Digital Marketing is one of the fastest growing career paths in Nigeria and indeed Africa at large. However, to become well skilled in your field, you need to be well-informed and trained. Attending training do not have to cost an arm and a leg.
Free Digital Marketing Courses You Can Take in Nigeria
With the digital world, you can access a lot of free courses that will prove very valuable in building your knowledge and credentials.
What is digital marketing?
Online marketing is a mainstay in the 21st century mainly because people spend more time on the internet. Digital marketing is the use of skills and methodologies to promote business and reach out to customers using electronic devices.
Digital marketing is not exclusively for those working in the marketing field but also vital for entrepreneurs, whether at startup level or established companies.
Why is digital marketing effective?
- Target Audience Outreach
- Convenience
- Cuts down marketing costs
- Builds Customer Trust
Key online marketing strategies
- Social Media Marketing – The number of users on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and other apps are unbelievable. Use of social media marketing tools enables businesses to reach new customers like never before. The ease at which products or services could be advertised to a large population of people renders traditional marketing obsolete.
- Search Engine Optimization- This involves optimizing your content in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, AOL, and Bing. It enables your content to show up among top results, placing your products/services higher in the page rank order when related keywords are looked up by users. Online searches tend to click on the first results they see and are more likely to view the results as important. This increases free traffic to your site.
- Email Marketing – Email is a means of keeping in touch with your customers and target customers directly. Almost every internet user has an email account, this provides an unlimited marketing ability. This strategy is preferred for its ease and directness.
- Blogging – blogging is one of the biggest online marketing strategies. It is a very popular marketing tool in Nigeria and this strategy allows you to carve out your niche while raking in a huge income.
- Content marketing – The process of creating awareness, traffic and generating content for a particular brand.
- Pay Per Click – This enables marketers to direct traffic to their site by paying publishers for every click on their ad. Google AdWords is the most popular platform for PPC.
List of Free Digital Marketing Courser/Trainings Online
- Google Online Marketing Challenge – This free online course has been taken in over 100 countries by 100,000 participants, spanning over a period of 8years. Its modules include an introduction to digital marketing, search engine marketing, search advertising, social media analytics and display advertising. It is a comprehensive course for beginners and gives users an all-round, applicable and contemporary training. This course is unique because it provides learners with up to 10,000 dollars in AdWords to develop an advertisement for a business or a non governmental organization within a span of 4 weeks. This enables learners to gain real-world experience in digital marketing skills and create sustainable, tangible impact in the world.
Found at : https://get.google.com/onlinechallenge/ - Alison Course: Alison, founded in 2007, has a huge online community, with a total of six million learners. This site offers free standardized and certified. A diploma in E-business provides digital marketing skills such as search optimization, Google Analytics, and AdWords, campaign tracking and integration, revenue metrics analysis, digital measurement etc. Alison also offers a free diploma in social media marketing.
Found at : https://alison.com/course/Diploma-in-E-BusinessPPC University - Wordstream created PPC University: a free online learning resource that enables users to master digital marketing. This site has lessons for everyone, beginner to advanced learners. The site is mobile friendly, allowing you to learn on the go, everywhere you are.
Found at : https://marketing.wordstream.com/WSPPC101Guide.html#FreeGuide - Hubspot Academy: Hubspot Academy provides a comprehensive 12 free digital marketing courses in email marketing, SEO, blogging, conversion optimization etc. After successful completion of the course, learners take a certification exam. Upon passing, LinkedIn or resume badges are given to improve users employability.
Found at : https://certification.hubspot.com/inbound-certification?_ga=2.232300316.2091686269.1526875372-809574989.1526875372 - Alison.com: Diploma in E-Business – Free Online Training Course | AlisonThis free online Diploma in E-Business course will show you how to build an online marketing plan, promote your business online, and grow online sales.
- Shaw Academy: Unlike other prerecorded lectures, the learning goes on life, where users can interact with other learners and the educator in real time. This free diploma course will enable you to achieve skills that would help you achieve your goals of becoming a digital marketer from the comfort of your home. You will receive specialized assistance and guidance from trained educators throughout your course. The course is internationally accredited by the European Qualifications Framework and the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.Found at : https://www.shawacademy.com/courses/marketing/learn-digital-marketing-online
- Udemy: Udemy has a wide range of courses available free of charge to users. It has free online marketing courses and some require payment. The free courses include Advanced Search Engine Optimization, Google AdWords 101, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Zero Cost Marking Strategies.
- TED Talks: TED spreads free talks and ideas about notable speakers. Below are a few TED talks on marketing: https://www.ted.com/talks/scott_galloway_how_amazon_apple_facebook_and_google_manipulate_our_emotions https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_cobley_what_physics_taught_me_about_marketing/up-next
- Marketing Podcasts: Podcasts are revered because they allow you to multitask and you can listen to them on the go, anywhere and anytime. These are examples of top marketing podcasts: Entrepreneur on Fire – hosted by John Lee Dumas and found on https://www.eofire.comMarketing Over Coffee – hosted by John Wall and Christopher Penn.http://www.marketingovercoffee.com
- Constant Contact: Constant Contact’s Social media 101 provides detailed and step by step social media marketing tutorials to beginners. This online resource is preferred for its ease and quick guides, enabling novices to learn in their leisure time.Found at : https://blogs.constantcontact.com/social-media-quickstarter/
- Facebook: Facebook offers a certification program in Facebook marketing, it is tailored to each learners pace. It is called Blueprint.Found at : https://www.facebook.com/blueprint
More online digital marketing courses can be found at Open2Study, Edx, YouTube , etc.
