Certified in Digital Marketing

By Dr. Zulk Shamsuddin

The Certified in Digital Marketing ™ (CDM) is an ISO-standard certification for individuals with skills and experience associated with researching and developing digital marketing opportunities and plans, developing digital marketing strategy, product branding, marketing channels, customer engagement, executive communications and suggesting improvements to achieve the organization’s digital marketing goals.
It forms the basis of the assessment that applicants must pass to gain the Certified in Digital Marketing status and inclusion in the Directory of Certified Professionals of The Global Academy of Finance and Management ®.
Stand out from the crowd with the GAFM® Certified in Digital Marketing certification.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387689590

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Zulk Shamsuddin, PhD / GAFM ACADEMY

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9781387689590

INTRODUCTION

The Certified in Digital Marketing ™ (CDM) is an ISO-standard certification for individuals with skills and experience associated with researching and developing digital marketing opportunities and plans, developing digital marketing strategy, product branding, marketing channels, customer engagement, executive communications and suggesting improvements to achieve the organization’s digital marketing goals.

It forms the basis of the assessment that applicants must pass to gain the Certified in Digital Marketing status and inclusion in the Directory of Certified Professionals of The Global Academy of Finance and Management ®.

Stand out from the crowd with the GAFM® Certified in Digital Marketing certification.

Benefits of becoming a Certified in Digital Marketing

Personal recognition from your peers.

Enhanced CV to get noticed by top recruiters.

A framework for the development of your career.

International recognition.

Assurance for clients of high standards and ethical practice.

Use of the post-nominal CDM or Certified in Digital Marketing

Introduce yourself using this exclusive certification card during networking, business events, conference, training, and anywhere. Certification has its privileges.

Importance of Certification

Certificates and certifications, the names for these credentials sound confusingly similar. But there are important differences. Here’s what you need to know about these resume-enhancing options and how they might advance your career.

What is a Certificate?

Earning a certificate is about education. Certificates are academic credentials awarded by colleges, universities or other educational institutions. Students in certificate programs learn new knowledge in a specific subject or discipline and earn a certificate by successfully completing the coursework. An ideal student for a certificate program is someone who is willing to go through the experience of growing their own skillset, being real about what they want to learn, and working with others, says Jennifer Diamond, an instructor for the UW Certificate in Project Management. Many certificate programs have few, if any, admission requirements, making them an excellent option if you want to move forward in your career. The programs are usually noncredit and take less time to complete than a degree. Certificates are commonly listed on resumes as education, and some meet education requirements for first-time or renewed certifications.

What is a Certification?

When you have the professional knowledge you need, a certification allows you to prove it.  Certifications indicate mastery of skills or standards. Professional certifications are granted by industry groups or career-related organizations. These groups assess your qualifications, usually through an exam or application process. Many certifications include the privilege to use a related designation following your professional title. A certification differs from a license, which permits you to work in a certain profession and is usually issued by government or regulatory agencies.

Benefits of Certification

Certification helps in learning the new technologies, skills, and abilities for a specific promotion. Earning a new certification or an advanced certification in a particular area of expertise can help in advancing your career.

Professional certification shows consumers and potential employers that you are committed to your profession and are well-trained. It gives them confidence in your abilities and knowledge. Certification makes you more valuable to employers, so you can expect to earn more than someone without certification.

Certifications can give you the chance to learn needed skills, and be a quick way to show employers you have those skills. On the other hand, certifications can require studying or coursework, and cost up to several hundred dollars to take.

Soft Skills for a Digital Marketing Professional

Personal characteristics can indicate how the candidate will approach the job and how he or she might relate to coworkers.  Evaluate the following personal characteristics relative to the tasks and responsibilities you have listed for the job opening:

Analytical and creative abilities. A candidate’s abilities in these two areas determine how he or she assesses problems and comes up with new approaches to solving them.

Decision-making style. Decision-making style is very individual. Some people are extremely structured, analytical, and fact based; others rely more on intuition. Some make decisions quickly, while others ponder them for a long time. Some depend on consensus, while others seek their own counsel. It is critical to determine whether a particular style is required for success in the job and, if so, what it is.

Interpersonal skills. Since interpersonal skills and behavior are intimately connected, understanding a candidate’s interpersonal skills is an important part of the hiring decision process. To determine which interpersonal skills are most appropriate for a given position, think about the set of tasks that will be performed in the position. Which traits will translate into good performance, especially in view of the superiors, peers, and direct reports with whom the person will interact? For example, a controller should ideally be patient and formal, demonstrating careful, cautious, detail-oriented behavior. For a sales manager, high extroversion and low formality may be desirable.

