With the Indian internet population at over 650 million users (as of May 2022), the digital marketing industry is growing. With the industry showing an enormous projected growth potential and an expected paucity of trained professionals, many students, graduates and young professionals are looking to get on the digital marketing bandwagon. Owing to Covid 19 there are even more Indians spending time online. This has led to rise in digital marketing jobs and also choice in terms of digital marketing courses and training institutes in India.
To cater to the growing need for these courses, a number of training companies, institutes and universities have started various Digital marketing courses and social media marketing courses. There are tons of books written on Digital Marketing and YouTube Channels covering digital marketing. Based on our experience in digital over the last 15 years here is a guide on some of the best institutes that you could choose from. Since this is an extensive article we've split it into sections to make it easier for you to navigate and read through.
Our top three picks would be Upgrad Campus, Growth School & UpGrad:
Short Video Guide on how to select the right digital marketing course in India:
Before opting for a digital marketing course online or offline, here are some pointers to evaluate the desired institute or course structure.
Here are some of the popular websites/companies/institutes offering Digital Marketing courses which will save you a considerable amount of time in research if you're looking for one for yourself.
Upgrad Campus from the house of Upgrad has a series of programs designed for students and recent graduates. Their Certification Program in Digital Marketing is priced at just INR 22,500 with an option to pay via EMI. They have an extensive module and the program has a combination of Live Sessions, recorded sesionss and mentor support. The unique aspect of Upgrad Campus is that it has 300+ hiring partners and offers placement assistance which gets learners, 3 assured interviews by top companies.
*Social Beat is a hiring partner at Upgrad Campus
The Marketing Launchpad by Kraftshala is an intensive program designed for begineers and the best part is that you only pay when you land a job with a minimum CTC of ₹4.5 lakhs. Its an indepth 20 week, online, full-time digital marketing course with specialisations in Digital Media and Content & Social Media that includes an 8-week internship. So its an all rounded program where they select, train, and invest in high potential graduates to help them kickstart their digital marketing careers. The program is designed by industry practioners and they also have smaller group sessions to give feedback so that learners can build on their individual strengths.
*Social Beat is a hiring partner at Kraftshala
One of the few cohort based programs for top talent in India, Growth School has best in class educators and trainers from the industry to help learngers start, transition, or level-up their career. They have a 8 week program and a 10 week program from experts in the Industry. They offer live sessions combined with recorded sessions. They call these as "Mentorship programs" and they offer deep dives into the most in-demand skills over a longer period. They go beyond the classroom with peer engagement and projects to boost outcomes. They also have a lot of Live Q&A sessions combined with a strong community to allow for ongoing learning.
Digital Vidya is a leading Digital Marketing training company and one of the first to launch Social Media Marketing course series in India. Since 2009, they claim to have had participation from over 20,000 professionals and students, from over 10,000 organizations and institutions. Digital Vidya also offers Digital Marketing (CDMM), Mobile Marketing (CMMM) and Social Media Certification programs (CSMMP) in association with V-Skills, a Govt. of India initiative. Their programs are priced at INR 50,000.
Simplilearn is one of the leading platforms for online training and professional certification programs. They have around 30 courses in digital marketing that provide hands-on experience in various Digital marketing domains. Priced at INR 60,000 they are accredited by OMCP, these courses are aimed at helping working professionals & aspirants stay ahead of the digital curve with relevant skills.
NIIT offers a post graduate degree in digital marketing and branding, seems to be designed for freshers. It guarantees 3 interviews and is priced at INR 70,000. The duration of these courses is 6 months. They used to offer this program offline but now moved it to digital - possibly owing to Covid 19.
There are many affordable recorded courses from platforms like Udemy, which covers the basics of digital marketing. Even Coursera has some excellent programs. If you are a student then MyCaptain has some useful programs starting at INR 5,999.
Online Courses are generally more convenient for most people, especially working professionals as they can be attended from the comfort of one's home/office Also, with technology having improved, online instructor-led virtual classrooms are as good as actual classrooms, with webinar software allowing for both peers to peer interaction as well as student-teacher interaction. Webinar recordings are also available for those who miss out on sessions. Classroom programs would only work best for you if you are the personality type that prefers learning in a classroom environment or if you're not too comfortable with learning in a live webinar format.
Here is a list of institutes which conduct classroom courses but owing to Covid 19, many of them may not be fully operational yet.
They have multiple programs. Their most intensive one is ADMC Expert which is a 1 year full time program to understand the insights from traditional marketing and transform them to adapt to the digital marketing arenas. They also have ADMC Advanced which is a weekend program over 7 months. The program also includes the globally-recognised DMI certification which makes the learners industry ready. They have centres across Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat and Ahmednagar.
EduPristine is one of India's leading training providers for international certifications in Finance, Accounting and Analytics. They also conduct digital marketing classroom courses in 11 Indian cities. The course covers 60 hours of digital marketing classroom training over 12 Sundays. They also have a 48-hour online course spread over 6 weekends. On completion of the course, the participants are awarded a Certificate of Excellence in collaboration with the "Microsoft IT Academy Program".
