Week 1: Introduction to foundations of digital marketing and e-commerce

Hello, and welcome to the Google
Digital Marketing and E-commerce Certificate. I’m so
excited that you’re here! My name is Joi, and
I’m a Product Marketing Manager at Google. I’ll be your instructor for the first
course of this certificate program. The demand for digital marketing and e-commerce specialists is
growing at an incredible rate. In about a decade, the global
e-commerce market grew by over 600%. And as more of the world
starts doing business online, more people with varied backgrounds and
experiences are entering the field, which means e-commerce is adapting to
serve new markets and different cultures. With so much global growth,
digital marketing and e-commerce offer high-paying jobs—with or
without a college degree. But while the demand for digital marketing
and e-commerce skills is higher than ever, employers are struggling to find
candidates with the right experience. That’s exactly what this program is
designed to do—to give you the knowledge and skills to start or advance your career
in digital marketing or e-commerce. It doesn’t matter if you’re
beginning a new career journey or already working in a similar role. By the end of this program, you’ll be ready to find a job in these
high-growth, high-impact fields. If you’ve ever bought anything online, you’re familiar with e-commerce
from the customer side. But what do digital marketing and
e-commerce specialists actually do? Well, think about the last time you
purchased something online—big or small— it doesn’t matter what it was. How did you
end up buying that particular product? Maybe you needed something specific, like
a new lamp or a piece of software, and you searched online to
find just the right one. Or maybe it was something you didn’t know
you needed until you learned about it from a friend or an online ad. Digital marketing and e-commerce specialists probably played
a role in helping you get what you needed. Whether it’s through
social media outreach or making sure the checkout
process runs smoothly, they’re always thinking about
better ways to connect you, the customer, with the solutions and
products you need. And in doing so, they help
businesses of all sizes succeed and grow in the online marketplace. One of the best things
about digital marketing and e-commerce is that there are so
many different career paths you can take, each with their own set of skills and
responsibilities. So no matter what your background is, you’ll probably find that you already
have some relevant experience. For example,
I work full-time in digital marketing and have experience running e-commerce
stores outside of work. I studied public relations in college and
eventually interned at Google, which turned into a full-time position. I also spent years helping my
family run their online store, which eventually led me to start
my own e-commerce beauty business. If you’re not sure what direction
you want to take, that’s okay! This program will give you an overview
of different types of available jobs. It will also let you explore certain
specialized skill sets to help you figure out where you want to take your career. The program includes several courses
where you’ll cover topics like attracting customers through
search engines and online ads, engaging customers on social media, and
creating email campaigns. You’ll also learn about measuring and
analyzing results, managing customer relationships, optimizing an e-commerce
store, and preparing for jobs. Completing a Google Career Certificate
like this one will help you develop skills and learn how to use tools
that will make you ready for a job in a fast-growing, high-paying field. You don’t need any prior experience or
knowledge in digital marketing or e-commerce because this certificate
is going to start with the basics and build on the skills you already have. I’ll be by your side throughout
this first course, making sure that you’re learning the foundational
knowledge needed to succeed in the field. You’ll also have a supportive network
of peers taking the certificate at the same time as you. This program is also really flexible.
You can complete all of the courses in this certificate on your own terms and
at your own pace—all online. In addition, the Google Career
Certificates were designed by industry professionals with decades of
experience here at Google. You’ll have a different expert from Google
to guide you through each course in this certificate. We’ll share our knowledge in videos, help
you practice with hands on activities, and take you through real scenarios that
you might encounter on the job. You’ll make customer personas,
write marketing emails, use analytics tools, build a portfolio—
even create a mock e-commerce store. The certificates are designed
to prepare you for a job in 3-6 months if you work
on the certificate part time. And once you graduate,
you can connect with over 150 employers who are interested in hiring Google
Career Certificates graduates. Whether you’re looking to switch careers,
start a new career, level up your skills, or build a business, the Google Career Certificates can
open doors to new opportunities. We’ve gathered some amazing instructors
to support you on your journey, and they’d like to introduce themselves now. >> Hello, hello, my name is AK. I’m
a Sales Excellence Lead here at Google. I’ll be teaching you about attracting and
engaging customers. We will cover topics like the marketing funnel, search engine
optimization, and search engine marketing. >> Hey there, I’m Cindy. I’m a Product
Marketing Manager for Google Ads. I’ll be your instructor for
social media marketing and advertising, which is about incorporating social
media into your marketing campaigns. >> Hi, my name is Miriam, and I’m a
Product Marketing Manager for Google Ads. I’ll be taking you through what goes into
an email marketing campaign from start to finish. I’ll teach you all about preparing,
crafting, and sending emails to optimize your business’s
brand. I can’t wait to get started! >> Hello there, I’m Michael, and I’m a Senior Account Executive
on Google’s mid-market growth team, which partners with businesses on
their Google advertising strategies. I’ll be your instructor for
marketing analytics. I’ll teach you how analytics tools
are used in performance marketing. You’ll learn how to monitor key metrics
for marketing campaigns and e-commerce. >> Hi, my name is Cindy.
I’m a Sales Excellence Lead at Google. I’ll be guiding you through the course
on e-commerce and selling online. Together, we’ll explore how e-commerce
stores work and how to engage customers. >> Hello, I’m Mike, and I’m a Global Performance
Curriculum manager here at Google. I’ll be your instructor for
the final course of the program. There, we’ll discuss how to build customer
loyalty and other e-commerce topics. >> And my name is Erica.
I’m a People Consultant at Google. My job is to help managers, leaders, and Google employees grow in their roles to
help our organization reach their goals. I’ll be guiding you on how to prepare for
your upcoming job search and land a career in digital marketing and
e-commerce. >> And of course, you already know I’ll
be guiding you through course one. This is such a great time to grow
your career in digital marketing and e-commerce. Sound exciting? Let’s get started.

