Digital Marketing Course Review

If you are interested in Digital Marketing and have done some research on the topic, You might have seen Simplilearn’s ads saying: “Earn 16+ LPA, Join Simplilearn Digital Marketing Course.”

I first came across the Company, when I heard about Simplilearn acquiring Market Motive”

I have been a big fan of Avinash Kaushik. His ideas, concept and overall approach towards web marketing has always inspired me.

While reading many of his blogs, I came across his New venture “Market Motive” and Instantly became a fan, because of the way they represented everything I wanted to learn.

But the problem: MONEY.
At the time $999 (INR 65,000) was way out of my budget. Even a single course of $199 was out of my budget.

So, I started learning it through Youtube videos and blogs.

Then, one day I got a call from Simplilearn. Saying that they have some discount.
I got 30% off and purchased the course in November 2016. It was very economical compared to Market Motive.

The course helped me a lot in understanding the very basics of Digital Marketing. I have completed the DMCA course and acquired a certificate.

Here you can check my certificate:

I have also completed Advance Web Analytics and Advance PPC from Simplilearn.

Also Read: “A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Marketing”

Here I share my experience with the course and how helpful it was for me

DMCA Syllabus:

The course cover very vast syllabus.
It starts with the basics of SEO, Including on page and off page SEO and further goes with a basic explanation of the domain. Then Social Media Marketing, A lot of concept of social media along with some solid example and case studies are shared.

Here is the list of topics covered in this course:

(Please note that all these topics cover basic knowledge, there are separate courses for Advance Training).

• • SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

• • Social Media Marketing

• • Content Marketing

• • Email Marketing

• • Mobile Marketing

• • PPC (Pay Per Click) Advertising.

• • Website Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

• • Digital Analytics.

• • Marketing Automation.

• Programmatic Buying.

This course also covers the introduction to some tools and an overall guide for Digital Marketing Strategy.

DMCA Course Material Review:

I have read a lot of material online before starting this course and already had two years of professional experience before starting this. I was already familiar with a most of the concepts.
But, The course material for DMCA was exceptional. The way each topic is explained and supported by case studies is really good.

Also, you can join in online classes held as per schedule. There you can ask your doubt on the spot. Although I found classroom experience to be very basic and slow, it’s a great opportunity for the new learners.

After completing the introduction, I directly jumped to Digital Analytics part. Because Web Analytics is my favourite and I think this should be covered first. With web analytics, you will understand the traffic coming to your website, segment the users, do analysis and understand the live impact of your ongoing experiment.

The Digital Analytics (or web analytics) course is taught by Avinash Kaushik. And If I could rate, I will give 10+ out of 10 for this course. This is a backbone for digital marketing and all the freshers (And even experienced) marketer should take this course.

Before this, I was using google analytics every day and tracking most of the KPIs. But, after completing this course (web analytics), I got a clear picture and understanding of KPIs.

Most of us would only track sessions, time on site, bounce rate, transaction, ROI and be with it. I was doing the same. I had no understanding of how macro conversion, attribution model, user flow and hundreds of other things works. Avinash Kaushik taught me how to exactly measure the performance of my campaigns.

I also completed “Advance Web Analytics” Course by Avinash. And honestly, It was worth every penny. I can’t even measure the ROI of that course. I used so many of concept and ideas for my clients, in job interviews, and day to day optimization.

After Web Analytics, I jumped to the SEO part, which was one of the most curious subjects for me. Obviously, because ROI on SEO is highest compared to any other channel, but more than that, I enjoyed backtracking google’s algorithm and following standard practices for months and finally be able to see the difference. Working on SEO is like creating a money-making machine which will give you quality traffic constantly.
I have personally observed the conversion rate (even from non-branded keywords) from organic traffic to be much higher compared to any other channel.

Now coming to SEO course in DMCA, It started with basics and completed almost all the essential parts. It even gave me some important documents on website audit, strategies on client acquisition etc. I would rate it 9/10.

For freshers, this section can be very helpful in understanding what are the basic things one should do. And more than 80% of websites forget all those things in the early days/ pre-launch.

Most importantly, You understand the importance of SEO in digital marketing and why you should focus on it and include it in your long-term business goal.