The Delhi School of Internet Marketing (now acquired by DigitalVidya) conducts an all in one advanced digital marketing live classroom course for working professionals, business owners and job-seekers, at their training centres in Delhi and Bangalore. They conduct an online instructor-led course as well on weekends. However, they do not seem to offer any digital marketing certification for participants who complete the course.
Digital Nest conducts an Advanced Digital Marketing Training Course in Hyderabad. The course includes 48 hours of classroom training with weekday/weekend classes. They also conduct workshops/seminars and webinars for corporate bodies and educational institutions.
Located in Mumbai, the Indian Institute of Digital Education offers two courses on digital marketing and full stack programming. The digital marketing programme is designed to give freshers a robust introduction to the world of digital marketing and help professionals intensify their existing knowledge of all things digital. The programme is divided into a 6-month with classes conducted thrice a week, and independent certification courses conducted for three hours over one week.
Most of the courses listed above are best suited for students and working professionals. If you are someone in a fairly senior role who has more than 5 to 10 years of work experience under his/her belt, then it might be worthwhile considering doing an executive digital marketing course.
Upgrad offers course across many streams. One of the streams is marketing where MICA has partnered with Upgrad for the PG certification in Digital Marketing and Communication and covers social media marketing, content marketing, branding and marketing analytics. Its a pretty long program at 6.5 months. Starting from INR 1,05 lakhs and going up to 1.52 lakhs it is one of the most expensive online course available. Some of the interesting aspects of this course are certifications from MICA case studies, projects and one on one mentoring with industry experts.
TalentEdge provides a Specialised Executive Programme in Digital Marketing from MICA, Ahmedabad, ideal for early beginners and working professionals. Priced at INR 80,000 for a 4.5 month program, they claim to have reached over 8,00,000 registered learners who have benefitted from the live lectures, case studies and content structure designed by MICA faculty & industry experts. Apart from this, TalentEdge also offers an Executive Development Program in digital marketing from XLRI at INR 90,000 for a 6 month program. The executive development program is a course for marketing managers who wish to understand the nuances of digital marketing techniques and tools to execute a campaign. Talentedge offers over 250 courses across different areas and while they dont specialize only in marketing programs, they do have good university tie ups.
Great Learning, from the house of Great Lakes Institute of Management has a PG Program in Strategic Digital Marketing. It is a 6 month module with a 4 week capstone project, with mentoring from faculty of Great Lakes. The course is a blended model with recorded content as well as live mentoring. The pricing is 1.25 lakhs + GST with an option to pay in installments or via EMI.
In partnership with Emeritus, ISB Hyderabad has a 12 week online program on Digital Marketing & Analytics priced at INR 1 lakh+GST with 4-6 hours per week required. Any graduate can apply for this program. ISB also have a 3-day executive program on campus in Hyderabad titled "Marketing in the Digital Age" priced at Rs.1,30,000 + GST. It is specifically targeted for professionals and leaders in the marketing and strategy domain. The program aims to give an overview of digital and social media marketing and how to get ROI from the medium. They also have programs around nicher areas like Marketing Analytics.
IIM Bangalore has a programme called "Digital Marketing for Business Growth" which they conduct mutiple times in their academic year. The programme aims to give an overview of digital marketing with a focus on the different social media marketing channels, search engine marketing (both search advertising & search engine optimization) and digital analytics. So it aims to give an overview of each of the key elements that can enable brands to get better engagement, leads and conversions. It also touches upon analytics and what metrics can be used to measure the performance of the digital campaigns.
IIM Lucknow has a 10 month online program priced at INR 1.77 lakhs and does require 1 year experience to apply for the program. They do have experiential learning experience through Live online and On Campus Immersions. You get to learn with renowned IIM Lucknow Faculty, and Emeritus industry practitioners
Jellyfish is a global leader in training around programmatic advertising platform - Google Marketing Platform (GMP) and its components, Campaign Manager, Display and Video 360 (DV360), Search Ads 360, Google Analytics 360 and Optimize 360. Its a pretty advanced program and the subscription is INR 42,000 per month and its meant for users who already have access to the GMP platform. Here is an article on the basics of programmatic advertising and DV360 case studies to help you get started.
Hootsuite, one of the most popular tools for social media scheduling and monitoring has Hootsuite Academy, which offers a social media program at USD 199, which is worth exploring.
Hubspot Academy offers a free Inbound Marketing Course & Certification marketers, entrepreneurs and students. They also conduct classroom training but only in the United States.
If you are a self-learner keen on understanding the digital marketing space, there are various youtube channels, digital marketing blogs, articles, books and real-time case studies available online. All said Digital marketing is a field where just taking courses or following the industry trends alone will not make one an expert. Maximum learning can only be gleaned from actual hands-on, on-the-job experience. Hence, the success of these courses will eventually depend on the quality of digital professionals they send into the industry and how well they execute the acquired knowledge & digital skill sets. If you are looking out for digital marketing careers in India, check Social Beat out.
