career in marketing, upskilling with courses on digital marketing should be at the top of your list.
The good news for marketing job hunters is that there is a growing demand for marketing professionals in the workplace. However, there’s a big skills gap among marketing personnel, given the many changes the field has been undergoing. So in order for you to stand out, you can’t rely solely on your degree. You need to have specific skills and know-how that will address the current needs of the job market.
In this blog, you’ll know about the best digital marketing courses online that you can take for free. The list includes basic digital marketing courses for career-switchers and specializations for marketing graduates looking for a niche to fill.
15 Free Online Courses on Digital Marketing
Below is a list of free digital marketing courses that you can take online. Many of these courses are free to audit, which means they can’t issue a digital marketing certificate unless you pay for one.
Level: Beginner
Duration: approx. 18 hours
Recommended for: career-switchers
This quick course is a good foundation course for people who want to break into the world of digital marketing. It offers a sweeping overview of the customer journey as translated into the digital world. After the course, you’ll be able to create a digital marketing strategy and have tools to measure your campaign’s success.
Level: Beginner
Duration: approx. 13 hours
Recommended for: upskilling digital marketing professionals
Content marketing is now more important than ever in capturing your target audience, as brands compete for attention and engagement. If you want to specialize in this highly relevant niche, you should take this course on branded content. It takes the basics of storytelling and teaches learners how to use the values and messaging of a brand to craft a compelling storyline for its target market. If you want to delve deeper into this specialty, you can level up by taking the Branding: The Creative Journey Specialization program.
3. SEO Training Course
Level: Beginner
Duration: approx. 3 hours
Recommended for: upskilling digital marketing professionals, career-switchers
Every business needs SEO or search engine optimization these days, whether your brand is a digital native or not. This 3-hour course introduces beginners to the basics of this in-demand digital marketing niche. During this course, learners will know practical SEO skills such as keyword research, site audits, and the fundamentals of both on-page and off-page SEO.
Level: Beginner
Duration: approx. 36 hours
Recommended for: upskilling digital marketing professionals, career-switchers
If you already have the basics of SEO down, this free digital marketing training should build upon that knowledge. It introduces and dives deeper into keyword management, web analytics, and integrated content marketing. Best for SEO marketers who want to climb up the ladder.
Level: Beginner
Duration: approx. 5 hours
Recommended for: aspiring SEM supervisors/managers
Pay-per-click marketing continues to be a significant niche in search engine marketing. If you’re looking to build a career in SEM, taking the basics of PPC along with mastering SEO should make you a highly coveted digital marketer. This specialty course on digital marketing teaches its learners the basics of PPC, how to create a good strategy that maximizes ad spend, and how to build and execute a PPC campaign that converts.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 2 to 5 hours per module
Recommended for: PPC marketers
Google offers various free digital marketing certifications in different aspects of Google Ads. You can enroll in one or all, depending on how much time you have or what you’re keen to specialize in. You can get certified in the following: Search, Video, Display, Shopping Ads, Measurement, and App.
Level: Beginner
Duration: approx. 10 hours per module
Recommended for: aspiring social media marketers
Social media marketing is yet another indispensable skill that’s now required for all digital marketers. This course is an introductory part of the bigger Social Media Marketing in Practice Specialization program. It introduces the basics of social media marketing, teaching learners how to adapt the principles of digital marketing on different platforms.
Level: Beginner
Duration: approx. 7 months
Recommended for: aspiring social media marketers
This free digital marketing certification is a deep dive into all the Meta social media platforms. These include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok. The course focuses on how to execute a social media campaign, zeroing in on how to engage and maintain a social community and how to maximize your social media advertising. It’s broken down into 6 courses.
9. Digital Marketing Analytics in Theory and in Practice
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Duration: approx. 20 hours per module
Recommended for: digital marketing professional applying for data analytics positions
Data analytics is one of the biggest skills gaps in digital marketing in 2022. So if you’re looking for an in-demand job in your field, consider taking an intro to this niche. Take the first In Theory module to learn the basics and terms of digital marketing analytics. Then afterward, learn how to apply the theory in practice in the next module. The courses should teach you how to build digital marketing strategies and campaigns with data analytics as your main driving force.