Motivation. The candidate’s personal goals, interests, energy level, and job progression often demonstrate their level of motivation. So, ask yourself, "Does this job match the candidate’s personal aspirations? Would he or she do the job with enthusiasm and energy?

Skills Certification

This book focuses at six pillars of Digital Marketing:

Digital Marketing

Product Branding

Marketing Strategy

Customer Engagement

Marketing Channels

Communications

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing, also called online marketing, is the promotion of brands to connect with potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication. This includes not only email, social media, and web-based advertising, but also text and multimedia messages as a marketing channel.

Essentially, if a marketing campaign involves digital communication, it's digital marketing.

BBA in Digital Marketing-Unique Aspects | Adamas University

B2B Versus B2C Digital Marketing

Digital marketing works for B2B as well as B2C companies, but best practices differ significantly between the two. B2B clients tend to have longer decision-making processes, and thus longer sales funnels. Relationship-building strategies work better for these clients, whereas B2C customers tend to respond better to short-term offers and messages.

B2B transactions are usually based on logic and evidence, which is what skilled B2B digital marketers present. B2C content is more likely to be emotionally-based, focusing on making the customer feel good about a purchase.

B2B decisions tend to need more than 1 person's input. The marketing materials that best drive these decisions tend to be shareable and downloadable. B2C customers, on the other hand, favor one-on-one connections with a brand.

What is the Role of a Digital Marketing professional in a Company?

The Digital Marketing professional is responsible for the digital marketing activities of the company that includes tracking market developments, creating strategies, establishing sales plans, and maintaining customer relations.

The marketing department is in charge of generating interest in the company's products, and they're responsible for creating and maintaining the company's entire image. Some common marketing functions include:

Defining how consumers perceive the brand.

Conducting and analyzing market research.

Identifying a target market for the product or service.

Producing and distributing promotional materials.

Creating content online and optimizing it for search engines.

Managing the company's social media presence.

Managing communication with outside PR and advertising agencies.

Digital marketing is more than simply adding a Web site address to TV commercials or sending customer service text messages. Digital networks are beginning to connect customers’ computers to their televisions, phones and games consoles. Business customers are seeing the bottom-line profit benefits of free-flowing information between their company, suppliers and customers. In the past decade of fledgling digital networks, marketers have experimented with the most effective ways to use these new channels to communicate and sell to their customers. There have been spectacular successes, and the wise and adventurous have learnt from their mistakes. The biggest lesson has been that traditional marketing principles need to change and that these changes must go to the heart of conventional, pre-digital thinking.

‘Traditional’ marketing thinking has been ‘top down’: from the company through its distribution network to customers. The analogue television, for example, provides viewers with fixed schedules on a small number of channels (although viewers may use a video recorder to time-shift their viewing and perhaps onscreen text services). Advertisers can target commercials to a program’s demographics and may tie in commercials to relevant programmes. The networking opportunities in this analogue environment are limited, and the flow of marketing information about individual customers is almost non-existent. Now compare the digital environment with analogue: digital television is interactive, and viewers can start or stop programmes when they choose, check their e-mail and consult their bank accounts. The TV is on their home network, so they can switch between TV, the Internet and gaming, e-mail and telephone, music and video living room, kitchen or bedroom – as they wish. And at every step they have the option of allowing marketers to communicate with them (though they may choose not to view any marketing material). Digital customers can get all the information they need from other customers in their network rather than the companies selling to them.

Switching from ‘analogue’ marketing to digital isn’t a technical change it’s cultural: the way in which a marketer’s target audience consumes its media has changed. We’ve left the age of traditional marketing communication and entered the digital marketing era. Many of the assumptions traditionally made by marketers have become redundant. Distinctions between broadcast and direct media channels need to be redefined, as any interactive electronic channel can shift from broadcasting to direct and personal marketing if the customer wishes. Customer information is no longer slow and expensive to acquire it can be captured and marketed to in real time. Segmentation analysis can be carried out on what prospects are thinking as they react to communications rather than on historical transaction data. The digital marketer doesn’t just need new skills, but a whole new mindset.

TYPES OF DIGITAL MARKETING

There are as many specializations within digital marketing as there are ways of interacting using digital media. Here are a few key examples.

Pay-Per-Click Marketing

Pay-per-click, or PPC, is posting an ad on a platform and paying every time

Reviews for Certified in Digital Marketing

[Sharifah Shawls · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The six areas of skills and competencies associated with digital marketing are relevant for this certification. Contents are sufficient for reference and for writing the exam. Highly recommended.

[Julia Chase · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent content, suitable for quick reference, appropriate for certification in digital marketing. Highly recommended.