Digital marketing moves quickly. Throw AI into the mix, and it starts moving at lightspeed. But how long does it actually take to 'learn' digital marketing? Do you need three years and a degree? Or can you learn enough to help grow your business in just three months?
You've probably heard of the 10,000-hour rule.
Although widely debunked nowadays, it states that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in any skill.
So, let's say you want to master digital marketing to help grow your small business. If you've got a spare hour a day (which is a stretch for most of us), it'll only take about 27 years to become a digital marketing 'master'.
At that point, you'll probably want to ask yourself two questions:
- Would I have been happier if I'd spent more time actually enjoying myself rather than learning digital marketing?
- Could I have focused on the basics of digital marketing in a much shorter timeframe and still applied what I learned for the benefit of my business?
The answer to question one is a resounding YES. The answer to question two is also yes, but it requires a bit more discussion.
How can you learn digital marketing in just 13 weeks?
By following a structured curriculum, it's possible to cover all the key digital marketing topics you need to know in just 13 weeks.
Our Digital Marketing with AI course sets a foundation in the basics of marketing theory and builds to include practical applications of email marketing, AI, and social media strategies. The culmination of our 13-week course is a presentation that puts your learning into action and produces a marketing plan designed to grow your small business at a sustainable scale and pace.
Here's a quick rundown of what you can expect during each week of the course:
Week 1: Introduction to Digital Marketing
Starting with an introduction for yourself and your business while getting to know your new peers. Followed up by gaining an understanding of the key digital marketing channels and how these fit within today's broader marketing strategies.
Week 2: Introduction to LLMs and AI Tools
Discover Large Language Models (LLMs, the ones you chat with) and the fundamentals of applying AI in digital marketing. Explore the capabilities and limitations of AI for digital marketing. Put your chosen AI to use by creating a sales-driven promotional campaign.
Week 3: Effective Prompts, Creating Content, Ethics and Content Checking
Learn how prompt frameworks generate more accurate outputs from your chosen AI. Comprehend the ethical implications of using AI for content generation and use an AI detection tool to edit your work so that it passes as more 'human' than 'AI-generated'.
Week 4: Digital Marketing Strategy
Cover the fundamentals of digital marketing strategy and how they apply to your business. Understand the differences between channel strategy, content strategy, and media strategy. Finished with a practical assignment to test your learning by conducting an end-of-week digital deep dive analysis.
Week 5: Understanding Brand, Persona and Customer Segmentation
Dig into brand management and understand how to create customer personas for better-targeted marketing materials. Acknowledge the importance of segmenting your audience to better understand the benefits of your product/service for your customers.
Week 6: Email Marketing
Learn two different approaches to email marketing and work with an email marketing tool to build segmented prospect lists. Then build a campaign to fill the top of your marketing funnel with contacts. Lastly creating an automated campaign to nurture recipients through your sales process.
Week 7: Content Marketing
Generate content ideas, with the assistance of AI, that speak directly to your customer personas and address their unique challenges. Learn to identify the digital platforms most relevant to you and your audience. Work to develop a content plan that achieves both your broader and more specific marketing and business goals.
Week 8: Implementing SEO with Content Marketing
Everyone's heard of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), but most people have been confused or baffled by complicated explanations. We focus on the basics to ensure your marketing content is optimised from the outset and helps you rank for the most relevant keywords in your sector.
Week 9: Social Media Marketing
Go beyond likes, comments, and shares to understand the thinking behind an effective social media marketing strategy. Plan and create a posting schedule to avoid being caught out when new trends, formats, and hashtags gain traction.
Week 10: Paid Advertising PPC
Learn how to create Pay-per-click advertising campaigns, understand the merits of different platforms, and analyse performance to track your Return on Investment (ROI). Understand bidding strategies and calculate a Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) to apply to your new campaign.
Week 11: The Marketing Plan
This week we introduce the final assignment - The Marketing Plan. This document captures all the knowledge, skills, and learning completed in the preceding 10 weeks to produce an overarching plan that you can implement straight away or launch from day one.
Week 12: Measuring and Outcomes
Analytics, KPIs, and campaign outcomes - we get to grips with what they mean and how to utilise them to track campaign effectiveness. This week also offers time for 1-2-1 sessions and a more detailed focus on the end-of-course marketing plan and presentation.
Week 13: Presentations, Feedback and Graduations
This is when it all comes together - the final presentation of your digital marketing plan to your fellow students. A chance to reflect on everything you've learned and celebrate your achievement.
So, are you interested in finding out how you can learn the fundamentals of Digital Marketing in just 13 weeks?
Complete the enquiry form on our course page and a member of our team will reach out for a quick chat to discuss your experience, a little bit about your business, and future plans for growth.
About the Author
James is a Digital Marketing veteran with over 10 years in the industry. James delivers the Tech Educators Digital Marketing with AI course, as well as overseeing the marketing activities for Tech Educators.
