The 12 Best Events & Courses for Digital Marketers

07/31/2020 • Marketing • 16 MINUTES READ

Ongoing education is a must for digital marketers, whether you’ve been working in the industry for years or you’re just now trying to launch a marketing career.

But choosing the best events and courses out there is tough. Tons of options exist, but not all of them are up-to-date (or even reliable). 

That’s why, in this article, I’ve pulled together my favorite education options for digital marketers. From Hubspot to Hootsuite, these globally-recognized names will help anchor your existing knowledge, so you’ll be a step ahead and prepared for all the changes to come.

Digital Marketing Courses

Conversion XL

While CXL offers many courses, they’re all taught by industry experts (“The top 1% of marketing practitioners.”) 

You’ll learn the majority of content through video, but you’ll also get the opportunity to engage with top CRO practitioners through the live cohort feature, which is a great way to get your questions answered. 

Overall, CXL courses received 4.5 out of 5 ratings from G2, and it’s one of the first places we turn to at Web Profits when we’re looking for educational content. Here are a few in particular to check out:

SEO Beginner

SEO Beginner is all about the fundamentals. If you’re new to SEO, it’ll teach you how to understand the core principles of search, create content that ranks and produce a solid customer acquisition strategy. 

Instructor: Dan Shure (Owner of Evolving SEO)

Course Length: 20h 30m 

Price: $499 

Level: Beginner

Landing Page Optimization 

Here, you’ll learn how to wireframe a landing page, as well as gather the right data to perform an audit and build an optimization strategy.

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  • Instructor: Michael Aagaard (Senior CRO Consultant)
  • Course Length: 10h 
  • Price: $499 
  • Level: Beginner, Intermediate

Digital Analytics Minidegree

If you’re looking for a more comprehensive course, CXL also offers minidegrees. They’re great once you understand the basics of a given field and want to specialize in it further.

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Google Analytics Academy

SEO can be tricky, but the Google Analytics Academy can help you make sense of modern best practices.

All of the courses here are highly actionable, teaching you not only key concepts when it comes to SEO, but also how to navigate the Google Analytics interface, reports and dashboard. 

Even better, they’re all free.

Google Analytics for Beginners

If you’re new to Google Analytics, start here. You’ll learn how to analyze basic audiences, prepare acquisitions behavior reports, set up goals and track campaigns.

Introduction to Data Studio

Once you have a grasp of basic analytics, check out this intro on Data Studio, which will help you learn how to harness the power of data visualization to gain further insights.

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  • Course Length: 2-5h 
  • Price: FREE
  • Level: Beginner

SEO That Works (from Brian Dean)

Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko (an SEO blog with more than three million readers), is a highly-recognized SEO expert. 

But to learn from him, you have to enroll at the right time, as his courses are extremely exclusive and offered only for limited times (though waitlists may be available). 

If you want to improve on your existing SEO skills, take a look at Dean’s SEO That Works course. In it, you’ll learn how to create content that attracts white-hat backlinks from highly-ranked and relevant pages. And if you’re not satisfied for any reason, Dean offers participants a money-back guarantee. 

  • Instructor: Brian Dean
  • Price: Starts at $900 
  • Level:  Intermediate, Advanced

DistilledU 

Distilled may have started as an online marketing agency, but its DistilledU courses have quickly become industry standards.

Will Critchlow, the CEO and founder of DistilledU, developed the courses based on his personal experiences. And with an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 (based on 34,647 reviews), the course can be a great way to learn SEO.

DistilledU SEO 101

DistilledU’s SEO 101 course covers all the SEO basics. You can test your knowledge with interactive modules, multiple-choice tests and even earn fun badges based on your scores.
Instructor: Will Critchlow 

Course Length: 40-50h 

Level: Beginners

Price: $40 per month 

Hootsuite Academy

According to the stats on its website, Hootsuite Academy has taught over 400,000+ students, has 46,000+ certified graduates and boasts 1,000+ enrolled schools. 

Yeah, it’s that good.

Hootsuite might be a well-known social media managing platform, but its academy certifications are equally as popular. Just take a look at its 4.5 out of 5 rating on Indeed.

Social Marketing Training

In this course, you’ll learn how to construct a social media strategy, grow your online community, understand content marketing fundamentals and advertise online effectively.   

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Social Selling Training

If you’re interested in understanding how marketing and sales can work effectively together on social media, then have a look at this course.

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Social Selling for Financial Services

It’s fantastic to see Hootsuite target more niche industries. If you plan to enter the finance sector, you’ll definitely want to take a look at this course.

Content Marketing University

If you’re looking to specialize in content marketing, the Content Marketing Institute’s online trainings are a no-brainer.

Learn from the best at the Content Marketing University, including Robert Rose, Chief Strategy Adviser of the Content Marketing Institute, and Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute. 

The program claims that its curriculums are always updated, but enrollments are limited, so follow the program’s site closely for announcements about new offerings.

