Are you interested in becoming a digital marketer? Have you got the passion, but aren’t sure where to start? Multiple online course reviews would point you to the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree - however, how should you know if it’s truly the right program for you?
Well, you would likely want to read an in-depth analysis of the course, namely - of all the benefits that you would receive from studying it. That’s exactly what we’ll be discussing in today’s article!
Udacity offers students a lot of different classes, on many different topics. Naturally, not all courses are the same, both in terms of quality, and also usefulness. That is why doing your research beforehand is so important!
Today, in this Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree review, we’ll cover all of the main points of interest - pros, cons, the topic of studying digital marketing, in general, and all of the other features associated with the course. Strap in, and let’s get started!
Table of Contents
- 1. Why Study Digital Marketing?
- 2. Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree (ENROLL HERE)
- 2.1. Not a Standalone Course - a Nanodegree
- 2.2. A Perfect Course for Beginners
- 2.3. Taught by Professional Instructors
- 2.4. Help with Technical Questions / Assignment Feedback
- 2.5. Flexible Timetables
- 2.6. Career Services
- 3. The Cons of the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree
- 3.1. No Accredited Certificates
- 4. Pricing
- 5. Continue Your Studies with Udacity
- 6. Summary
- 7. Conclusions
Why Study Digital Marketing?
The first question that we should address in this Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree review is the “why” - why would you study digital marketing, in the first place?
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Rather, why is it WORTH studying digital marketing?
Well, the very first (and likely obvious) answer is audience growth - by improving your digital marketing skills, you are going to be better at growing an audience for whatever it is that you need that audience for.
Say, you own a website - a shop, a blog, a personal gallery, or whatever else of the sort. In order for you to grow a following and, coincidentally, your online presence, you are probably going to require some significant digital marketing skill!
Taking the Udacity Digital Marketing course is one way of acquiring these skills.
Following that, it’s worth mentioning that digital marketing is also a pretty sought-after skill when it comes to the general job market, too. Whether it be B2B partnerships or content writing, marketing is always going to be involved - a highly-skilled digital marketer can bring a lot of value to a company!
However, when you take a look at some university courses that are available to be studied in certain specific universities around the world, it’s clear that there’s a pretty significant gap between what currently works, and what is being taught.
That’s simply because the digital age moves at an unprecedented pace - every single day, there are new trends, memes, and technological advancements being made. All of that MUST be used by professional digital marketers, in order for them to be successful with their campaigns.
Why am I telling you all of this? Simple - unlike the aforementioned university courses, studying digital marketing Udacity will allow you to acquire all of the latest skills and knowledge needed for that success. Just one of the many reasons to look into this specialty!
Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree (ENROLL HERE)
- Platform: Udacity
- Duration: 3 months (10 hours / week)
- Price: €927
- Certificate: YES
- Level: Beginner
- Where to apply? HERE
Online, you’re going to find a lot of different courses on digital marketing. Most of the major online learning platforms have some sort of classes on the topic, granted that it’s one of the more-popular career paths to take these days.
Student Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree reviews, however, give out the impression that this specific course from Udacity is one of the better options that you could pick.
A lot of the reason for why that’s the case lies in that specific term - Nanodegree. Granted that this is the case, we should take a look at just what Nanodegrees are, and how they differ from your standard courses, too.
Not a Standalone Course - a Nanodegree
So… What exactly are Nanodegrees, then?
The simplest answer to this question is that Nanodegrees are Udacity-specific courses that go into a topic in-depth, while also offering students a set of specific benefits that are also unique to the online learning platform in question.
It’s a type of course offered by Udacity, specifically. Searching up "digital marketing" Udacity, you will find that there are some standalone, simple classes on the topic, but mostly everyone will point you to this specific course, if you want to really get into the topic at hand.
This is actually really good.
The way that your standard courses work is that they usually offer to teach you some specific aspects of the topic that you want to study. This way, you would often need to pick and choose multiple courses on the same topic in order to get a decent understanding of the sphere.
With Nanodegrees - Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree included - you don't really need to do that, at least as far as beginner-level information is concerned.
Instead of going out and finding different classes on content management, SEO, and ad creation and optimization, you can simply take this one course on Udacity, and cover all of those topics in a linear, progressive manner. Naturally, there’s going to be a lot more information involved, but you get the general idea.
The best part here are the aforementioned benefits that are available with each individual Nanodegree. We are going to go into these benefits in-depth in just a minute, but it’s worth emphasizing that they are abundant - they come together with the course-specific features that you’ll receive from each individual class, this one included.
One of the more-notable features of the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree is the fact that it’s a completely beginner-friendly program.
A Perfect Course for Beginners
When you’re just starting out with your marketing studies, it can be a really confusing and overwhelming experience. There are literally countless numbers of online courses available for you to take and try out - there probably isn’t enough time in the universe to do that, however.
