Developing your own digital marketing skills

With so much online innovation and development within the marketing sector, digital marketers are keen to source information to keep their finger on the pulse of the industry.To aid this, it has never been easier to find this information and access quality learning channels for education and learning about digital marketing. One of the ways to do this is through online courses that are constantly updated, providing the latest marketing information. Some argue that this has become powerful enough to rival traditional textbook content.

Platforms that offer MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) such as Iversity do this and have become an important and valuable tool to those willing to learn. It offers flexibility to choose how and when they can learn. We at The Candidate are business partners of the JEMSS project with Salford University (mastersindigitalmarketing.org) who recently created their own MOOC on Search & Social Media strategy and practices. In their recent MOOC, over 15k participants from across Europe and beyond interacted and many improved their knowledge. Many opted for a certificate that could help them develop their marketing careers.

We interviewed David Parry a Corporate and Internal Communications professional from the UK about his experiences of learning from the JEMSS MOOC.

So why did you choose JEMMS and what did you aim get out of it?

I work in Internal Communications and could see that a lot of the recent developments in digital marketing and social media could translate to my specialisation. I also wanted to learn more about how to use social media in business.

What was the best part of the course was and how has the course had an impact on your chosen career?

The modules were very well structured and the lecturers were very well organised and professional. I enjoyed the input from real businesses and also got a lot from the interaction with other people taking the course, where the course was very well structured to encourage this. It required a lot of work at the weekend, but that's a commitment I was happy to make. I am finding some of what I learned applied to my professional career in corporate communications and I am modifying my approach in some circumstances as a consequence.

David further explains that he has become a lot more competent within social media and digital marketing and how he has gained great skills within this field.  

I learned a lot about digital and social media and also marketing. I enjoyed learning more about blogging too and now feel much more aware of the potential that digital and social media holds. I've improved my technical skills in terms of creating digital content and enjoyed applying my creative ability in a different forum such as the blogs. This augments my professional approach to my chosen and well developed career path.

Who would you recommend this MOOC to? I would recommend this MOOC to anyone who runs a small to medium sized business, any professional marketers and communications specialists. Throw yourself in to it - use all of the resources and enjoy the interaction with fellow students -it's a great community to be part of.

From David's experience and the other 15,000 people that have registered for the course worldwide it is clear that it is an inexpensive and easily accessed resource that adds value in keeping up to date and building skills and knowledge in the area.

Colin Telford Managing Partner at The Candidate said 'Digital Marketing and Social Media management are now essential marketing tool for any business. Constant innovation leads to constant learning, no matter what age, title or sector you are in. Iversity provides a wide range of courses and the JEMMS MOOC gives everyone access to a course made by industry professionals and an opportunity to develop and accelerate their skills.'

To improve your digital marketing skills search online for 'Digital Marketing MOOC's' or visit the Iversity.com platform. Our partner Salford Business School would also be very happy to discuss your learning requirement contact Dr. Aleksej Heinze on [email protected].