Have you taken up any of these courses? Please share your experiences with us in the comments!
Today, almost everything is online. Brands are increasingly looking at digital marketing professionals to help them make the transformation from offline to online. Here’s where a need for an MBA in digital marketing steps in. Digitization is increasingly influencing the way businesses function across sectors and has changed the way advertising works. This changing digital landscape has created a need for a new niche that is an MBA in digital marketing management.
The Importance of Digital Marketing:
According to the Digital First Journey report by KPMG, in India, growing internet penetration and data usage are likely to help push the digital advertising spending at a compounded rate of 30.8 percent between 2016 and 2021. Digital marketing comprises many forms of marketing, and since it’s a vast field, there is substantial demand for online marketers in companies across India and the rest of the world. Digital marketing is a way to market products and services using digital technologies, not only on the web but also on mobile and other electronic devices. Digital marketing management covers various marketing techniques such campaign marketing, email marketing, social media marketing and content marketing among others. Communicating on social media helps companies receive all kinds of feedback from users who in return help the company provides an enriched digital experience.
The Scope:
Sound expertise in digital marketing management and strategies provide you with all the skills necessary to become a successful digital marketing professional. It also helps you build a digital marketing company of your own. You can also become an independent Digital Advertising consultant and businesses build their digital presence after you learn all the necessary digital marketing skills. You could work in executing Digital Marketing Strategies, in social media marketing, SEO and content marketing, market research, digital advertising, business development and sales, N2N marketing and many other departments.
A report by StatCounter Global Stats stated India is leading mobile Internet usage with 79 percent with the US coming second at 37 percent and the UK at a close 34 percent. Several organizations and businesses across sectors now offer digital marketing jobs, as more businesses aim to expand their digital marketing teams. Advertising agencies are the leading providers of digital marketing jobs in India. Independent digital marketing agencies, PR companies, social media agencies well as market research agencies provide digital marketing jobs too.
Online solutions:
This course has the potential to be on various platforms such as Google Search, Google Display, Facebook, YouTube, etc to ensure you are well versed in all advertising elements equipped with all the latest know-how. Digigrad’s online Advertising masters program is updated with all of the above. Many educational institutions, startups, and agencies now provide courses with a certification in digital marketing. One of the best institutes which offer such a program for aspiring digital marketing professionals is Digigrad. Apart from that, some post-graduation courses like MBA have started including digital marketing in their syllabus. A lot of these institutes also integrate Digital marketing at an advanced level. A perfect solution for this would be taking up a course that would bridge that gap and provide you with the tools you need before your MBA. A perfect example of such a course is the Digital Ads master course by Digigrad.
About the course:
Candidates who are looking to apply for a regular MBA in digital marketing need to finish their undergraduate course of at least 3 years. You may also be required to qualify in any national MBA entrance examinations such as CAT/MAT/XAT/GMAT.. The average annual fees for the course ranges from INR 50,000 to INR 7 lakhs. The course follows a regular 2 year structure with 4 semesters covering all the different subjects involved in digital marketing.
The subjects mainly comprise of subjects including and Introduction to Digital Marketing & Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media Marketing, Branding, Content Marketing strategies, Digital Advertising, Analytics , Communication essentials , Market Research, Consumer Behavior, Distribution Management, Mobile Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, performance marketing, Online Reputation Management etc.
1.JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur.
The university was established in the year 2011. They offer an MBA in digital marketing and web analytics with actual live projects. You will also receive personality development training as part of a multidisciplinary curriculum. Partnership with various world-class institutes provides various research opportunities and excellent training for implementing real-life situations.
Website: www.jklu.edu.in
2.Centurion University of Technology, Bhubaneswar
Centurion University in Bhubaneswar offers a 2 years MBA program specialising in digital marketing management and e-commerce. It is a private university which is ‘A’ grade accredited from the NAAC. You can apply online on their website. You can also apply offline at the university. The university is a member of the AIU and offers several merit scholarships.
Website: https://cutm.ac.in
3. RVS Institute of Management, Sulur, Tamil Nadu
In the year 2014, RVS started offering digital marketing under the MBA program. Although it is not a very well known college, trainedge has collaborated with the college to improve the course content delivery and make it more holistic. Real-time projects make it a very practically-oriented course. Most of the faculty who teach at this university are from IIMs or ISB; thereby giving aspiring digital marketing professionals access to some of the best minds in the industry.
Website:https://www.rvsimsr.ac.in
4.Xavier Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai
Xavier institute is a renowned institution in Mumbai. It provides a range of innovative programs for students to expand their knowledge and gain expertise. Xavier offers a separate master of management studies course in digital marketing, which can be considered equivalent to an MBA. If you want to do an MBA in digital marketing in Mumbai, Xavier’s is a great option.
Website: https://ximr.ac.in
5.RIMT University, Punjab
The Regional Institute of Management and Technology, in Punjab, provides MBA in digital marketing and social media marketing. It is a private institution that offers courses in engineering, management, and marketing studies.
