I tested the Google Digital Garage Fundamentals of Digital Marketing online course to see if it was any good from an experienced digital marketer’s perspective to find out whether it is any good. You can read my review and my verdict below.
Yahoo! I passed the exam. Sorry, I mean Google! :)
“Fundamentals!”, I can almost hear the advanced digital marketers muttering it under their breath. “I don’t need it”. “I’m not going to learn anything new here”. But wait!
This may be a course aimed at people getting more into digital marketing, but I’d also argue that more advanced digital marketers should not discount this.
No matter how advanced you are, we all need to get back to basics sometimes, relearn and sense check our understanding of basic beliefs we use to shape our daily decision making. After all, to paraphrase Ferris Bueller, the Google algorithm moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.
So, with this in mind, I decided to revisit my understanding of the fundamentals of digital marketing and here is what I found.
What to expect
You sign up and use your obligatory Google account – so far so Google. You then work your way through the course’s 26 modules of curated video classes, each addressing different areas of digital marketing and structured in a logical manner. If you follow the course as it is intended, it will take an average of roughly 30-45 minutes per module so you will need to set aside the time. I did mine over a number of evenings.
Amongst other things, the course covers key concepts and best practices for:
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM, PPC, Paid search, Display Ads)
- Content marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Email marketing
- Mobile (Website design, GPS, Mobile optimisation)
- Localised marketing
- Data, analytics and KPIs
- International marketing
- E-commerce and payments
How the course works
Each module is broken down into a short series of videos, with each video followed by a quick assessment. Once you have taken the quick assessments, you take the end of module quiz to test if you have retained the information in the module before moving on to the next. Once you complete all the modules, you take a mini exam with a pass or a fail grade. If you fail, you will need to wait some time or revisit the relevant modules before you can retake.
Google certification
A quick look at the data relating to the video views shows a 98% (at the time of publishing) decline in the number of views between the most popular first module learning videos, to the least popular videos in the latter modules. From this we can speculate, that a good proportion of people taking the course dropped out part way through, and/or that people taking the course had skipped an increasing number of the videos in favour of taking the assessments and the quizzes to save time. To do this would be a shame, as there are some genuine nuggets of high quality information and tips in here. There are also references to some handy digital marketing tools that are helpful too.
At the end you receive a legit certificate you can parade on your LinkedIn Profile which will be valued by employers.
Who is it pitched at?
As the name suggests, this is targeted at the starter end of the market. So, don’t expect a technical run through the mechanics of setting up Adwords and Analaytics or where to place code, etc. Do expect it to provide a clear and concise overview of key concepts that will help orient your decision making.
Saying that, as a practicing digital marketer, I did find it useful to get back to basics. On several occasions, I had noted areas where I wanted to change my approach to how I would normally do things.
It’s worth noting that all the case studies are consumer focused and mostly small and mid-size businesses with limited budgets. Saying that, there is also a company who managed to get 50 Cent into their social marketing. Whilst there are no pure corporate examples, if you are a B2B specialist you will find the concepts pretty universal and will be able to see how you can adapt them to your needs.
A lesson in planning
One thing that came out very clearly was an emphasis on objective based planning. It’s fair to say that in almost all businesses there are occasions of jumping in to things, sometimes out of sheer curiosity and then figuring it out, before being able to identify what goals it could fulfil. I’m thinking about any marketing managers who’ve somehow ended up with Tik Tok accounts.
The training continually reinforced the importance of Goals as a starting point, then variations on the mantra of Plan, Action, Review and Adjust.
Of course, before you can think about setting goals you need to have an understanding of what each of the digital marketing elements does and what they are capable of, which is where this course adds value.
Mobile first marketing
It’s easy to see where Google wants you to focus your marketing efforts. Adults spend an average of two and a half hours on their phone a day and it’s changed the digital marketing game to create lots of opportunities around immediacy and GPS location functionality. There are some great tips here around mobile optimised paid ads, website design, apps, and lots more. What is also good here, is that it helps you to narrow your focus on what Google wants you to do.
Localised and international digital marketing
It feels like Google has made some great steps forward in their business model here and they want you to use it.
Having worked in a lot of international marketing roles for companies with multiple regional markets, maintaining or establishing the local presence and penetration you need into each geographic market is a continual challenge. So it was good to see the course providing some nice insights and keeping it simple.
Localised marketing has been greatly enabled by mobile devices and the training lays out some very obvious, but often overlooked, best practices for you to implement.
Having seen some really complicated solutions over the years. The emphasis here is on local contact details, local content, local presence and authenticity.
Video
Yup, we already know video is big, but Google makes it clear that it’s going to be even bigger in their plans. They want you to do more and provide encouragement with ideas of how to create it and make sure it reaches your audience.
Isn’t this just a Google marketing vehicle?
Absolutely but that’s not a bad thing. “Do Google realllllly need to market themselves?” you ask. Surely, they are omnipresent and we are almost obliged to use their services every day, so marketing is not necessary. Well, yes they do need to market themselves.
Like everyone, Google needs to stay relevant in a market where their competition moves a lot faster than in other sectors, so this makes sense and that is to our benefit here. Personally, as a piece of marketing, I feel this benefits all parties and is a masterclass in customer engagement marketing.
The course is about a year old, but it’s available at a highly relevant time and addresses a very specific need.
Is it objective and impartial?
They try to be impartial to a point by referencing other players such as Bing, Baidu, Yahoo, Yandex and some good third party tools. Ultimately though, this is created by Google, who are essentially writing most of the rule book at present, so you need to accept this.
What is great, is that they are telling you how to use their products and dropping massive hints about what they want you to do. A bit like when your boss gives you feedback on the options you have presented for a campaign, and while they don’t want to openly share their bias, it is clear which way they would prefer things to go. So, while this course is not impartial, it is definitely objective.
Verdict
Yes, this course is worthwhile. It boils everything down to what Google wants you to do to get results and avoids the complicated elements that you would get from a digital agency, or if were trying to wring that last few drops of performance out of any campaign.
The best way to think of this, is Google giving you more detail about the logic and principles that drive the technical development of its algorithm. In many ways this is more helpful than trying to get down to intricate levels of detail. For example, it serves up some plain talking guidance on linking practices and whether Google cares how many likes your social media content gets.
If you are anywhere between novice or competent in digital marketing, this will help you understand the main elements, how it all fits together and introduce you to concepts you may not yet be aware of. In addition, it will help you when working with digital marketing experts and agencies.
It is also useful for proficient and expert digital marketers, as it will help you revisit and relearn what you think you already know.
The course, if followed correctly does take time, so this will put many people off. The reward is that you will have learnt something and gained a Google endorsed certificate.
As an employer I would be looking for a digital marketer to have this certification and would question any expert that feels it is beneath them to revisit the basics.