10. Email Marketing Course
Level: Beginner-intermediate
Duration: approx. 4 hours
Recommended for: upskilling digital marketing professionals
Email marketing is a crucial portion of any successful digital marketing strategy for maintaining customer loyalty. This quick 4-hour course should give you the tools to create a great email marketing strategy, focusing on how to create emails that generate trust.
11. Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content
Level: Beginner-intermediate
Duration: 4 hours
Recommended for: content marketers
If you want to build on your content marketing skills, this course is for you. The 4-hour lecture is based on the bestselling book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On and is taught by the author, Jonah Berger himself. It discusses the elements of what goes into viral content, and how you can use these elements to create a strategy for virality.
12. Brand Management: Aligning Business, Brand and Behavior
Level: Beginner-intermediate
Duration: approx. 17 hours
Recommended for: digital marketers applying for management-level jobs
If you’re looking to level up in the workplace or seeking a brand-new management opportunity, this course on Brand Management will set you apart from competitors. It offers a unique look at brand management, breaking down the philosophy that “Brands are thus not only an external promise to customers but a means of executing business strategy via internal brand-led behavior and culture change”.
13. Create a Free Marketing Calendar with CoSchedule
Level: Beginner
Duration: 2 hours
Recommended for: digital markets who want to learn specific hard skills
Project management is an important skill to master as a digital marketer. If you want to introduce a project management tool to your team, taking this 2-hour tutorial on CoSchedule will be helpful in setting up a calendar for your campaigns.
14. Create a Business Marketing Brand Kit Using Canva
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 2 hours
Recommended for: digital markets who want to learn specific hard skills
If you’re using Canva Pro for brand management, you will find this tutorial useful. It teaches the basics of maximizing the platform’s Brand Kit feature plus other practical skills like creating a style guide, organizing your brand materials, and developing your own branded templates.
15. Create Digital Marketing Campaign Dashboards in Tableau
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 2 hours
Recommended for: digital markets who want to learn specific hard skills
If you want to build up your digital marketing analytics, learning how to use a data dashboard should be next on your upskill list. This tutorial is focused on Tableau, a platform that you can use to organize and present data for decision-making in the workplace. The tutorial is a hands-on course on how to maximize the dashboard’s data features. At the end of the course, you should be able to create your own digital marketing campaign dashboard on Tableau.
When job hunting or switching careers, you can set yourself apart by regularly upskilling in your field. With so many courses on digital marketing available online for free, there really is nothing between you and knowledge. Upskilling won’t just boost your resume – it also sends a message to prospective employers that you’re dedicated to your career and are invested in continuous growth and learning.
Discover your digital marketing opportunity on Joblu
Looking for your next great opportunity? Sign up for Joblu to match with jobs and employers from all over the world. Here are just a few digital marketing opportunities available on the app and website waiting for you:
- Digital Marketing Specialist – Telus Philippines
- SEO & CRO Optimization Specialist – Mustard Seed Systems Corporation
- Social Media Manager – Guanco Development Corporation
- Marketing Associate – webpuppies
- Digital Marketing Associate – Xceler8 Technologies
Visit Joblu or download the Joblu app today and start exploring Jobs & Learning for You.
Frequently Asked Questions about Courses on Digital Marketing
Q: What course should I take for digital marketing?
A: Here are some courses you should take to learn all about digital marketing and its various niches:
- Foundations of Digital Marketing and e-Commerce
- Storytelling in Brand and Content Marketing
- SEO Training Course
- Advanced SEO Program
- PPC Fundamentals
- Google Ads Certification
- Social Media and Digital Marketing Fundamentals
- Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate
- Digital Marketing Analytics in Theory and in Practice
- Email Marketing Course
- Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content
- Brand Management: Aligning Business, Brand and Behaviour
Note that some courses will require some level of digital marketing know-how.
Q: Is digital marketing a good course?
A: Yes, digital marketing is a good course. Digital marketing is one of the most in-demand industries in today’s job market, as more brands discover the importance of marketing in their success.
Q: Which career is good with digital marketing?
A: There are many careers and specializations you can undertake within digital marketing. You can specialize in content marketing, SEO/SEM, social media, or data analytics.