Website:https://rimt.ac.in
6. MICA, Ahmedabad
Also known as the ‘Mecca of Marketing’, MICA is a top choice to get a degree in Marketing and communications. MICA offers a 6.5 Month intensive online program that is designed to train students in key areas of Digital Marketing & Communication to help them deal with real-world marketing challenges. The program is taught by some of MICA’s top Faculty in Marketing Strategy, Digital and Communications. Through core concepts, industry projects, tools and case studies, MICA’s digital marketing communication course will equip you with top skills needed to succeed in the field.
Website: https://www.mica.ac.in/digital-marketing-communication-online/program-overview
7. Symbiosis, Pune
Symbiosis College for Distance Learning, Pune offers a 4-month long Certification Course as well as a 2 year PGDBA Program with a specialization in Digital Marketing. Symbiosis is AICTE Approved. A PGCM [DM] from Symbiosis will help students gain a solid understanding of the digital marketing landscape & equip students with tools and techniques required to become a successful digital marketer.
Website: http://www.scdl.net/distance-learning-in-digital-marketing.aspx
Digigrad: DigiGrad is an initiative of Social Beat, India’s fastest-growing independent digital marketing solutions company. You can collaborate, learn, and grow with some of the top minds in digital marketing. Social Beat is an award-winning Google Premier Partner Agency and a recommended agency by Facebook. They offer a Digital Advertising Master course which is ideal for anyone seeking to pursue a career in digital marketing or to broaden their expertise in this versatile subject. You can learn Digital Advertising from top experts and leading innovators in the digital marketing industry across India with Digigrad’s certification program. Under the Digital Advertising Master Course, Digigrad offers comprehensive digital marketing modules, which extensively cover advertising across platforms such as Google Search, Google Display, Facebook, YouTube, etc to ensure that you become a highly skilled digital marketing professional.
Are you looking out for some really interesting, inspirational and power-packed events? Thanks to Covid 19, all of it has now moved online. Check out digital marketing webinars being done by Social Beat and DigiGrad.
Once larger physical events are allowed, you could possibly attend some of the biggest marketing and digital marketing events in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and other parts of India; that not just inspire but also give you an opportunity to network with the best marketers in the country. It’s an opportunity to listen to the finest in the advertising and marketing field – a forum that stimulates conversations and ideas around design, marketing, digital and more. You may also find it useful to read our book on digital marketing and view the Digital Bytes knowledge series on the Social Beat YouTube Channel or take up our digital marketing course at DigiGrad.
Here’s a quick glance into our compilation of top marketing events taking place across the country in 2021.
IAMAI is back with its signature event, IDS (India Digital Summit) on 19-20 Jan 2021. This year the central theme is ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ . The staggering increase in the total number of internet users in rural India recently presents us with the unique opportunity to establish India as a global powerhouse of Digital Growth. With over 150+ speakers its going to be a much anticipated event and award.
Often termed as Oscars of Indian ad awards, Abbys by Ad Club of Mumbai honours creative excellence in advertising. With a grand conclave and awards in Goa, its an event all agencies and marketers look forward to. It also organises Effies, which honours all form of effective marketing communications across India. The 2020 edition was cancelled due to Covid19 but we all hope to be back in Goa to celebrate creative excellence, soon enough.
Exchange4media organizes the Indian Digital Media Awards since 2010. It has always encouraged contributors in the 360-degree digital media space to keep getting better with the transformations taking place in the industry year on year. For this, it recognizes their talents, appreciates and celebrates them through these awards. It has showcased the work of many contemporary digital professionals and rewarded them for their beautifully executed digital blogs and viral campaigns. This event in itself is a huge networking opportunity for every business professional to connect and grow. Its 4th edition was held on the 4 and 5th of June, 2020. The 2021 dates are yet to be announced.
This is a grand event in Mumbai organized by the IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India). The event in its 16th edition, is an endeavour towards establishing a great comprehension of the modern methods and mechanics of marketing.
Key highlights:
Major Speakers were MDs & CEOs of leading companies such as Group M and Pepsico, top marketing managers of Times Internet, Starbucks, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, eBay and Renault amongst others. There were Panelists to take the conversations to another level. The sessions were followed by networking breaks at regular intervals.
Topics of discussion revolved around Marketing in new age Digital India and around the globe that included:
Campaign India hosted its tenth edition of its awards on 4th June 2020 to honour excellence in digital advertising and marketing. Dates for 2021 are yet to be announced. Rechristened Campaign India Digital Crest Awards (CIDCA) in 2013, the property has evolved over the last nine years from its origins (as the Campaign India Digital Media Awards), to remain contemporary, relevant and inclusive of the dynamic changes in the digital ecosystem. It also features an award evening.
Having conducted 6 editions, Foxglove continues to be a signature event in the year by afaqs. Every year it aims to to add more sub-categories to accommodate the refreshing work done in newer formats. Foxglove has become one of the most revered advertising shows in India thanks to over 500 unique entities who have participated over the years. A unique aspect about the award is that its only open for agency or organisations that are less than 12 years old. After all, creativity knows no age.