Now that you have some idea of what
to expect in this program as a whole. I’d like to tell you a little more about
what’s in store for you in this course. We’ll start with the basics,
exploring what e-commerce and digital marketing are and what people in
these industries do on a day-to-day basis. We’ll also cover some of the core skills
for success in digital marketing and e-commerce roles,
including some you might already have, and how this program will help you build them. Then we’ll explore the current
landscape of job opportunities. You’ll learn about some of the opportunities
available for entry-level job seekers and the responsibilities that go with them. This information should get you
thinking about your interests and how they can help you find
a fulfilling career path. Later on in the course, we’ll explore some
tools for engaging potential customers and driving online sales. We’ll find out what goes into creating
digital marketing strategies and discover some tactics they can use
to reach customers like digital ads, email, and social media. Lastly, we’ll cover why it’s
important to measure and interpret the results of those tactics and how businesses use those insights to
improve their overall strategies. We’ll also provide a few more career tips
to keep in mind as you continue on to the next course. That’s all coming at you down the road. Right now, we’re going to go over
some resources that will help you get the most out of this program. I’m so excited for
you to start this journey. Let’s get right to it.

What are digital marketing and e-commerce?

Digital marketing is the practice of using digital channels to promote or market products or services to consumers and businesses. This includes channels such as search engines, social media, email, and websites.

E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services online. It is also known as internet commerce or electronic commerce.

Digital marketing and e-commerce are closely related. Digital marketing can be used to drive traffic to e-commerce websites and to promote e-commerce products and services. E-commerce websites can also use digital marketing channels to reach potential customers and grow their businesses.

Here is a tutorial on digital marketing and e-commerce:

1. Understand your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your digital marketing and e-commerce efforts? What are their needs and wants? Once you understand your target audience, you can tailor your marketing messages and products or services to appeal to them.
2. Choose the right digital marketing channels. There are many different digital marketing channels available, such as search engines, social media, email, and websites. Choose the channels that are most likely to reach your target audience and that you feel comfortable using.
3. Create high-quality content. Your content should be informative, engaging, and relevant to your target audience. It should also be optimized for the digital marketing channels you are using.
4. Promote your content. Once you have created high-quality content, you need to promote it so that people can find it. You can do this by sharing it on social media, submitting it to directories, and running paid advertising campaigns.
5. Analyze your results. It is important to track your results so that you can see what is working and what is not. This will help you to improve your digital marketing campaigns over time.

Here are some tips for e-commerce businesses:

• Create a user-friendly website. Your website should be easy to navigate and use. It should also be visually appealing and mobile-friendly.
• Offer a variety of payment methods. Make it easy for customers to pay for their purchases by offering a variety of payment methods, such as credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal.
• Provide excellent customer service. Be responsive to customer inquiries and resolve any issues quickly and efficiently.
• Market your e-commerce business online. Use digital marketing channels to reach potential customers and promote your products or services.

Digital marketing and e-commerce can be a powerful way to grow your business. By following the tips above, you can create a successful digital marketing and e-commerce strategy.

Question: What is digital marketing?

Answer: The practice of reaching consumers online through digital channels with the aim of turning them into customers

Did you know that the first sale made
completely online happened in 1994? A man named Dan Kohn sold a CD for $12.48 over an encrypted website
he built himself. These days,
it’s a lot easier to sell things online— whether you’re an individual,
a small business, or a massive retailer. E-commerce has come
a long way since the 90s, growing into a global, multi-
billion dollar industry. That’s because e-commerce is generally
cheaper, more convenient, and more accessible than storefront sales. And, as the online marketplace has grown,
also launched entirely new industries, and career paths, like digital marketing. In this video, we’ll start exploring
e-commerce and digital marketing and how they create value for businesses. Let’s start with some definitions. E-commerce is a broad term that refers
to the buying and selling of goods and services online. Most e-commerce purchases fall into
one of the following four categories: physical products, like books or
home goods; digital products, like ebooks or online courses; services, like
vacations or doctors’ appointments; and software, like word processing
or photo editing programs. The ability to buy or sell just about
anything, big or small, through computers, tablets, and phones has completely
transformed the way we do business. For one thing, you don’t need a physical storefront
to start an e-commerce business. Many retailers maintain physical stores
alongside e-commerce websites, but others are completely online. Without the cost of maintaining a store, it became easier than
ever to start a business, which meant more people around the world
began entering the online marketplace. But it also meant that the e-commerce
market got crowded really quickly. To set themselves apart, and
get customers attention, businesses brought their ads online too,
which is how we got digital marketing. Digital marketing is the practice of
reaching consumers online through digital channels with the aim of
turning them into customers. A digital channel is any
communication method or platform a business can use to reach
their target audience online. They are things like websites, search
engines, email, or social media platforms. If the aim of e-commerce
is to sell products online, then digital marketing helps
businesses make that happen. But there’s more to it than that. Digital marketing also helps businesses
build trust, inspire loyalty, and better serve their customers. In that way, it’s similar to traditional
marketing like print advertising, or billboards, but it has a few added
advantages for both businesses, and consumers. First, digital marketing is cost-
effective. Advertising budgets go a lot further online than they do on television,
radio, and print media. That’s because digital marketers can be
very specific about serving the right ads, to the right audiences,
at the right moments. But there’s also the potential for customers to spread the word through
platforms like social media. At the same time, digital marketing
can reach more people than traditional campaigns, which rely on local platforms
like newspapers, and radio stations. It creates brand recognition in new— sometimes even global—markets, which can
drive sales and make products and services accessible for
a variety of different people. Digital marketing can also
produce faster results. If a customer encounters a product they
want in a print newspaper ad, they may or may not remember to buy
that product later on. But digital ads allow customers
to take action in the moment, which can increase the chances
that’ll make a purchase. It also allows businesses to build
relationships with customers through direct communication. Channels like email and social media
allow a level of personalization that traditional marketing
just can’t compete with. You’ll learn more about the advantages,
and challenges of digital marketing, and e-commerce later in this course. For the moment, let’s review what we’ve
learned. Over the last few decades, e-commerce and digital marketing
have fundamentally changed business. While the goal of e-commerce is to
generate sales, digital marketing helps businesses do just that by connecting with
customers and building relationships. Up next, we’ll find out about some of
the major roles and responsibilities in digital marketing and e-commerce.