Evidently, some courses are going to be better than others, for a plethora of different reasons. This is especially evident when you’re talking about beginner-level content - at the very start, learning the fundamentals is absolutely crucial, since if you don’t have proper SEO or copywriting skills, any advanced-level marketing studies are practically going to be useless.
Taking a single look at the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree, you will immediately notice that this is a course for complete beginners in the field. Reading through student reviews, it becomes evident that it’s a pretty good option, too!
The fact that the course is beginner-friendly is amazing for anyone who wants to start studying the topic, simply due to the fact that you get to learn a new skill from a trusted source, and also receive all of the benefits of a Nanodegree at the same time.
Furthermore, students will tell you that the course does teach you all of the essential, fundamental knowledge required to develop a comprehensive understanding of the topic at hand. Marketing fundamentals, content strategy, SEO, email marketing, social media advertising, and much more - all of these topics will be addressed in the program!
By extension of that, if you would plan to take digital marketing seriously, and continue your studies in any way, shape, or form after you finish the Udacity Digital Marketing course, you could be sure that you’ve got all of the essential knowledge sorted out and examined. Great!
In any case, the point still stands - reading through various Udacity Digital Marketing reviews, the general idea is that the course is truly very beginner-friendly, and with there being no prerequisite requirements, whatsoever, you can grab it and start your studies at any given point in time!
Taught by Professional Instructors
Course quality is something that I preach when it comes to all of my course reviews, and this Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree review is surely no different. And no, I don't mean that courses should be really well-made and worth learning - that’s self-evident, obviously!
What I mean by the term “course quality” is that this is the thing that you should always look into first and foremost, when deciding which of the online classes is going to be best for you.
Naturally, that’s not always a simple thing to consider. Sure, you could read the syllabus, check the course landing page, and so on - however, this will rarely give you a good idea of what to expect, since all of these aspects can be deceiving.
You know what can’t really be fabricated, or be “deceiving”? The experience and professionalism of the instructor.
Indeed, if your instructor for the course that you’ve chosen has all of the necessary credentials to teach you the topic in question, and is a professional in the field themselves, this is going to show pretty soon. On the flip side, if the person is a cheat, and is trying to basically scam you out of your money by providing false credentials, that’s rather simple to prove, too.
As you might have gathered by now, the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree is taught by truly professional instructors. Three, to be exact - let’s take a closer look at their backgrounds:
- Anke Audenaert - the lead developer of digital marketing programs on Udacity. Previous work experience with Yahoo, a co-founder of two companies, and is on the marketing faculty of UCLA Anderson.
- Daniel Kob - Stanford MBA, digital media entrepreneur. Has marketing-related work experience in both the EU, and the USA.
- Julia Aspinal - a former teacher, front-end developer, and currently a digital marketer. Has work experience with Scholastic, Udacity, and some other companies.
Admittedly, as far as Nanodegrees go, that’s a very small list of individuals - with some other Nanodegrees, you can expect a huge number of instructors, all covering a different part of the course!
Nonetheless, that’s not really a factor that would matter - what matters is the field experience and knowledge of the instructors. Evidently, as far as this Udacity Digital Marketing review is concerned, the three individuals mentioned above have plenty of both!
It’s definitely reassuring that you will be able to learn from actual industry professionals who have both the credibility, and also the knowledge level to teach the topic at hand. Surely a great start for anyone interested in studying digital marketing!
Help with Technical Questions / Assignment Feedback
One of the most unique and probably most-appreciated aspects of Udacity’s Nanodegrees - with the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree being no exception - is the simple fact that you will be able to both receive feedback for your work that you do throughout the runtime of the course, and also get answers to any and all technical questions that you might have.
Evidently, this is not a feature that many online course platforms would have!
The traditional model of an online course is pretty simple - you would purchase the class, and - sure - get tasks while studying the subject, but you wouldn’t really have anyone checking those tasks or giving feedback. Instead, you might find the answers in a later class, or - worst-case scenario - you’ll never get the correct answers, and will be left to figure things out for yourself.
Udacity solves these issues pretty nicely.
For starters, since the course is going to be very much-so interactive, you will be able to receive direct feedback for the tasks that you complete. This is extremely valuable - with constructive feedback, you will be able to improve your skills that much faster, and also understand the topic much easier.
However, there’s the technical mentor support part, too.
While studying the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree, you might come up with some more-technical questions that aren’t necessarily associated with the tasks that you’re given to perform. If that’s the case, you can be sure that there’s always going to be a technical mentor to help you out!
Udacity has over 1000 technical mentors - these people are available to help you out at any given point in time!