Social Beat, one of India's fastest growing digital agency in India; conducts Digital Leadership Summit in Mumbai, Bengaluru & Chennai and online. This is a CXO event which brings together Business Leaders and CMOs to discuss how to drive business results through digital marketing and share innovation across Video, Vernacular Content, Voice, Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality. The business leaders and attendees would be from across sectors, including FMCG, BFSI, Real Estate, Entertainment, Education and Internet Businesses. The 5th edition was conducted virtually in the form of Digital Premier League in Oct 2020.
Exchange4Media group boasts of another event that it hosts, the Pitch CMO Summit. It is considered to be their flagship event which gathers some of the greatest marketing minds to discuss the latest, complex and challenging marketing trends in the global market scenario. Every year, the event is theme-based. The theme for 2019 was “Reinventing Consumer Experience”. At the Pitch CMO summit on 28th February 2020, leaders from the Industry explained how to concentrate on ‘the buy’, underlines the challenges, and highlight the opportunities.
Digies, an initiative by afaqs!, aims to celebrate creative marketing communication initiatives by Agencies, Brands, Production Houses, Design Studios, Creative Studios, and Content Creators, from exceptional use of social media to integrating multiple platforms, from use of hashtags to a 120-seconder video, and more. There are 38 categories to participate in. Aspirants can submit their work in single or campaign categories. Additionally, there are 2 special awards, namely: Brand of the Year and Agency of the Year.
Conceptualized by the online video analytics & marketing company - Vidooly, StreamCon Asia is a one-stop congregation for content creators, video platforms and advertisers from the online video industry in India. It is one of largest event of its kind in India with speakers and panelists from UC Web, Indigo Airlines, Eros Digital, Fab India, Oyo Rooms, Trent, Dailyhunt and more. It will also feature many content creators and YouTuber Influencers giving it a power packed event for anyone who is leveraging video content. The dates for 2021 are yet to be announced.
A niche awards night started by exchange4media in 2016, is now an annual summit. The last one took place on 2020. In the world of marketing, content has definitely changed the way marketers present their brands to consumers. As more and more brands choose creative content for engaging with their consumers, the need to stand out increases every minute. Indian Content Marketing Awards aim to promote and recognise this talent, expertise and hard work that go behind cracking breakthrough ideas & concepts to create exceptional brand stories. The Content Marketing Summit is also going to have an Asia Summit, so watch out for that too.
Adobe Symposium is one of the biggest Digital Marketing events in india. This event invites thought leaders in the field of digital marketing to redefine your experiences with Adobe partners. As their marketing promos claim – ‘Take it to another level, soar new heights like never before and extend your digital experience with courses straight from the Adobe Digital Learning Services’. Apart from these, there are several other reasons to attend this conference, including networking goals. This is the most sought-after experience for most digital professionals in today’s utmost competitive era and has been rightly defined as the event “Where digital marketing meets extraordinary experiences.” Every marketer looks forward to making the most valuable connections with their digital marketing pioneers and peers and if luck may have it, then with the digital marketing veterans and Adobe leaders too.
ad:tech is the original industry authority for marketing and media technology, where marketing, technology and media communities assemble to share new ways of thinking, build strong partnerships, and define new strategies to compete in an ever-changing marketplace. The 10th edition of ad:tech in Mumbai took place on 27th and 28th October 2020 - the dates for 2021 are yet to be announced. The summit will enable participants to explore the future of marketing and discuss the ever-evolving and complex landscape, focussing on how technology, data and content are helping brands win through superior Customer Experiences, regardless of the touchpoint.
Social Beat, a digital marketing firm is conducting an innovative forum called the ‘Design Beat’. It is a remarkable platform for creative minds to pool in their ingenious ideas and thoughts to come up with solutions that impact lives. Eventually, the solution nudges users and bring about a behavioural change. The design hackathon brings together like-minded problem-solvers to crack the problem with their wits and imagination. The event is scheduled for the 1st of November. Participants will receive exciting rewards for their resourceful contribution. Get ready to grab this wonderful opportunity to showcase your talent!
CMS Asia is a premier not-for-profit event organized by the thriving marketing community across JAPAC and ANZ. It is a must attend digital marketing event for every content marketer. This year the summit is being held in four different cities – Sydney, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai. CMS Asia will features speakers and attendees coming together to explore and discuss the various facets of content marketing, emerging trends, best practices and innovative though leadership.
The South Asia leg of the summit will take place in Mumbai on April 15, 2020 tentatively.
The 4th edition of VdoNxt Asia is India’s largest convention for those who live by the promise of digital video. It is the complete experience: listen and network at the conference; get in touch with the latest in technology at the exhibition, and celebrate the best work in digital video at the VdoNxt awards. The last edition was held on 29th January, 2020.
If you are based in Bengaluru, you may find it interesting to read our blog on Top marketing events in Bangalore.
Do feel free to comment below or reach out to us in case you feel any other event in India deserves to be a part of this list.
Are you wondering how to learn social media marketing? You’ve landed on the right page.
