Why I chose Udacity’s Digital Marketing Nanodegree

As a marketing professional having many years of experience in IT, I have enjoyed a hybrid career that caters to both technology and marketing/sales. When digital marketing exploded, my IT background afforded me opportunities that demanded fast learning of new technologies and effective executions of campaigns. Thanks to the Internet, the all-you-can-eat buffet of information, I was able to learn a variety of skills, expand knowledge of products and trends, and troubleshoot and customize CMS systems.

After years of iteration of the similar processes and cycles, I wanted to change direction. I wanted to launch a freelance career that can lead to my own digital marketing agency. I thought the conversion shouldn’t be too hard because I possess a skillset that can immediately prove useful to clients. But I discovered the assumption was only partially true. The existing value proposition of my services is styled after a help-desk, which is more task list-based and product-centric. It will not help with the serious undertaking of running my own digital marketing agency and crafting service offerings that need a foundation of strategies and best practices.

The lack of the structured learning of digital marketing is glaring. The recipe to success calls for equal parts of know-how in “Why”, “Who” and “When” in addition to the “How” and “What” that are already in place. I need a course that offers a holistic prospect on the digital marketing landscape and framework. From the consultancy point of view, it would be immediately useful to my clients that I understand how the relevant players in the field approach digital marketing and solve real problems.

I started searching for digital marketing courses that target my specific needs. Education providers I looked at included Udemy, Lynda, and Generalassemb.ly. Udacity came into view by way of their Facebok ad if I remember correctly.  As an online education provider, it doesn’t have a huge catalog of courses spanning a wide range of topics.  It puts real focus on technology learning.  It was impressive to see Udacity has designed successful courses in VR, Self-Driving Cars, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence, to name a few hot trends, where students went on to work in silicon-valley star companies.  I particularly liked Udacity’s roots in offering a computer science degree program by collaborating with Georgia Tech and AT&T.

Udacity’s Nanodegrees are programs designed to emphasize career-relevancy knowledge and in-demand skills. The Digital Marketing Nanodegree syllabus describes a complete study of all aspects of digital marketing that will satisfy my desire to learn the “Why”, “Who” and “When.” The course material was developed through a partnership with industry heavyweights such as Facebook, Google, Hubspot, and a faculty member of UCLA Anderson.

In addition to accomplished instructors, the Digital Marketing Nanoderee also requires students to work on real-world projects that are reviewed by mentors. It is important for practice hands-on to retain knowledge effectively. The program offers an added bonus in its career support and network resources.

One other important element I considered was the cost. Udacity’s Digital Marketing Nanodegree was reasonably priced. Although Udacity appeared to be the front-runner in my selection process, I originally intended to spend more time to find and evaluate more offerings. The process was cut short due to an unexpected reason. Udacity was offering a limited-time $300 discount for the first term of the Digital Marketing Nanadegree. The soon to be expired promotion earned Udacity an extra points in the cost column.  With Udacity scoring high marks in all of my criteria, I was happy to find Udacity the brand I want to be associated with and the institution to learn from.  I have full confidence that Udacity’s Digital Marketing Degree will help me meet my professional growth and entrepreneurial goals. The rest of work is soley on me.