If you regularly look through the local business events listings you’ll probably have noticed the recent growth in digital marketing training.
From introductory courses on social media, through to specialist diplomas in online marketing, businesses and organisations are now offered an impressive choice of specialist digital courses to help them operate more effectively online. With the growth in digital training in mind, New Media Age and The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) conducted a survey last month showing the latest trends in digital marketing training among clients and marketing agencies.
Social and search
Across the entire group of survey respondents just under half (49%) said they were putting training into social media with search marketing following closely behind at 38%. The findings mirror a growing trend in demand for search and social media consultancy services in recent years and certainly reflect the main areas of demand that digital marketing agencies currently face from clients.
Beyond the basics
Not too long ago marketing companies and their clients were content with testing digital media and incorporating a few areas such as email marketing and Google AdWords. However, it’s now clear that most businesses want to elevate digital to a higher level and realise they need to invest heavily in ensuring key staff receive specialist training to help them do much more online than just create a Facebook page.
New courses in digital account management and project management now attract nearly as much investment as search and social marketing methods
It’s also interesting that the management of digital marketing is now attracting more training spend. New courses in digital account management and project management now attract nearly as much investment as search and social marketing methods, as companies realise online marketing and sales aren’t just novel additions but an integral part of business strategy.
Indeed I would argue that digital strategy and campaign management skills are essential for marketing departments who are serious about achieving success online.
The Digital Training Budgets survey also highlights a very interesting point in regard to digital fundamentals. With 85% of respondents claiming that they want to attend a course on how new technology is changing customer behaviour, it’s clear business and marketers care more about seeing the big picture and thinking strategically about the new technology.
The digital marketing environment is characterised by rapid growth which is impacting multiple media channels. As newer areas of technology including mobile, video and social media join more established areas including search and email, it’s not surprising that ‘multi-channel communication’ is now such an important area within digital training. So as new technology expands, more people require training in how it fits into the wider communications and marketing mix.
Metrics
Another core requirement from digital training courses is a strong element on metrics. If you are looking for a training course on any aspect of digital marketing, and especially in internet marketing strategy, then there should be a focus on measuring your campaign success with key metrics.
In fact, The Digital Training Budgets research showed some respondents are unhappy with an apparent lack of focus on metrics from digital training providers. So there’s a lesson for digital training providers themselves to go beyond the basics and demonstrate how new media adds value to a business.