Social Media Marketing is becoming one of the fastest-growing aspects of Digital Marketing, which enables marketers to increase their brand awareness to a greater extent. Covid 19 has only accelerated this trend even further.
Marketing through Social Media is important because:
The data also proves that users have also started following popular brands and businesses on Social Media. The scenario has changed and it’s vital to learn social media marketing as every business needs to have a social media presence. It is important to constantly engage with the customers to keep the consumers remembered about your brand.
Being a social media marketer comes up with a lot of fun responsibilities. Yes, you heard me right! Can the responsibilities be fun? Absolutely!
If you are wondering how to be a social media marketer and if you are someone who loves being creative, then this is your chance! Upskilling yourself by learning Social Media Marketing is one of the top skills that would speak volumes on your resume. Social Media Marketers earn an average salary of 5.6 lakhs per year which is just at the start of your career.
Everything being said, it’s your chance to start learning and now that you have understood the importance and role of social media marketing, let’s look at how to be a social media marketer in India. We have curated the top courses and even some books for you. If you are looking at broader courses around digital marketing, you can check out this link.
Let’s get started!
| Name of the Platform | Certifications provided | Faculties | Fees & Duration | Key factors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digigrad | Digigrad & Social Beat Certified |
Lalitha Shukla, Senior Manager-Digital Strategist, Social Beat Srinidhi Maheshwari, Senior Manager- Digital Marketing, Social Beat Aishwarya Merwade, Manager, Assetz |
Rs.10,000 + GST - 4 weeks | Harvard-style case study learning methodology |
| Digital Vidya | Google, HubSpot, and Government of India |
Kapil Nakra, Co-founder, Digital Vidya Shubhendu Jha, Co-Founder, WeBeeSocial |
Rs.11,900 + GST - One month | Industry-based live projects |
| Simplilearn | Simplilearn Certified | Kapil Nakra, Co-founder, Digital Vidya
Shubhendu Jha, Co-Founder, WeBeeSocial |
Rs.15,999.- Self-paced learning. | High-quality self-paced e-learning content |
| Digital Academy 30 | HubSpot & Facebook. | - | - | An experience like classroom training. |
| NIIT | NIIT Certified | Aditya Pandey, Lead Instructor - Digital Marketing with NIIT Ltd | Rs. 6,700/- | Innovative learning methods |
| Udemy | Udemy Certified | - | Rs.455/- | Budget-friendly |
| Coursera | Coursera Certified | Chris J. Vargo, Assistant Professor - the University of Colorado Boulder |
Rs.3659/- | Graded Assignments and Case Studies |
DigiGrad answers all your questions on how to be a social media marketer. DigiGrad is an educational initiative of Social Beat - a Google Premier Partner and a badged Facebook Business Partner. They aim at providing quality Digital training in an online classroom setting. It’s an IIM Alumni initiative and the mission is to deliver Harvard-style Case Study based Learning Methodology and live classes.
Digigrad’s strong forward-thinking approach can be noticed from their vision - To train 1 lakh Digital Marketing Professionals, in the next two years.
The Social Media Marketing training course offered by Digigrad helps in gaining real-time industry experience with live projects, assignments, and assistance with Internships and placements opportunities.
Why Digigrad?
What will you receive?
Course Duration and Fees structure: Rs.10,000 + GST and the duration of the course is for 4 weeks. They also have the digital marketing master program which covers aspects like content marketing, digital advertising and media planning too.
Digital Vidya is a leading professional training institution that aims at providing the right skill-set for freshers and professionals. They have provided quality education for over 35+ professionals across 55+ countries. Digital Vidya has also successfully partnered with top Social tycoons such as Facebook, LinkedIn, NASSCOM & Vskills to make the learning experience better.
The Social Media Marketing Training Course offered by Digital Vidya acts as an eye-opener for all the passionate marketers. Digital Vidya offers live instructor-led sessions which makes the learning more interactive.
Why Digital Vidya?
What will you receive?
Course Duration and Fees structure: Rs.11,900 + GST and the duration of the course is one month.
Simplilearn is on a journey to transform lives by empowering people through Digital skills. Simplilearn is one of the world’s leading certification training providers in various areas and offers one of the best digital marketing certification programs. They have empowered over one million professionals and companies across 150+ countries. Simplilearn has been named as the 8th most influential education brand in the world by LinkedIn. The Simplilearn’s Advance Social Media Marketing Training Course Certification will help you transform as a successful Social Media Marketer. Learn social media marketing and become a specialist in creating creative copies, influencer marketing, and much more.
Why Simplilearn?
What will you receive?
Course Duration and Fees structure: Rs.15,999. Simplilearn offers Self-paced learning.
Their vision is to redefine the education system in India and transform the journey of their students into leading professionals. Digital Academy 360 was awarded as the “Best Digital Learning Institute of the year” by Indian Education Awards 2019. They focus on teaching the course from a basic to an advanced level. Their social media marketing training courses are suitable for both beginners and professionals. Digital Academy 360 was also the first institute to kick start a content writing classroom training program. Learn social media marketing through their Social Media Master program designed for freshers, working professionals, entrepreneurs & freelancers.