In conclusion, you should never “get stuck” in regards to your online studies, since Udacity’s team is always going to be there to help you out. That’s a major feature!
Flexible Timetables
Whatever online course you might be searching for, one thing remains the same - one of the main reasons why people choose to go and study online (thus, one of the main benefits of online courses, too) is the fact that you can be very flexible with your time.
Independent online courses can be accessed at any time during the day, week, month, or year - you can study the subject in the morning, or listen to the lecture late at night. There really is no difference, and thus, you can take care of your daily responsibilities, and study at your own pace.
This might actually be one of the reasons why many university graduates turn to further online learning[1], too - having complete control over when it is that you study and learn a subject can be extremely refreshing after having super-strict deadlines in a university!
Things aren’t that different with this Udacity Digital Marketing review, either. One of the proclaimed benefits of the Nanodegree is the fact that you can create a flexible timetable that works for you, and follow it while you study the course.
Now, evidently, since this isn’t a standalone course, and due to some of the benefits and perks that it involves (i.e. technical mentor assistance), you won’t really be able to “study whenever”, especially seeing as the course takes three months to complete.
That being said, though, student Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree reviews found online do note that the flexibility that you will have is more than enough to take care of most of your chores - that’s great!
Career Services
Yet another very unique feature of Nanodegrees, this is something that isn’t directly related to the course in question.
Why is that the case? Well, simply due to the fact that it’s a perk that you’ll probably receive after you finish your digital marketing studies!
Once you have your Nanodegree diploma in-hand, and can consider yourself to be pretty knowledgeable in regards to digital marketing and everything related to the topic, you might want to start looking for a new job, or a method of improving your current position.
Doing so single-handedly can be a challenge, though. Thankfully, you will have Udacity’s career support services to help you out!
What do these services entail, exactly? Well, the online learning platform’s career support team will help you optimize your resume, and also make sure that your LinkedIn profile is up-and-ready, too.
These things hold a huge value, as far as the job searching process goes! Finding a job that would suit you can be a pretty tricky task, and thus, any and all help is truly appreciated.
On top of that, it’s pretty rare for an online learning platform to offer services like these, in the first place. Definitely an awesome point in this Udacity Digital Marketing review!
The Cons of the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree
Up to this point in the article, we’ve discussed the many positive aspects of the digital marketing Udacity course in question.
Evidently, students truly do seem to love the course! If you’re part of the target audience for this class (want to learn digital marketing), are a beginner in the field, and are searching for an alternative to reading everything on online-based, up-sale-oriented articles, the benefits that Udacity offers are truly appealing!
As with all things in life, though, not everything is perfect - there are some existing negative student Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree reviews, too.
The interesting thing here, however, is that students aren’t necessarily unhappy with the course in question. Opinionated feedback aside, most of the criticism that you’ll find doesn’t actually have to do with the course material or instructors, but rather, the lack of accredited certification on the platform, as a whole.
- Easy to use with a learn-by-doing approach
- Offers quality content
- Gamified in-browser coding experience
- Free certificates of completion
- Focused on data science skills
- Flexible learning timetable
- High-quality courses
- Nanodegree programs
- Student Career services
- Nanodegree programs
- Suitable for enterprises
- Paid certificates of completion
- A wide range of learning programs
- University-level courses
- Easy to navigate
- University-level courses
- Suitable for enterprises
- Verified certificates of completion
No Accredited Certificates
Now, you may wonder - what are accredited certificates, and how do they differ from your simple, course-completion ones?
Well, an accredited certificate is one that is backed up by an official educational institution, such as a university. What this means is that, if you finish a course and receive an accredited certificate, and then take it to your potential employer, they will recognize your skill level accordingly.
Non-accredited certification is usually looked down upon, since “it’s a piece of paper that anyone can design, print out, and sign”. It doesn’t hold any tangible value, whatsoever, and thus, won’t usually score you any points in a job interview.
When it comes to this Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree review, you’ve guessed it - the course in question has no accredited certification attached to it. However, things aren’t as bad as described above, either.
While Nanodegree certificates aren’t backed by any official education institution, they are usually backed by different tech and IT-related companies, especially if the courses were made in collaboration with them. For example, the course in question was made in collaboration with Google, Hootsuite, HubSpot, MailChimp, Moz, and Facebook.
Those are some of the most well-known names in the industry! Naturally, if a course on digital marketing has the backing of such companies, your potential employer is surely going to be impressed!
Whatever the case might be, though, it’s worth acknowledging that this is still seen as an issue by multiple students on Udacity. The platform, in general, does not offer any accredited certificates - if you have strict views about your education, and aren’t lenient in regards to the benefits offered by a Nanodegree certificate, this is worth keeping in mind.