After completing SEO, I took up PPC Advertising.
The course was quite interesting and knowledgeable. The things which I really liked about this course is transparency. Most of the online videos/ blogs and course I took will always talk about how great the particular segment is. But this course explained exactly how you can benefit from the paid channel.
It goes without saying that if you are into online business, PPC is an unavoidable channel for you.

Personally, I used to think that it’s nearly impossible to compete with big fish (corporates). I mean how can a new eCommerce website compete with companies like Amazon, eBay, Flipkart etc. Especially in terms of PPC, where they have millions of dollars in budget.
But with this course, I understood the concept of quality score, relevancy, and many other factors. Which is the beauty of digital marketing that it keeps customers above all. No matter how much money you have for your advertising budget, there is still a chance to acquire a customer. Delivering your message to the right person at the right time is what matters.

It mostly covers the Google search advertising and basic concept and terminology of PPC.

All the terminology and knowledge is already out there and you can read it in Google’s documents. But explaining it step by step, the importance of each term and how to measure the performance is what this course does exceptionally well.

This course was designed for newcomers and I already had previous experience with PPC, But still, I learned a lot of things. So I think it will be fair to say that this course is 9/10.

After the PPC course, I decided to go through Conversion Rate Optimization

I found Conversion Rate Optimization extremely helpful. I never thought that little things on the website can drastically change the conversion rate on your website and eventually revenue of your company. Things like the colour of CTA (Call to action) button, the position of CTA, website speed, image position, element in the image etc. can change customer perspective. With the combination of web analytics and CRO, you can shape your website and be more customer friendly.

I have covered 4 major sections of this course and it would take me forever to complete all the sections in detail, So I would just sum up rest of the courses, but they possess the equal importance.

Social Media, Content Marketing and Email marketing and all other section were equally good and informative. Each section and concept is well supported by case studies, examples of great companies and their problem-solving techniques.

Overall I enjoyed the course and I would suggest every individual who is thinking of taking Digital Marketing as his career, to take this course.

Instructor Review:

As it’s a course which includes different topics of Digital marketing, you interact with a lot of instructors. To maintain a flow you need to get comfortable with their technique and it can be a challenging task to change your pace and grasping power so frequently. 

All the instructor are top in their field and give you the latest information in the fast-changing market. Every instructor is very knowledgeable, highly skilled and experienced.

I started with Web Analytics and Avinash Kaushik set the bar so high that I found some of the section bit boring (….Oops!) and slow paced.

Overall, I would say it’s best what you can get in the market. Although some the instructors will explain things in a most professional way that it can become a bit boring for us. But with little patience, you can achieve great excellence in each subject.

Value For Money:

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin

I understand that the course fee is not on the lower side, infect I myself had to wait several months so that I could afford this.

But there is no way you can compare return vs the investment.
Yes, it gives you a certificate and a certificate is a valuable component when you go for a job interview. Certificates can differentiate your resume with thousands of other applicants. But more than that, the knowledge you get from this course is way more precious.

And it’s not just money you invest in this course, you have to invest a great amount of time as well, you have to make notes, pay attention, revise notes, do practice, implement strategies, develop a hypothesis, test them and much more.

You have to be 100% dedicated to get the most out of this course.

And you should only invest if you are dedicated and can take all these challenges, otherwise, it’s a waste of money.

One thing I didn’t like is that they offer Account access just for one year and you have to complete it within that time frame. I know this is a lot of time to complete the course, but If you ever wish to revise some concept, sadly you won’t have the access.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, The DMCA (Digital Marketing Certified Associates) from Simplilearn/ Market Motive is one of the best course available in the market for newcomers. If you are planning to take Digital Marketing as your career choice or have already started in this field, DMCA can really boost your career.

I give this course a 9/10 rating. I would give 10, but due to some issues like, slow web portal, only 1 year access, bit of unrealistic marketing (Their ad banner says 16+ LPA, but I think you will need some experience and great level of knowledge and skill before your reach that level) etc, I will restrict my self to 9.
I think it still is one of the best course you can get in the market.

Best of Luck.

Reach out to me, if you are interested in knowing more about this course and my journey as a digital marketer.