Last updated on November 25th, 2022
When I wanted to learn about digital marketing, I followed the old fashioned method by going to university, and getting a degree in BA in Economics and Marketing.
But, even though my college days only feel like yesterday, they were years ago and the education industry today looks a lot different.
Where I had to head to university and pay thousands in fees, many people today can actually learn about digital marketing from the comfort of their own home and for free – but how?
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Here, I am going to be sharing the different methods you can use to learn about digital marketing. These are sourced from research I have completed myself online as well as talking to a few colleges in the digital marketing industry.
Why Learn Digital Marketing?
First, let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you should learn digital marketing in the first place. Now, I’m probably going to be a bit biased here but in reality, there are plenty of reasons why you should learn digital marketing.
If you want to run your own business, then it’s a good idea to at least understand the basics of digital marketing. This is because more than half of all marketing is done digitally (55%), and businesses can use digital marketing to help their business thrive and grow.
For example, 86% of marketers have used digital marketing to increase their business’s brand awareness, and this can lead to more revenue and customers by introducing your brand to more people.
Not only that, but 75% of marketers also stated that digital marketing helped increase their company’s credibility and trust to generate sales.
Even if you don’t run your own business, you can still work independently as a digital marketer.
The digital marketing industry is thriving at the moment and globally, is projected to reach $786.2 billion by 2026.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, marketing jobs are likely to increase in demand by 10% over the next 10 years. So, now’s a great time to switch careers to be a digital marketer.
So, it’s proven that digital marketing is essential for businesses (see also, ‘Why Copywriting Is Essential For Your Business‘) plus the increase in demand for professional digital marketers means that now is a good time to become one.
Resources For Learning Digital Marketing For Free
Thanks to the power of the internet, there are now more free learning resources available than ever.
Here are some of the best free resources you can use to learn about digital marketing I have found (and sometimes use myself) along with those recommended to me by other digital marketers.
I also have to mention that you can also use this very blog as a place to learn about different aspects of digital marketing for free.
I know from experience how difficult it can be to find reliable information for digital marketing, and part of the reason why I made this blog was to share insightful and honest information with others.
If you have any questions or queries, my inbox is always open and you can also find me on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
One of the most important aspects of digital marketing is search engine optimization (SEO). The industry alone is worth $80 billion and that’s expected to increase in the next year.
This is because 61% of marketers agree that generating traffic and leads is their biggest challenge, and SEO is one of the best ways to overcome that hurdle.
So, what is SEO?
SEO refers to the steps taken by businesses to improve their online presence and visibility.
Search engines like Google or Bing rank pages on their search engines results page based on numerous factors including its content, how user-friendly it is, and how many backlinks it has.
SEO is all about making sure your business’s website hits as many of those targets as possible so your website is more likely to appear in the top search results.
This is important because over two thirds (67.6%) of clicks go to the top five results on a search engine results page (SERP). So, if businesses want more clicks and customers, getting to the top of SERPs is vital.
Because SEO is so important for digital marketing, there are lots of great free resources you can learn from at home. This includes Google’s own Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide, Moz’s Beginner’s Guide To SEO, and Ahreg’s SEO Basics Blog.
Email Marketing
Another important part of digital marketing to learn about is email marketing.
Not all businesses use email marketing but there are statistics which convince some businesses to give it a go. This includes the high return on investment (ROI) for email marketing at $36 for every $1 spent,
To learn more about email marketing, check out these free resources online such as HubSpot’s Ulatimte Guide To Email Marketing and MailChimp’s Tips For Email Marketing Strategies And Campaigns.
Social Media And Marketing
An amazing 91% of businesses use social media platforms as part of their marketing strategy. It’s easy to see why once you realize that there are 3.78 billion social media users and that the average US adult spends more than two hours a day on social media alone, and that
So it’s important for both businesses and digital marketers to understand what it is, how it works, and different methods you can use to market your business through social media (see also ‘How Can Social Media Listening Increase Customer Advocacy‘).
Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the US, and 93.7% of businesses use Facebook for their marketing.
As a result, I’d recommend you check out guides like this one for using Facebook for digital marketing. I also love listening to the Social Media Marketing Podcast (available for free on a range of platforms) and checking out the free resources available at Social Media Explorer.
Content Marketing
The final area of digital marketing I’ll be mentioning here is content marketing.
Content marketing is all about creating and distributing relevant content that your target market wants in order to try and attract traffic and customers to your website.
It leaks into all the above digital marketing areas mentioned above and so, is a vital part of digital marketing. According to a 2021 report from HubSpot, only 10% of businesses are not actively using content marketing.
So, learning about content marketing is a must for businesses owners and digital marketers alike – so here are some great free resources you can use.
Here is the Ultimate Guide To Content Marketing (2022) by HubSpot, a great Beginner’s Guide from SearchEngineJournal, and this video from Ahrefs’ YouTube page.
Final Thoughts
Due to the growing digital marketing industry, more and more people are eager to learn about it. However, not everyone has the time or funds to try out university courses or online learning classes.
As a result, I’ve pulled together some great free resources business owners and future digital marketers can use to teach themselves the basics.
However, it’s worth noting that these are only great for teaching you the very basics. If you want to go pro as a digital marketer, you will need some qualifications behind you.
Despite that, I hope that you have found the above resources useful and informative – and remember, you can always check out this very blog for more information about digital marketing!