Pricing
Pricing is something that we still haven’t touched upon in this Udacity Digital Marketing review. At the same time, it does also often prove to be a pretty polarizing topic.
Nanodegrees aren’t very affordable - that’s basically what I'm trying to say here. That aside, though, it does often depend on your perspective, and point of comparison, too.
If you’re looking for a pretty simple and standalone course, then Nanodegrees can prove to be really expensive. At the same time, these programs are packed full of information on the topic that interests you, and also various benefits that are exclusive to them, too.
The Udacity Digital Marketing will cost you €927, for the three-month-long program of beginner-level education in the field of digital marketing, and all things related to that.
As an alternative, you could also choose to pay €359 each month, for the three months that it would take you to finish the course.
So - definitely not the most affordable option if you compare it with some random, standalone courses, but, truth be told, the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree shouldn’t be compared like that, in the first place!
The course in question offers a wide variety of different benefits to the students, and the quality of information found within does, apparently, fall in-line with the price tag. The fact that there’s more than one type of payment that you can choose is also very much appreciated - it offers flexibility on Udacity’s side of things, and gives you more options, too.
Continue Your Studies with Udacity
Let’s say, for the sake of the argument, you’ve decided that you love what Udacity has to offer, and decided to take the Udacity Digital Marketing course. You do take it, study the subject through and through, and then finally, after 3 months or so, you graduate.
What now?
Well, one option is to utilize the career services offered by the platform, and start looking for an entry-level job in the field of digital marketing. If you feel like you’re up to the challenge, you start your new career path instantly!
However, there’s also an alternative, too - you could continue your studies even further.
As with any other Nanodegree on the platform, if you were to scroll down to the very bottom of the Udacity Digital Marketing course page, you would find some related programs. One of these programs has to do with marketing analytics - it teaches you how to model different marketing scenarios, use tools applicable to digital marketing analysis, and so on.
Needless to say, if you were to study a course like this, you would vastly improve your skills and knowledge level in regards to the field of digital marketing.
The great thing here is that all of the related programs are also Nanodegrees, too. What this means is that you can expect to receive the same benefits that you will be getting from the Udacity Digital Marketing course!
Naturally, it’s all up for you to decide. However, it’s cool to know that a possibility like this does exist on the online learning platform in question!
Summary
Right, then - let’s finish off our Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree review by mentioning and summarizing some of the main points discussed in this article, shall we?
The Udacity Digital Marketing course is a beginner-friendly program that will allow you to start studying the sphere of digital marketing, and all things related to it (SEO, ads, email marketing, etc.).
The course is actually a Nanodegree, too - this means that you will receive all of the Nanodegree-specific benefits that Udacity has to offer, as well as maintain peace of mind that the quality of the informational material found within is in-line with the industry standard.
The aforementioned benefits include things such as career services, mentor support, flexible study hours, and so on. On top of that, the course is taught by true professionals in the field of digital marketing, which just goes to further prove the legitimacy of the information that you’ll learn!
When it comes to the negative side of things, students don’t really have a lot of complaints regarding digital marketing Udacity. The only notable issue has to do with certificates - while you will receive a Nanodegree-specific certificate of completion upon finishing the course, it won’t be accredited with any major learning institutions.
Pricing-wise, the program is priced in the same manner as any other Udacity Nanodegree out there. You can choose to pay the full sum of money upfront, or pay in parts, each month. It’s not a very affordable course to study, but the information is reported to be well worth it. It’s much, much more affordable than an actual university course, though!
Finally, no matter what it is that you’d want to do after you finish your studies, there’s always going to be an option available with Udacity. Want to work? The career services are there for you! Want to continue with your studies? There are multiple related programs that would allow you to do so!
Did you know?
Have you ever wondered which online learning platforms are the best for your career?
Conclusions
All in all, the sentiments expressed by the students of the platform towards the Udacity Digital Marketing course are very positive. This is truly the case with most of the Nanodegrees offered by the platform, too!
Admittedly, digital marketing is an ever-growing job market that brings in new professionals every single year. As the entire world is becoming more and more digital, in multiple different senses of that word, naturally, the need for high-level digital marketers increases.
This particular skill can be applied to anything from a day job, all the way to you owning your own business, and wanting to attract new customers or website visitors. It’s universally important, either way - which is why the fact that people love the Udacity Digital Marketing course is even more important!
EDX | COURSERA | |
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Table: The main features of Cursera and edX
Not convinced yet? Well, do check out some Udacity alternatives, then - perhaps Coursera has courses that would be more suitable for you? Or, if you want some more-academic approaches, you could also visit edX, too.
All of that being said, however, thank you for reading this Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree review! I hope that it was useful to you, and wish you the best of luck in all of your marketing ventures to come!
Scientific References
1. Carl Straumsheim: 'Identifying the Online Student'