Don’t want to be a Software Engineer? Programming sound like too much for you? There’s other fields in tech that still make a lot of money that have low barriers of entry. Ever hear of digital marketing? You don’t need a degree and you don’t need a ton of experience to break into it.
I am fascinated by the world of digital marketing. If you asked me a few years ago about it, I would have drawn a blank about it. But today, I can confidently tell you a lot about this field. Digital Marketing is a very lucrative field and guess what? It has a very low barrier of entry — very low. Having a degree is a “nice to have” not a “must have”, if you want to just break into it.
Google and Facebook offer FREE (yes, my friends… FREE) training for digital marketing courses and legitimate and highly regarded certifications. Now, both Google’s training modules and certifications (as of publishing date) are 100% free to take and test. The Facebook courses are 100% free but their certifications are about $150 to take the exams.
Let’s start with Google.
How do I become a Google digital marketer?
Google started this online learning center called Google Skillshop back in 2017 or so, which IMHO is really cool. I love when big companies like Google offer free education and certifications to the general public. Anyhow, here’s an overview of the Google Digital Marketing Learning Program and the certifications. Remember, everything is 100% free (so far, as of the date of publishing).
Google Ads Certifications are available in: Czech, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Dutch, English (UK), English (US), French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
For General FAQs about the Google Digital Marketing Training, go here.
There are 5 areas of knowledge and a total of 10 certifications you can achieve (don’t quote me though ).
- Google Ads: Google Ads Search Certification, Google Ads Display Certification, Google Ads Measurement Certification, Google Ads Video Certification, Shopping Ads Certification, Google Ads Apps Certification
- Google Marketing Platform: Display and Video 360 Certification, Search Ads 360 Certification, Campaign Manager Certification, Creative Certification
- Analytics Academy: Google Analytics Individual Qualification*
- Google My Business: Google My Business Basics Assessment*
- Waze: Waze Ads Fundamentals Assessment*
*Not sure if these are considered certifications.
And guess what Google did to make these certs more valuable? Instead of charging YOU for them, they required that companies have at least 1 Google-certified person in a company to give that business Google Certified Partner status. Then, starting in 2021, at least half of a company’s “eligible users” need to be Google certified, which makes the demand for these certifications higher and better for you!!! Super awesome, right!??!?
Now, let’s talk about Facebook digital marketing certifications.
How do I get Facebook marketing certification?
Facebook launched the Facebook Blueprint Certification program back in 2015 and the training is free but the exams cost about $150 or so (as of the publishing date of this post). You take them proctored online or at a testing center. The certification expiration dates vary depending on the certification.
These are the certifications that you can get from Facebook and the languages that are available for each one.
100-101: Facebook Certified Digital Marketing Associate
- English, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese, German, Korean, simplified Chinese, French, and Japanese
200-101: Facebook Certified Marketing Science Professional
- English, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Japanese
300-101: Facebook Certified Creative Strategist Professional
- English, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French, and Japanese
400-101: Facebook Certified Media Planning Professional
410-101: Facebook Certified Media Buying Professional
- All 2 courses above are only available in English, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, traditional Chinese, French and Korean
500-101: Facebook Certified Marketing Developer
510-101: Facebook Certified Advanced Marketing Developer
520-101: Facebook Certified Advertising API Developer
- All 3 courses above are only available in English
Why do you want a career in digital marketing?
- You can work from home.
- Average salaries are pretty high.
- You can quickly make a lot of money in this field.
- You don’t need any money to start.
- You don’t need a degree.
- You don’t need much experience.
- It’s not as stressful, compared to a lot of no experience required jobs like food service.
- It’s in demand because it’s in tech.
Look at the average salary for a digital marketing position. Now, this salary is average across the United States, which means it can be more where you live! It could be less, but I like to be optimistic. Also, think about it this way: the more you have rare experience and skills, the more you’ll get paid.
So, remember when I said to look for trade-offs when you look for entry-level jobs? Always look for valuable skills and cash in on those skills on the next job. It’s about the long game, not the short one. I’m all about strategy, people. Short-term tactics are one thing, but the long-term strategy is where you make the BIG MONEY.
Check out the Jobs For You Page for all the different entry-level digital marketing jobs, once you finish one or all of these certifications. Or if you already have a marketing or related business degree, just apply and go for it!
Just don’t step over dollars to pick up pennies.
Never forget that there are multiple paths to success. I love helping you find them. These digital marketing certifications from Google and Facebook can really be a way out of a dead-end career and into a rewarding new tech career for you. Maybe you don’t want to be a coder, and that’s ok.
There are 100,000 ways to get to $100k. For more valuable tips, don’t forget to check out the rest of them here and the videos. Stay connected with me for more career advice and more job alerts — subscribe to my newsletter below, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. I want to see you succeed!!!