Content Marketing University Course

Course Consultants: Robert Rose, Joe Pulizzi, Ardath Albee, 

Course Length: 40h+

Price: $995 

Level: Beginner, Intermediate

Ahrefs Academy

The Ahrefs Academy doesn’t just teach you how to use the company’s popular SEO tool. In fact, the Ahrefs Academy Marketing Courses are very comprehensive, covering digital marketing essentials such as keyword research, competitive research, link building, link acquisition and strategic SEO. 

Marketing With Ahrefs

Here, you can learn the best practices of quality online marketing for free. If you’re an audiophile or love motion graphics, this one’s for you.

Instructor: Sam Oh 

Course Length: 4h 57 m 

Price: FREE

Level: Beginner

Blogging for Business

Check this one out if you’re looking to specialize as a content writer or manager.

Instructor: Tim Soulo 

Course Length: 4h 56 m

Price: $995 

Level: Beginner

SmartBlogger’s Content Marketing Certification

Want to learn from a blogger who created a site that generates more than $100,000 a month? 

Before Jon Morrow created Smart Blogger, he was the founder of Boost Blog Traffic, which he monetized by building an audience of more than 100,000 email subscribers. Now, you can learn from him.

This course isn’t cheap, but it’s one of the few out there that focuses on pitching editors effectively. You’ll also get six months of support and direct access to Jon himself, making it a great choice for digital marketers with a focus on inbound marketing.

  • Instructor: Jon Morrow
  • Course Length: 4h 56m 
  • Price: $2,000
  • Level: Beginner

Hubspot Academy

Hubspot invented the term “inbound marketing,” so if you’re looking to specialize in inbound or content marketing, why not go straight to the experts?

Inbound

In this course, you’ll learn the inbound methodology and understand why businesses are shifting from outbound to inbound techniques.

Instructor: Jorie Munroe and Kyle Jepson

Course Length: 9h 32m (length of videos)

Price: FREE

Level: Beginner

Inbound Marketing

Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing course takes your education to the next level, helping you apply inbound techniques to your digital marketing strategy.

Instructor: Jorie Munroe, Eric Peters, Courtney Sembler, Lindsay Thibeault

Course Length: 3h 14m 

Price: FREE

Level: Beginner

Content Marketing 

Creating great content isn’t easy. This course attempts to simplify the process, teaching you a content creation framework that’ll help you produce content consistently.

Tribe SEO Course

Joe Williams is the founder of Tribe SEO and an SEO lecturer at the Digital Marketing Institute. With highly visual and step-by-step lessons, Joe’s on a mission to make SEO easier, fun and profitable.

  • Instructor: Joe the SEO (SEO Trainer)
  • Course Length: 11h
  • Price: £397
  • Level: Beginner, Intermediate

Digital Marketing Conferences

Online courses aren’t the only way to grow your digital marketing knowledge. Conferences can also be a great way to learn from seasoned digital marketing veterans – as long as you’re selective about the events you attend. 

Content Marketing World

With 120+ sessions and workshops presented by the best in the content marketing industry, it’s an event worth traveling to.

Growth Marketing Conference

I’m a little biased on this one, since I’m speaking here this year. But based on past experience attending Growth Marketing Conference, I can definitely say it’s a great place to learn while surrounding yourself with like-minded peers.

How to Spot A Bullshit Course

Crappy courses are everywhere, since – these days – all it takes is a webcam to film training materials and sell them as a course. To prevent buyer’s remorse, answer these three questions before signing on to a program:

What credentials or experience does the teacher have?

The instructor should be an expert in their field – not some no-name marketer you’ve never heard of. Ideally, they should have years of experience, and should have worked with or for well-known brands.

Does the information seem current?

Digital marketing evolves fast. Courses should have been produced within the last year – especially if you’re paying a lot for them. 

Does the course support your career objectives?

Specialization is critical to digital marketing success. Whether you’re specializing in content marketing, social media management or even data analytics, choose courses that give you a general understanding of digital marketing and in-depth knowledge of one domain. 

Launching a Digital Marketing Career

If you’re going to launch a digital marketing career, choosing the right training options is a must. But while the courses and events I’ve listed above may be a part of that path, they aren’t the only things future employers will judge you on.

If you want to create your own digital marketing training course, the very best way to learn how is from people who’ve done it successfully themselves. The Course Builders Hub is full of interviews with successful course builders who share their experiences, tips and insights on how you can build, launch and grow your own online course

When I’m hiring digital marketers and building my team, I don’t necessarily care about the certifications they’ve listed on their resumes or the courses they claim to have taken. What I care about is results.

Find the training program that’s right for you. Take it, and learn everything you can from it. But then, put your knowledge to work. A track record of success in your chosen area of specialization will make a bigger difference in your future career than individual courses or events ever will.

What other training opportunities would you add to this list? Share your experience with different digital marketing courses and events by leaving me a comment below:

Entrepreneur & Digital Marketing Strategist

I build and grow SaaS companies.

“When it comes to marketing, Sujan is the best. I’ve never met someone with such creative tactics and deep domain knowledge not just in one channel, but in every flavor of marketing. From content, to scrappy guerrilla tactics, to PR, Sujan always blows my mind with what he comes up with.”

RYAN FARLEY Co-Founder of Lawn Starter

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