Why Digital Academy 360?
NIIT is a leading Skills and Talent Development Corporation with a strong focus on assuming a leadership role in the Digital Learning World. Through NIIT Digital, learners can access their learning materials from anywhere and they have put together a great team of Industry-experts to deliver effective learning through online live classes.
NIIT was recognized as ‘Best Education Company to work with” at Indian Education Congress & Awards 2020. The Social Media Marketing training course offered by NIIT is designed based on the new age goals and makes you equipped to build effective strategies.
The programme is designed to make beginners learn social media marketing and be conversant with Social Media tools and techniques.
Why NIIT?
What will you receive?
Fees structure: Rs. 6,700/-
Udemy is the leading global platform for learning and they are helping individuals reach their goals by pursuing their dream career. Udemy’s vision is to transform learning experiences by giving access to online courses to anyone from anywhere. Udemy is the leading global marketplace for teaching and learning, connecting millions of students to the skills they need to succeed. The courses at Udemy helps students and professionals to keep up with the rapidly evolving workplace. The Social Media Marketing training course offered by Udemy specializes mainly at learning advertising on different platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and much more.
The course briefly provides the strategies and principles of Social Media Marketing that has worked with leading brands, providing you with all answers on how to be a social media marketer!
Why Udemy?
What will you receive?
Course duration & Fees structure: Self-paced learning at Rs.455/-
Coursera visualizes a world where anyone and everyone is given the ability to transform their career by accessing the world’s top learning resources from Coursera. Every course is taught by highly qualified instructors from leading universities all over the world. Coursera also provides a plethora of free courses that provide access to learning resources and videos. They offer guided projects, specializations, professional certificates, and online degrees. The Social Media Marketing training course offered by Coursera is for beginners who are just starting to learn Social Media marketing basics. This course helps you in learning from basic to advanced advertising techniques such as lookalike modelling and audience retargeting on three major social media platforms - Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Why Coursera?
What will you receive?
Fees structure: Self-paced learning at Rs.3659/-
Conclusion: On the whole, all these social media marketing training courses will help you in pursuing your career goals and will provide you with valuable insights on how to be a social media marketer.
If you are someone who is looking to dive deeper into Digital Marketing and build a successful digital marketing career in India, have a look at courses offered by Digigrad - They are budget-friendly and offer live classes.
Happy Learning!
We earlier shared the worlds’ best digital marketing blogs which covered a comprehensive range of the kind of content that is being created and shared worldwide. And then we got to wondering, how well-versed in the Indian market with the digital era?
An increasing number of Indian brands are going digital and the key is to keep yourself updated with the latest marketing trends and digital discoveries and use them to the best of your capabilities to expand your business. After all, digital media is all about growing. So, after a lot of backbreaking research, we got down to rounding up some of the best digital marketing blogs in India which could help you guide your way forward in the social media and digital space. You may also find it interesting to read our book on digital marketing insights or subscribe to our YouTube Channel or take up the digital marketing course at DigiGrad. If you think we missed some amazing blogs, please do comment below and let us know.
Founded by Aditya Gupta and Ankit Gaba, Social Samosa is the provenance of high-toned content which encompasses of agency highlights, in-depth case studies, interviews with prominent icons in the digital world, campaign reviews along with tips and tools that could help you grow profoundly in the social media expanse. The idea is to help businesses understand the world of social media locally and globally.
Deepak Kanakaraju is a leading marketing consultant from Bangalore. Prior to being a consultant, he worked as a digital marketing manager for leading brands such as Instamojo, Exotel, Practo and Razorpay. He is also a published author and his book “How to get your dream digital marketing job” is a handy guide for aspiring digital marketing professionals. His blog Digital Deepak covers a wide range of topics ranging from digital marketing tips to entrepreneurship.
Digital Ready is a leading digital marketing training centre based out of Hyderabad. Their blog is a comprehensive guide for young professionals to understand A-Z of digital marketing. From latest updates and best practices to tips and tricks, Digital Ready covers everything in the world of digital marketing. They also offer digital marketing certifications and placement solutions for students.
Like Campaign Asia, the blogs at Campaign India cover the trending topics in digital media and they act like a solo powerhouse of information that is adequate for online marketers. The content found on this platform is mostly news and opinions from the digital world.
Focused mainly towards digital marketers and CMOs who are looking to create a footprint in the world of digital marketing, Social Beat blogs cater to a variety of industries. The content in the blogs aims at helping businesses understand how different strategies can help them grow their business online. The blogs are enriched with quality insights and goal-oriented strategies to help brands get best ROI from their digital marketing efforts. You may also find it interesting to read our book on digital marketing insights or subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
From the latest news to the top digital media trends, Lighthouse Insights provides everything. Timely interviews with eminent personalities from the creative world are also covered in their content hemisphere. These articles are something to look forward to for people who love nibbling on digi facts and understandings.
