Best Free MOOCs In Business For December

Digital Marketing (Specialization)

School: University of Illinois

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: December (Self-Paced) / 4 Weeks Long Each

Workload: 8-10 Hours Per Week

Grades: Students can choose to explore course videos, discussions, and ungraded assignments for free, but they won’t be able to submit graded assignments, earn a certificate, or complete a specialization without paying a $79 fee for each course.

Instructors: Kevin Hartman, Rhiannon Clifton, Vashal Sachdev, Aric Rindfleisch

Credentials: Data does more than just reveal facts and trends. It also inspires creativity. And Kevin Hartman, who was recently promoted to regional client lead at Google, is one practitioner of using data to understand what appeals to and motivates people. Hartman, who holds his MPP from the University of Chicago, teaches courses in web metrics and data analytics at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois by night. By day, he partners with advertisers, media companies, and creative agencies to “develop digital solutions that build businesses and brands.” Before working for Google, Hartman ran marketing and advertising programs for several agencies, where his clients included Bank of America, Kellogg’s, Taco Bell, and Boeing.

Clifton is the director of strategic partnerships and outreach at the University of Illinois’ College of Media after spending over four years heading the school’s Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising. She also teaches these courses at the school: Media Entrepreneurship, Using Technology to Create Engaging Campaigns, and The Advertising Industry. Before entering academia, Clifton was a media supervisor at Starcom MediaVest Group in Chicago (now Spark Communications), where her clients included Caterpillar and Motorola. During her tenure, her team won Media Magazine’s “Media Plan of the Year.”

Sachdev heads the university’s MakerLab, the first business school 3D printing lab. He also teaches courses in programming, database design, systems analysis, and analytics. He holds a Ph.D. in information systems from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Rindfleisch is the John M. Jones Professor of Marketing at the University of Illinois. Armed with an MBA from Cornell and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Rindfleisch was listed among the Best 300 Professors by the Princeton Review in 2012

Description:

Marketing in a Digital World: The customer has always been right. Thanks to digital marketing channels, they are also driving the conversation. Most times, they are even starting it. The first in a six course series, Marketing in a Digital World covers how digital tools like social media, smartphones and 3D printing are re-writing the rules of reaching customers, building brand, and designing experience.

Digital Analytics for Marketing Professionals: Every time you take an action or make a purchase, a measurable “data event” is created. Such events reflect both individual and collective preferences, expectations, and hot buttons that can help marketers build branding, campaigns, and solutions to deepen relationships with these consumers. In these courses, Professor Hartman examines the theories of marketing analytics, how to interpret and frame it, and how to apply it strategically to produce results. Hartman, who views the field as art as much as science, will teach students industry terminology, along with how to identify the right tools for selecting data and measuring their efforts. In addition, students will look into the future of digital analytics, including the role of new media and growing concerns over privacy and ethics. Both courses will be broken into four modules, with students taught through readings, video lectures, and quizzes

Digital Marketing Channels – The Landscape: In 2014, advertisers spent nearly $50 billion dollars on digital advertising, up from $12.5 billion just 10 years earlier. From search to mobile to banners to videos to social media, online is the place to be. In this course, you’ll learn how to use digital channels to maximize the reach and revenue of your larger integrated marketing campaign. Using case studies and videos, this course focuses on emerging digital advertising trends, along with how to gain buy-in for digital initiatives.

Digital Marketing Channels – Planning: The internet has been a game-changer for marketers. With platforms like Facebook and Twitter, marketers can engage with their most ardent advocates (and critics). Using tools like microsites, they can easily collect and segment data, to help them better target and customize their offerings. Before understanding, you need planning. In this course, students will study how various marketing outlets – websites, search engine optimization, social media, online content mobile marketing and email marketing – fit with (and even amplify) efforts in other marketing channels.  As part of this course, students will also learn how to develop a digital marketing plan and pitch it to internal stakeholders.

Review (Marketing in a Digital World):  “I’m about to complete this course and have to say that it’s one of the best MOOCs offered on Coursera.

This MOOC is well-organized, and staff is there to answer your questions and concerns. There have been so many discussions that if you need to find an answer to something, just search for your topic in discussion forums, and I am sure it will come up.

Videos are of good quality and the professor has a good style of delivery. I like that this course combines lectures with interviews with students and experts in different fields. I learned new concepts in regards to digital marketing that I didn’t know before so it was time well-spent!” For additional reviews, click here.