Top Courses to Land a Marketing Role

Degrees, certificates, online courses, and internships are just a few things that make up the education of a marketing professional.

Take any marketing course now to begin discovering your interests and learn how to diversify your portfolio of marketing projects. I’ve included some free beginner resources you can check out, if interested.

This list will give you some insight into what courses can help you land a marketing role.

Content Marketing

In a digital world, content is king. Content marketing involves creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience.

This content is delivered via many different channels, including blogs, ebooks, white papers, or case studies.

A successful content strategy helps you build stronger relationships with your customers by providing them with more value than they could get anywhere else. Think of it as free education on your industry or insight into how other companies have solved similar problems in the past.

• Content Marketing Certification (course certification by HubSpot)

• Content Marketing Institute Blog (blog posts written by industry professionals)

• Content Marketing Guide (blog post with infographics by SEMRush)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in search results. It's a great way to increase your online visibility and bring in more traffic to your site.

There are several technical tactics used such as developing well-structured web pages and incorporating highly searched terms. For example, businesses selling project management software will want to optimize their website to answer questions related to user productivity.

The goal is to lead users to your website when they search for something related or relevant. Most importantly, anyone can learn SEO and apply it to their business.

• What is SEO? (blog post by Neil Patel)

• Beginner’s Guide to SEO (blog post by Moz)

• SEO Fundamentals Course (course by SEMRush)

• SEO Certification (course certification by HubSpot)

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is a powerful vehicle for marketers looking to reach any and all people around the globe. SMS, email, digital ads, and social media are just some of the tools marketers employ.

The digital marketing industry is growing at a rapid pace. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that there will be more than 300,000 new jobs in the field by 2022. 

Understanding how to use these digital marketing strategies will put you ahead of others:

• Email marketing

• Social media marketing

• Mobile marketing

• Paid search and advertising

• Search engine marketing

• Website experience

Digital Analytics

Digital analytics is collecting, analyzing, and reporting data to help you make better decisions. It involves using a variety of tools and techniques to measure the performance of digital marketing campaigns including web traffic and conversions.

Analytics can be used to measure many things -- the number of people who visit your site each month to what content they're most interested in browsing. For example, streaming companies like Netflix use data to determine what shows are top-performing in order to promote them on their platform.

Learning how to interpret this data will serve you well as a marketer looking to help a business grow and maximize their sales.

• What is Marketing Analytics? (blog post by Marketo)

• Marketing Analytics (course by University of Virginia)

• Analytics Academy (course by Google)

• Introduction to Data Analytics (course by IBM)

Communication

Communication courses help you learn how to consciously present or speak to audiences of different backgrounds. These classes often involve public speaking or digital presentations and may include writing exercises for improving your on-paper communication.

Learning about these subjects can help you develop diverse communication skills:

• Intercultural communication

• Business professional communication

• Technical communication

• Social and consumer psychology

• Marketing psychology

• Public speaking and presentation

I recommend taking these courses at your university to maximize your discussion experience and exposure to speaking in front of peers. However, there are some free public speaking online courses you can try.

Content Creation

You don’t necessarily need to take a formal class to learn these creativity skills. However, taking a formal class will introduce you to more strategic aspects of creativity we often forget about such as visual design psychology.

From color contrast to text positioning, there are several ways you can capture your audiences attention through creative assets.

• Web design

• Graphic design and typography

• Creative writing or blogging

• Presentation design

• Data visualization

Technology/Industry Sector

Don’t forget that your marketing skills will be applied in a business setting. Whether your company sells athleisure or high-tech software, it’s important to have an understanding of potential industries you’re interested in.

• Consumer technology

• Hospital management

• Tourism and recreation

• Engineering or any technical discipline

• Computer programming

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Takeaways

Regardless of your college major, these skills are highly versatile and can be applied differently within Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) settings.

I personally don’t have a formal business marketing degree. However, I studied technical communication and engineering which led me to my current role as a technical marketer for software products.

Merge your interests together. Instead of thinking of your career as just one major or subject, think of it as the perfect blend of what you are good at and what you like doing.

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