The blogs of Shout Me Loud offer tips on WordPress, SEO, money blogging and affiliate marketing. Shout Me Loud also covers exclusive high quality content for beginners on how to make a career out of blogging. It is one of the award winning blogs that gives useful tips on how to become an entrepreneur with the help of blogging. Shout Me loud is owned by Harsh Agrawal, a blogging expert from New Delhi. Today, Shout Me Loud has attracted about 900,000 readers across the world.
Digital Vidya is one of the leading platforms that offers digital marketing courses in India. Their blog section covers all things digital and has detailed step by step guides on each digital platform. Additionally, Digital Vidya blog also has case studies on various industries, which helps brands and marketers alike.
Influencer.in is one of India's leading influencer marketing platforms, connecting brands with bloggers and Influencers. The blog provides excellent insights influencer marketing and tips for bloggers. It is the best resource to stay up to date with Influencer marketing news and tactics for a successful campaign.
In Apr 2017, Social Beat in partnership with Facebook India conducted the second edition of the Digital Marketing Masterclass. With a packed audience of 50, we had an insightful session on how to approach digital marketing to build a brand and to acquire quality sales or leads.
The top three expectations, shared by the audience, that was elaborated during the session were:
So, if you are facing similar challenges, then read on!
From Facebook’s own research, users on average spent 3 hours on mobile per day that signifies that your consumer is on mobile for 3 hours and you have the opportunity of 3 hours to be in front of your consumer!
One thing we all need to understand is that Facebook is a discovering platform. Your brand personality has to stand out in the consumer’s mind and there need to be multiple touch points and impressions to make the connect. The Reach & Frequency category of campaigns can be useful in achieving this goal. Moreover, Facebook users are active throughout the day, unlike most other mediums (TV, print or radio) and in fact, 35%+ of Facebook Users are active at any given time.
Did you know that on average in a single day people check their Facebook feed 14 times? As many as 62% of the audience check their phones over 30 times a day. That means you are getting 14 times the opportunity to sell your product via Facebook. With over 184 million Facebook users in India, it gives brands a tremendous opportunity. Moreover, as per the report from NCCSAB, 210 million is the consuming population in India out of which, 142 million can be reached through Facebook.
As per the statistics, 33% of the users are from metros. So 67% of the Facebook universe belongs to the population from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities – which is contrary to popular perception. This is also going to give rise to content creation and consumption in regional languages.
Facebook is the platform to keep in touch with family and friends whereas Instagram is the platform where people look for inspiration, photos and brands to follow.
Top Interests on Instagram are:
Moreover, the Instagram user is a more evolved and engaged user with a premium lifestyle. For example, while only 5% of the population in India has mobile postpaid connections, 25% of Instagram users have postpaid connections – highlighting that a luxury or premium brand cannot be ignoring a platform like Instagram.
Facebook is 85% accurate and when further information like age and gender is included, the accuracy rate goes up to 90%.
The top reasons why Facebook is more effective is
This feature allows us to reach a precise audience based on four main targeting types:
For example: When targeting NRIs to sell your property - The audience which is core to Facebook is provided with age and gender information. Behaviour targeting will help us target people living in a joint family, who are frequent travellers internationally and nationally, who have travel apps and are newly married.
The custom audience is an excellent way to make use of CRM data. The CRM tool can also help in lead nurturing, which is critical to improving the final conversion of leads to home buyers. Research by Social Beat shows that there is a 60% better chance of converting if called within 2 hours.
Another medium we can customise our audience is with the use of Facebook Pixel, which creates a list of users who came to your website, converted into the site, visiting more than a certain number of times in the last 30 days etc.
The custom audience also helps in improving the quality of the leads. Users frequently visiting your website are more like to become home buyers and can be given more focus.
Lookalike audiences are a way to reach new people who are likely to be interested in your business because…
You’re telling Facebook that you want an audience created of people who are most like your email list, website visitors, people who have hit one of your conversion pixels, etc. Facebook will create an audience based off data points on a Facebook profile that would denote similarity.
You can also create an International Lookalike audience – because people are same everywhere! Eg: People have visited your luxury product landing page. You can create a lookalike of similar users internationally!
Facebook Brand awareness tracks people who look for sponsored content. If you plan to go ahead with lead ads in the first go, it will go to the people who have filled the leads in the past. You are missing out on the potential to reach a newer audience.
How does Brand awareness work?
Point to note: Investing in your brand awareness is similar to running ads on radio and television. You need to frequently appear on the wall of the people!
For Brand awareness videos, relevant content and E-books along with the below ideas can be tried
Sequencing of ads is also possible by using custom audiences after using Reach & Frequency ads and we have seen some tremendous results come through this.
There are numerous case studies that one can find on the Facebook Business Success page but we discussed a few in detail and you can read them up via the below links:
We have a more detailed blog on tracking ROI from digital marketing, which you may find useful.
There are some common mistakes marketers make, which should be avoided in order to improve conversions:
Its important to the have the below elements & approach to getting the best quality leads and conversion:
