If you’re looking at getting into a career in digital marketing, you’re probably checking out the best ways you can learn and actually gain some experience. Simplilearn claims their digital marketing courses are great for those looking to break into the field, advance their careers, and even for entrepreneurs.
But is that true? Will Simplilearn really let you “get certified, get ahead”?
Let’s take a deeper look into Simplilearn’s digital marketing courses and if their certification can actually do anything to land you a job.
Overview – A Little Background on Simplilearn
Simplilearn is a for-profit online educational platform that currently has over 400 courses. The available courses span a range of technical fields, but one such focus is within the digital marketing space.
The company was founded in India in 2009 by Krishna Kumar and currently has headquarters in San Fransico, Californa.
The uniqueness of Simplilearn’s platform is they offer a blended learning environment that not only mimics a real-world classroom but will you give hands-on experience within the field.
In addition, they thoroughly vet their instructors, so you will be working and learning from people with 10+ years of experience in the field. A quick Google search of the specific course instructor will reveal they are definitely legit.
Simplilearn’s Digital Marketing Courses Overview
Simplilearn currently has 16 courses in digital marketing, but the course most beginners would take is DMCA – Digital Marketing Certified Associate.
Their Digital Marketing Specialist Masters program is more in-depth and for those looking to advance their careers, rather than those just starting out.
In addition, they offer courses that deep-dive into specific topics within the field such as Advanced Content Marketing and Advanced PPC training, among others.
Mimic Pro Environment
Mimic Pro lets you work in a virtual environment doing real-world digital marketing jobs like managing a virtual PPC budget to work within a mock Google Adwords account, sell virtual products, practice landing page optimization, A/B split testing, and a lot more.
This will allow you to really get a better grasp of the material and actually be able to apply the concepts to real-world scenarios, which will allow you to gain skills needed to actually get employed.
These are just the types of things you can’t really experience unless you have your own online business.
Keep in mind, the mimic pro is only available within their Digital Marketing Specialist and Digital Marketing Certified Associate programs.
Will it actually help you land a job?
When you complete these courses, you will get a “certificate of achievement” – but what does that really mean? Will it actually do anything in landing you a job?
That is the ultimate question.
Here’s the thing – while these certificates can bulk up your portfolio and tell prospective employers you’re serious about learning, ultimately your skills will hold more weight than any piece of paper. This is especially true within the scope of digital marketing.
But taking courses on a platform like Simplilearn can certainly help you obtain those skills relatively quickly by proven industry experts and without having to fumble around and try to learn it on your own (which can be difficult for a lot of people).
You’re also going to learn enough within the courses to be ready to take many of the certification exams available for tools like Google Analytics, Facebook ads, Youtube, etc.
All that being said, while they can provide you with a decent platform for learning the material and gaining skills, there are less expensive options out there.
Price
Prices vary depending on the course, how much material is covered, and if you pick their full-featured blended learning option.
For example, their DMCA – Digital Marketing Certified Associate is $999 for their full blended learning which includes flexible access to their live virtual classrooms, practice labs, and applied projects.
For just lifetime access to their self-paced learning content, it’s $499.
But their advanced Digital Marketing Specialist Masters program is more costly, at $1,499.
| Digital Marketing Certified Associate (Beginners) | $999 blended $499 basic |
| Digital Marketing Specialist Masters (Advanced) | $1,499 or monthly payment options |
It’s definitely not as costly as many other digital marketing certificate programs on the market, however, it still is not exactly cheap.
Not worth it for “self-paced” learning
You’ll notice that some courses offer “self-paced” options that are less expensive, but in my opinion, they are not worth it.
With self-paced, you’re just getting access to prerecorded slides. You’re not going to get the virtual classrooms or hands-on experience offered with their blended learning, which is the entire reason you’d want to pay for their courses in the first place.
For $499, it’s pretty steep for what you get. If all you are interested in is learning the material with slides and information, you can access stuff like that entirely free.
If you give them your number, expect phone calls…
When you sign up to learn more about the program, you’re going to have to give out some basic information, including your phone number.
The reason why they want your phone number is so they can call you and try to get you to sign up for a course. I don’t like this style of selling, but many for-profit education companies do this.
People have complained that they are constantly calling them.
Just know they will call you if you give out your number (and don’t immediately sign up) so if you aren’t sure you want to take the course, you might want to hold off unless you don’t mind them calling.
The Bottom Line
If you’re considering a program like Simplilearn’s Digital Marketing Certified Associates which offers the blended learning environment, it might be a solid way to break into the digital marketing field. If you’re just interested in a self-paced course, you might want to consider an alternative.
Ultimately it comes down to the individual and your learning style. You really just need to find the best course that fits you.
Digital marketing courses may help you learn and practice the skills, but ultimately you’ll have to demonstrate to the employer you know what the heck you’re doing.
Alternatives
If you’re looking for some more direction (and a cheaper price), I recommend checking out this complete course that’ll not only teach you what you need to know, but that’ll actually help guide and mentor you all the way through landing your first job.
If you’re not ready to invest, you can check out this list of free resources for learning digital marketing.
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