What do digital marketing and e-commerce specialists do?

Digital marketing and e-commerce specialists are responsible for planning and executing marketing campaigns and managing e-commerce stores. They use a variety of digital channels, such as search engines, social media, email, and websites, to reach target audiences and promote products or services.

Here is a tutorial on what digital marketing and e-commerce specialists do:

1. Identify target audiences. Digital marketing and e-commerce specialists need to understand their target audiences in order to create effective marketing campaigns. This involves researching their demographics, interests, and needs.
2. Develop marketing strategies. Once they understand their target audiences, digital marketing and e-commerce specialists can develop marketing strategies to reach them. These strategies should be tailored to the specific needs and goals of the business.
3. Create and manage digital marketing campaigns. Digital marketing and e-commerce specialists use a variety of digital channels to reach their target audiences. They create and manage campaigns on search engines, social media, email, and other platforms.
4. Manage e-commerce stores. Digital marketing and e-commerce specialists are also responsible for managing e-commerce stores. This includes adding and updating products, processing orders, and managing customer service.
5. Analyze data. Digital marketing and e-commerce specialists use data to analyze the performance of their marketing campaigns and e-commerce stores. This data helps them to identify what is working well and what needs to be improved.

Here are some examples of specific tasks that digital marketing and e-commerce specialists might do on a day-to-day basis:

• Write blog posts and articles.
• Create and manage social media posts.
• Run paid advertising campaigns.
• Optimize websites for search engines (SEO).
• Manage email marketing campaigns.
• Analyze website traffic and data.
• Add and update products on e-commerce stores.
• Process orders and manage customer service.

Skills and knowledge required for digital marketing and e-commerce specialists:

• Digital marketing skills: Digital marketing specialists need to have a strong understanding of digital marketing channels and best practices. This includes knowledge of SEO, SEM, social media marketing, and email marketing.
• E-commerce skills: E-commerce specialists need to have a strong understanding of e-commerce platforms and best practices. This includes knowledge of product management, order fulfillment, and customer service.
• Data analysis skills: Digital marketing and e-commerce specialists need to be able to collect, analyze, and interpret data. This data helps them to understand the performance of their campaigns and make necessary adjustments.
• Communication skills: Digital marketing and e-commerce specialists need to be able to communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholders, including customers, colleagues, and managers. This involves being able to write clearly and concisely, as well as being able to present information in a visually appealing way.

If you are interested in a career as a digital marketing or e-commerce specialist, there are a number of things you can do to prepare yourself. One is to take courses or workshops on the skills and knowledge listed above. You can also gain valuable experience by volunteering for digital marketing or e-commerce projects, or by starting your own small business.

What digital channels do both digital marketers and e-commerce specialists use? Select all that apply.

Email, Ads, Social media

So far, you’ve learned what digital
marketing is, what e-commerce is, and how they relate to one another. Now, let’s explore some of the things
people who work in these fields do on a day-to-day basis. The first thing you should know
is that the digital marketing and e-commerce industry is kind of like an
engine—there’s a ton of moving pieces and a lot going on inside. Different parts of the engine do
different jobs, but at the end of the day, they all work together to keep
things running smoothly and efficiently. Now, at a big organization, you might
specialize in one or two different areas, while at smaller companies
you could be responsible for a little bit of everything. With so many different jobs to
do, there’s no single set of responsibilities that applies to everyone. That’s part of what makes this industry so
exciting— no matter what your strengths are,
there’s probably a role to fit them. It also means you’ll have tons of options
when deciding where to take your career. I’m a small business owner,
so I take responsibility for a lot of activities, like strategizing and
executing marketing campaigns, website management, and
product development. But I’m also able to outsource some of
the activities I’m less experienced at, like customer service
and order fulfillment. We all have our particular interests and
strengths, and identifying yours can help you
figure out what you want to do. So, if you like writing, you might
enjoy working on marketing emails or blog articles. If you’re more visual, you could
end up working with image assets or website layouts. If you have a talent for organization, you
might enjoy managing an e-commerce store. Or, if you’re more of a numbers person, you
might spend your days working on pricing strategies or analyzing data to
spot trends and customer engagement. This program will help you prepare for
a variety of jobs in the digital marketing and e-commerce space, with titles like
digital marketing coordinator or e-commerce analyst. Even though those roles
might seem really distinct, there can be a lot of similarities
between them depending on where you work. Because the responsibilities
of digital marketing and e-commerce specialists often overlap, they
tend to share some of the same skills and use the same digital channels, like
social media, email, and ads. So no matter what your title is, you might
find yourself doing audience research, planning, creating or publishing content,
updating product descriptions, or analyzing data to understand
the results of your efforts. And your goals might include
everything from reaching and engaging potential customers online,
building trust, demonstrating value, driving sales, or
creating a great customer experience. Of course, there are many more types
of roles within digital marketing and e-commerce, and you’ll learn more
about specific job titles and their responsibilities later on in this course.
But no matter what kind of role you’re aiming for, it helps to understand how their goals and responsibilities fit together—
from raising brand awareness to driving sales to managing inventory.
Fortunately, that’s exactly what this program is designed to help you learn.
Coming up, we’ll explore some core skills for
digital marketing and e-commerce, and some ways you might
have practiced them already.

Hi, I’m Joi Wade, and I’m an associate
product marketing manager here at google, and that basically means that I work
on digital marketing campaigns. I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, so
my parents are small business owners and then my older siblings are also
small business owners. So, I grew up always helping them with
all aspects of running a business, I was the person who was like,
hey maybe we should have a website, maybe we should have social media pages,
and email list. So, that was really important for them
because they started their business way before a lot of the marketing
channels we have today existed. So, it was them learning
about digital marketing, and me kind of being gen Z and
growing up in that digital space. I actually started a you tube channel
back in 2011 and that, that was kind of my start of falling in love with
content, and digital content creation. I was making a lot of lifestyle content,
that was the age of the beauty guru, and a lot of women doing
makeup tutorials for some reason, I thought I could
do makeup well I could not. But, I think that’s [LAUGH]
the beauty of youtube, it’s all about experimenting and
finding your voice. And those humble beginnings led to
me eventually getting a career in digital marketing. After you graduate the program,
looking for a job, is going to be super important and there’s a ton of entry
level digital marketing roles out there. Think about the skills that you got from
the course as well as any other previous job experiences you have and marry those with things that you
see employers are looking for. If you’re starting to get
overwhelmed in the course, I want you to know that you can do it,
it’s a lot of work to get through this course, but
nothing gets done without hard work. I think you’ll really see
a payoff at the end, and you’ll thank yourself when you finally
have your career in digital marketing. [SOUND]

Transferable skills for digital marketing and e-commerce

Transferable skills are skills that can be used in a variety of different roles and industries. They are not specific to any one job, but they are still very valuable in the workplace.

Here are some transferable skills that are important for digital marketing and e-commerce:

• Communication: Digital marketers and e-commerce specialists need to be able to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences, including customers, colleagues, and managers. This involves being able to write clearly and concisely, as well as being able to present information in a visually appealing way.
• Problem-solving: Digital marketers and e-commerce specialists are constantly faced with challenges, such as developing new campaigns, troubleshooting technical issues, and meeting deadlines. They need to be able to think critically and creatively to solve these problems.
• Organization: Digital marketers and e-commerce specialists need to be able to manage multiple projects and tasks simultaneously. They also need to be able to keep track of data and analytics.
• Adaptability: The digital marketing and e-commerce industries are constantly changing, so it is important for digital marketers and e-commerce specialists to be adaptable and willing to learn new things.

In addition to these general transferable skills, there are also some more specific transferable skills that can be helpful for digital marketers and e-commerce specialists. These include skills in:

• Content creation: Digital marketers and e-commerce specialists often need to create content for websites, blogs, and social media. This content should be informative and engaging, and it should be optimized for search engines.
• Data analysis: Digital marketers and e-commerce specialists need to be able to collect, analyze, and interpret data. This data helps them to understand the performance of their campaigns and make necessary adjustments.
• Project management: Digital marketers and e-commerce specialists often need to manage multiple projects simultaneously. This includes developing timelines, delegating tasks, and tracking progress.

If you are interested in a career in digital marketing or e-commerce, there are a number of things you can do to develop your transferable skills. One is to take courses or workshops on the skills listed above. You can also gain valuable experience by volunteering for digital marketing or e-commerce projects, or by starting your own small business.

Here are some tips for developing your transferable skills:

• Communication: Take courses in writing and public speaking. Practice communicating your ideas clearly and concisely to different audiences.
• Problem-solving: Take courses in logic and critical thinking. Practice solving problems by working on puzzles and brainteasers.
• Organization: Take courses in time management and project management. Practice organizing your time and tasks effectively.
• Adaptability: Be open to learning new things and trying new things. Be willing to step outside of your comfort zone.
• Content creation: Take courses in writing and design. Practice creating engaging content for different platforms.
• Data analysis: Take courses in statistics and data analysis. Practice collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data.
• Project management: Take courses in project management and time management. Practice developing timelines, delegating tasks, and tracking progress.

By developing your transferable skills, you will be well-positioned for success in a career in digital marketing or e-commerce.

Question: Which transferable skills will set a learner up for success in digital marketing and e-commerce? Select all that apply.

Answer: Curiosity, Storytelling, Analytical mindset

Transferable skills that will set up a learner for success in digital marketing and e-commerce are: curiosity, an analytical mindset, and storytelling.

One of the things
I like most about working in this industry
is that there are so many different career
paths you can take depending on your
interests and experience. As you progress through this and the other courses
in the program, you’ll learn about lots of different skill sets
that are in high demand. But even if you’re totally
new to the industry, chances are that
you already have some skills and experiences
that will help you succeed. In this video, we’ll explore a few skills and
qualities that can set you up for success in
digital marketing and e-commerce: curiosity, an analytical mindset,
and storytelling. You don’t have to be an
expert in every single one. Remember, there are
many different types of jobs in this industry, but I’m willing to
bet that you have at least some experience
with all of them. First, curiosity. People who are curious
ask questions, seek out answers,
and try new things. Some people are
naturally curious, but it’s also a skill
you can build and that can be important for
working in this industry. That’s because a big part
of digital marketing and e-commerce is being
curious about people, what they want, how they think, and what motivates
them to take action. Curiosity is also important because the industry
can change so quickly. Exploring and keeping up
with emerging trends will help you succeed as it
continues to grow and evolve. Taking this course is a
great example of curiosity. The fact that you’re here
means you’re curious about working in digital
marketing and e-commerce, and that you’re actively
seeking out answers. Being curious and asking questions isn’t the
only useful skill. Using an analytical mindset to solve problems can
be a big help too. Digital marketers and
e-commerce specialists use analytical
thinking all the time. That doesn’t mean we’re
all data scientists. I know I’m not, but
we do collect and organize information
to spot patterns, uncover trends, and
solve problems. Having an analytical mindset isn’t about technical skills. It’s a way of thinking. If you ever made a big decision like planning a trip
or buying a car, you’ve probably practiced
analytical thinking. If you compared things
like cost, size, features, and safety ratings and picked
a car based on which of those things were
most important to you , that’s analytical thinking. Most of us analyze situations
without even realizing it. If you like solving
puzzles and brain teasers, you’re analyzing them
to find solutions. Being a sports fan is
another great example. Tracking statistics to know how your favorite teams are
doing and predict how they might do in the future
is similar to how digital marketers gain
insights from data. Once you’ve analyzed
data for insights, you need to be able
to communicate them effectively to an audience. One of the ways we do that is
through data storytelling. We use stories to
turn dry numbers and statistics into engaging
presentations and reports. Digital marketing and
e-commerce specialists use data storytelling to
share insights with clients and co-workers
all the time. But it also helps
businesses communicate value to customers in a
way that’s accessible, engaging, and most
importantly, memorable. Stories allow them to
connect with customers and set themselves apart
from the competition. Everybody tells stories. Whether you’ve kept a blog or you’re just really
good at telling jokes, we all tell stories
in our daily lives, and not all
storytelling is verbal. Digital marketing
and e-commerce use visual storytelling too. If you have experience with the drawing, design,
or photography, you have the skills to create visual narratives for
digital marketing campaigns. You’ll learn more
about some of the ways digital marketing and
e-commerce specialists use storytelling
later in this course. These are just a few examples of skills that can help you
progress your career. There are many others like
adaptability or leadership. One skill I had before
becoming a marketer that has really helped
me is creativity. Sometimes you need
to figure out how to set yourself apart
from competitors. It’s up to marketers
to highlight a brand’s unique
qualities and get customers attention
in creative ways. As you learn more about
the different roles and responsibilities in digital
marketing and e-commerce, I hope you’ll think of
other ways you can bring your skills and
experiences to the table. By considering your strengths as you go through the program, you’ll be better
equipped to convey them to potential employers. The industry will change and
grow as new technologies develop and you may need to learn new software
or technologies. But with transferable
skills like curiosity, an analytical mindset, and storytelling, you’ll be
sure to grow along with it. Coming up, you’ll find out about some more specialized
skills you might need and that this program
will help you develop.

Hi. I’m Prisha, and I’m an Account Strategist. As an Account Strategist, I help businesses grow by
educating them on Google Ads. Some of my favorite aspects of digital marketing is how
collaborative it is, and I really enjoy working with loads of different people. I love being able to make
a difference and really putting out the best
possible content there is for my clients, users, or for anyone out there. When entering marketing,
it’s so okay to not have as much experience
as you think you need. I came into marketing
with zero experience, and my biggest advice is to
be really open-minded and not to fear rejection because you’ll be applying for so many
different things, and it’s okay to
not get the role at the start because you’ll work
towards it in the future. My YouTube channel was something I decided to do when I was 16, and I started it because
I wanted to raise awareness of my
chronic condition to help make a difference to the community and to
show others that anyone with a chronic condition or a visible difference can achieve their dreams
or their goals. I started to also
talk about makeup but also travel vlogs
and educational blogs, and then I leaned into more apprenticeship/career-related
content just to raise awareness of that too. I was able to learn what my followers or what my
community love most about my channel and keep that going so that I’m able to
grow even further. From my YouTube channel and running my own social media, I learned so many different
things I could bring in into my day-to-day role during my
apprenticeship; for example, one being the
importance of being consistent with your campaign so when you’re running multiple
different companies, having that consistent
messaging is so important, and I did that through my
YouTube channel, Instagram, and Tik Tok just to ensure
that people understood my brand and my story
on different faces. When I was 18 years old, I decided to achieve an
apprenticeship over university. As at school, I
knew my passion was digital marketing and I was
going to study economics, but I realized that, with
my passion lying in digital marketing, why not
start my career early, and I knew I really
enjoyed it from my work experience on
my YouTube channel. When I was interviewing
for these different roles— one, the apprenticeship and
my full-time role at Google— I really wanted to
show the importance of passion and how excitement
goes a long way, and if you’re passionate
about something, that will carry you
forward through any role or through
any interview. So something I tried during the
apprenticeship when I had no experience, was I am passionate about
digital marketing, and I’ve done XYZ to really show that through my YouTube channel and through
different things, so I think through anything
if you can show your passion and really excited about something that
will go a long way. When starting out in digital
marketing or any career, it can be really nerve-wracking, and you can have
imposter syndrome and you can really feel
like you’re not meant to be here, and that’s
something that I faced in the apprenticeship but
also transitioning to a full-time role. My advice would be in that
is just talk to loads of people, and you’ll see how many
people actually feel like they are having
imposter syndrome, and I think from talking
about it over time, you’ll realize you
deserve to be here, and you have earned a position. Finding a mentor can
be really helpful. With your mentor,
you can actually work on short-term goals, long-term goals, and they can help you with the different
fears you may have. For example, I had a fear
in public speaking, and my mentor and I
were able to work on that and set the
short-term goals to be able to help me achieve
it so that now I’m able to present and do different
initiatives based on that. I am super excited for you to complete this course
and for you to be more passionate
than you already are on digital marketing,
just like myself, and I can’t wait for you to complete
this and for you to have all the relevant
skills to become a digital marketer. Good luck.

Hi, my name is Melba, and I am a Product Marketing
Manager at Google. I help communicate the what, the why, and the when of the products that
we are developing, both internally to
cross-functional teams and externally to our
defined target audiences. I would say my trajectory has
been very unconventional. When I was 16, I actually had to drop
out of high school to get a job and help out my
mother financially. I grew up in a single parent
household, and if I’m honest, when I was 16, I never really thought
that going to college, let alone getting a job
at a place like Google, would be possible for me. It’s interesting the way
that things ended up working out because
after getting a job, I eventually found myself dealing with a very incredible,
powerful Latina leader. The very first time I
saw a Latina leader, I was blown away because it’s not something that
I used to see often. And when I did, I realized
if she could do it, so can I. I went home
that exact same day, and I started researching
a career in marketing. And so, I really had to start
from the ground up. I started to go take
classes to get my GED. After I got my GED, I went and I got my
undergraduate degree while maintaining
a full-time job. As part of my education
and continued learning, I took several online
classes, and I also did a lot of courses that were
available for free online. One of the biggest
reasons that I did this is because I found that, oftentimes, I needed to sit with the materials and be able
to do it at my own pace. For me, this was instrumental
because since I did drop out of high school
when I was in college, I actually found that
everybody else was at a more advanced pace than I was. I didn’t have a lot of the foundational
knowledge that they did, and so because of this, I
often had to go back, take some online classes, take some additional courses, and really gain that
foundational knowledge in order to be able to set myself up for success
in the future. I knew I made the right
decision of pursuing a career in marketing when I launched
my very first campaign. My first campaign was actually targeting underserved
populations. As a Latina, it’s really important that in
the work that I do, I am able to give back to my community and
really make sure that their voice is
being recognized. In addition to the work
that I do at Google, I also founded a company
called Mujeres on the Rise, and Mujeres on the Rise is a community
that helps Latinas rise through resources,
community, and coaching. Again, being from a
marginalized community myself, I realized that there are so many barriers that are keeping us from
pursuing what we want. And a lot of times those barriers are our own internal voices
that are telling us that we’re not capable of
doing what we want to do. As part of the work that I do, I really started
this community to share what I’ve learned along the way and help
others do the same. I used to believe
that where I was in life would forever dictate where I would be in the future. Having made so much progress from where I initially started, I know that’s not
necessarily true. You can change the
direction of your life, but it all starts
with one decision. You have to take that
first step without necessarily thinking about
the super-long journey that might be ahead of you. Just take one step, one day at a time, and eventually, you’ll look back and realize
how far you’ve come.

My name is Andrew, and I am a Partner Operations
Program Manager for ad support teams at Google. As a Partner Operations
Program Manager, I work with our ad
support teams who are providing direct support to
our advertising customers. When I was graduating
high school, I didn’t really know what I
wanted to do with my life, or I guess, what I wanted to be
when I grew up, so to speak. So I was fortunate enough to attend the United States
Naval Academy for four years, where I graduated
with a college degree, but also with a
background in leadership to enter the navy as an
officer and lead sailors. The team that I joined was
the submarine community, and left Annapolis
to go to Charleston, South Carolina, where I entered our nuclear power
training program. It’s a pretty grueling
six months of theoretical nuclear
engineering and then six months of
hands-on reactor training. It being a very
difficult program, unfortunately, it didn’t
quite work out for me, and nuclear engineering is something that still challenges
me a bit to this day. I ended up getting out
of the navy a little bit earlier than I
expected to, and so I had to reassess where I was and what I was doing and really figure out what I wanted
to do after the navy— much sooner than I had
originally anticipated. When I left the navy, I was fortunate enough to have
a friend who was actually working at Google
at the time and understood a bit more of
my background and helped me to really understand where I might be able to
leverage my skills outside of the navy and as I
entered the civilian world. So I put together my first resume and started applying to jobs, but it really took me a couple
of months to figure out how to apply for jobs well. I didn’t have a ton of
direction on where I wanted to go or what industry I wanted to be in, and I spent probably five or
six months applying to jobs that interested me or jobs that looked like
they could be a fit. It was a bit taxing. You know, you apply for a
job and you wait and you wait and you wait and
and then you finally get that rejection letter and you just hope that one day
somebody kind of takes a chance on you. So when I started connecting
with a few more of my peers to understand what
they were having success with, that’s when the light bulb clicked for me that
I needed to do a better job of telling companies
why they should hire me and why I would be a good
fit at their company. I think I learned that the most important
thing for me was going to be not just telling people about my
military experience, but telling people about
how my military experience makes me a good fit for the
role that they have open. Really trying to translate some of the
skills that I did have, even if they weren’t directly
related in experience— translating how those
skills would make me a good hire or would make me a successful member
of their teams. Once I started making
a better effort to tell my own story
and own my experiences, I started to see more success when I was actually
interviewing. I think it’s important to always be looking for new
opportunities to learn. I didn’t have a
formal background in digital marketing, and yet
I still was able to get into this industry and find success by being
willing to learn, keeping an open mind when
approaching new opportunities, and asking a lot of questions. For anybody who’s transitioning
out of military service, my number one
recommendation would be to talk with people who are in
the civilian world already. Whether that’s other
military folks who have transitioned previously,
or just friends, family, acquaintances who are already in the industry or in the area
that you want to be in— whether that’s asking
for informational interviews to get
to know more about a role or more about an industry or asking for somebody to
look over your resume to give you feedback about
what’s confusing or what could be clearer
or how do you better describe some
of your experience. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from people who are already
in the role who had that experience and can share
some of that knowledge with you as somebody who’s
just joined the team.

Hi there. My name is Erika, and I’m a people
consultant here at Google, known elsewhere in the industry as an HR business partner. I help employees, leaders, and managers solve problems and focus on their career goals. I also provide guidance
along the way, and I’ll be doing the same
thing for you in this program. My journey to working in
HR wasn’t a straight line. Early in my career I held several roles in
other industries, including restaurant-server
and cashier. I even handled auto
insurance claims for awhile. These jobs might seem
really different, but they all taught
me something about myself and what I wanted to do. When I realized I
had a passion for helping others in the area
of learning and development, my path became really clear. Now, I’m excited to
share my knowledge with you as you embark on the next
stage of your own career. I’ll be popping in occasionally to introduce career resources and discuss job searching
and interview tips to help you on your journey. In this video, we’ll cover some things you should know
about the job landscape and a few things you
can start to do right now that will help you
advance your career. Digital marketing and
e-commerce are some of the fastest growing
industries out there today. Right now, there are thousands of open roles
around the world and millions of people are already working
in similar positions. Many of those jobs didn’t even exist five or 10 years ago, and even more will develop
as new technologies emerge. If you search any job board, you’ll find digital marketing
and e-commerce roles at organizations of all sizes in
just about every industry, not just retail and
consumer goods. With opportunities
in so many fields, people in these roles can make an impact in a lot
of different areas, from education to
healthcare, and finance. It also means you can pursue jobs and industries
you care about. Love fashion, technology,
entertainment, all those industries need digital marketing and
e-commerce specialists. At the same time, try to keep an open mind
when searching for jobs. Your next role probably
won’t be your last. Even if you don’t start out
in your ideal industry, it can still help you
build the career you want. In addition to targeting
certain industries, you might also find you
prefer some aspects of digital marketing or e-commerce more than others,
and that’s great. The strongest candidates have a broad knowledge
of the fundamentals and a deep understanding of
one or two specific areas. As you move through the program, pay close attention
to the topics and courses that engage
you the most. Reflect on your strengths and think about what you
want to do with them. You might not have
the answer yet, but these questions
will help you target roles that align with your
career interests later. Even if you’re not quite
ready for a job search, there are things
you can do during this program to improve
your prospects later on. For example, it’s never too early to explore job
descriptions for open roles. As you consider your skills and the parts of the
program you like best, search job boards for
roles in those areas. Make note of terms and skills
that come up frequently. For example, you might find that certain roles often mention
data analysis and reporting. This information
will help you learn industry terminology and find out where you might want
to expand your skills. Once you have an idea of the
roles you want to target, you can start to
identify past samples of work that demonstrate
relevant experience. Have you written an
essay or a story, designed a website, managed a budget or organized information
in a spreadsheet? You’ll build a portfolio
later in the program. Keep track of these items in case you want to include them. If you don’t have any samples
yet, that’s okay too. You’ll create some
as you complete the activities in the
upcoming courses. By the end of this program, you’ll have concrete examples
of work that can help you demonstrate your experience
to potential employers. Another way you can
put what you’re learning into action
is by starting to shape your public persona as a digital marketing or
e-commerce specialists. In other words, by building
your personal brand. You can demonstrate
your knowledge and skills through your
social media accounts or personal website and
might even end up with a few samples of
work for your portfolio. Finally, be sure to keep up with this program bit by bit
until you reach the end. By completing this
series of courses, you’re investing in yourself, your skills, and your future. You’re doing it right now. Just keep going. Good luck, and
I’ll check in with you again near the
end of this course.

Tutorial on Agency Roles vs. In-House Roles in Digital Marketing

Introduction

Digital marketing has become an essential part of any business, and there are many different career opportunities available in this field. Two of the most common paths are agency roles and in-house roles.

Agency roles

Digital marketing agencies offer a wide range of services to their clients, such as social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, content marketing, and email marketing. Agency employees typically work on multiple projects for different clients at the same time.

In-house roles

In-house digital marketers work for a single company, and they are responsible for developing and executing the company’s digital marketing strategy. In-house digital marketers typically have a deeper understanding of the company’s products or services, and they are able to work closely with other departments within the company.

Which path is right for you?

The best way to decide which path is right for you is to consider your skills, experience, and career goals. Agency roles are a good fit for people who are creative, adaptable, and enjoy working on a variety of projects. In-house roles are a good fit for people who want to develop a deep understanding of a company’s products or services and who want to work closely with other departments.

Here is a table that summarizes the key differences between agency roles and in-house roles in digital marketing:

Advantages and disadvantages of agency roles

Advantages:

• Opportunity to work on a variety of projects and gain experience in different areas of digital marketing
• Exposure to different industries and clients
• Opportunity to work with other talented digital marketers
• Competitive salaries and benefits

Disadvantages:

• Can be fast-paced and stressful
• Long hours, especially during peak times
• May have to travel frequently
• May have to work with difficult clients

Advantages and disadvantages of in-house roles

Advantages:

• Opportunity to develop a deep understanding of a company’s products or services
• Opportunity to work closely with other departments within the company
• More stable work environment
• Better work-life balance

Disadvantages:

• May not have the opportunity to work on a variety of projects
• May not have exposure to different industries or clients
• May not have the opportunity to work with other talented digital marketers
• Salaries and benefits may not be as competitive as agency roles

Conclusion

There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing between agency roles and in-house roles in digital marketing. The best path for you will depend on your skills, experience, and career goals.

If you are interested in a career in digital marketing, I encourage you to research both agency roles and in-house roles to learn more about the pros and cons of each path. You may also want to talk to people who work in both types of roles to get their perspectives.

What are the advantages of an in-house digital marketing role?

Deep knowledge and expertise in a specific industry

As an in-house digital marketer, some benefits include: deep knowledge and expertise in a specific industry and getting to know one company and its products.

So far, you’ve learned about
some of the skills and responsibilities, digital marketing and
e commerce specialists might have and you’ve discovered a little
about the job landscape. Now, let’s go a little deeper and
explore two of the main paths you can pursue in your career,
in-house and agency positions. Some marketing roles are in-house,
meaning you work for a single company to market and
sell their products. For example, I’m an in-house product
marketing manager at Google, so I work on creating compelling video and social
content for the Think With Google brand. But if you’d like a little more variety
working on different projects across multiple industries,
an agency role might be a good fit. Agencies partner with companies that
don’t have in house marketing teams to fill their digital marketing and
advertising needs. There are pros and cons to both agency and
in-house work and which one is right for you depends on what you
want out of your career. Of course you don’t have
to commit to one forever, in this program will help you prepare for
both paths. But there are some differences you should
keep in mind as you consider your options. As an in-house employee,
you get to know one company and its products extremely well. You also gain deep knowledge and
expertise in a specific industry. So, if you work for a cosmetics company, your experience will translate most
directly to a similar company. On the other hand, if you’re the sort of person who likes
working on a lot of different projects, working with one company on one type
of product might not be for you. And if you do want to move to
a different type of business, your specialized experience can make
it harder to break into a new sector. Now, if you work for an agency,
you’re unlikely to get bored, because agency work is project based, you get to collaborate on a variety of
initiatives and multiple industries. By working with different clients,
you can develop a broad and flexible expertise that will serve
you at a variety of companies. But that doesn’t mean
you can’t specialize. Agencies tend to focus on a few different
areas within marketing, like social media or brand building, so you can get
to know certain skill sets very well. But there can be downsides too. The same variability that
keeps agency work interesting, can also make things unpredictable. Sometimes, clients can surprise
you with unexpected requests or ask you to do things in an unfamiliar way. The hours can be longer too,
especially toward the end of a project. Of course,
every workplace is different and they won’t all have the same
advantages and disadvantages. Whichever path you choose,
whether it’s the deep knowledge and stability of an in-house role or the broad
knowledge and flexibility of agency work, you’ll gain valuable experience that can
lead you to the next great opportunity.

I’m Zuri, and I’m an Associate Product Marketing
Manager at Google. I got into digital marketing
in an unconventional way. A part of my story is growing
up and not necessarily knowing about
digital marketing or marketing as a whole, in general. How I got into it
specifically is through an amazing internship with
Google—the BOLD internship. Before I got into
digital marketing, a few of the jobs that I had were not relevant to
digital marketing at all. My first job actually
was at Chick-fil-A. In my hometown, I served as
a waiter and took orders, served our customers, and made their food
and their beverage. And that in itself had a lot of transferable skills to what I see now as a digital marketer. Whether it’s putting
the customer or consumer first, or whether it’s managing your time diligently
and effectively. At its core, in my opinion, it teaches you how to
interact with people. I am confident that if
you look hard enough, you can find transferable
skills and key characteristics that are transferable to an entry-level digital
marketing role. The specific team
that I work on within Google Ads is the Brand
Architecture team. We think strategically about what is important to call out in the copy and the text
that is in Google Ads. We have to keep in mind the advertiser who
will interact and who will see the copy and the text shown within the ad’s portfolio. As an entry-level marketer,
I work with a lot of teams to make sure the
customer voice is heard. The majority of my day,
I’m being resourceful, looking through
different documents, different presentations,
and decks to gather the information
that I need to do my job,and that’s the first half of it. The second half is pulling that information that
I have gathered and going to talk to specific
Googlers to ensure that one, I understand what I read, but also two, in understanding what I read, that I’m appropriately applying
it to the task at hand. In addition to that, doing different
trainings throughout the day and throughout
my role that relate to and help me become a
better Googler and help me execute my role
more effectively. What I like most
about working in digital marketing has
to be creativity. I’m able to operate
as a creative, as a strategic thinker, and also as a problem-solver with
the end goal and mind of helping and
promoting our brand to customers who love and use
our products and services. And that’s a key characteristic to have as a digital marketer— to know and understand
customer behavior, to understand persona, and
to be able to play to that. If you work and
interact with people, if you promote and
spread awareness about a brand or a product, you have a place in
digital marketing.

[MUSIC] My name is Jebb Rickets, and I’m an Account
Manager on Big Box Retail at Google. An Account Manager basically works with
companies that have already invested in Google to spend more money with Google. So think of large retail companies—
could be apparel, could be electronics, could be groceries, or a supercenter. When I first started at Google,
I was working with small to medium-sized businesses,
both e-commerce and lead generation. But on the e-commerce side, we worked
with anything and everything. It could be apparel,
it could be knickknacks— one of my favorite clients
sold custom-made cards. So we had everything from small-ticket
items to items that might cost $1,000, $2,000, $3,000. A lot of companies continue to go
online even if they have a brick-and-mortar presence. I think for e-commerce, it really
depends on if you’re omnichannel or not. Do you have a storefront property? And how can you expand your storefront
by also selling online? And then if you don’t have
a storefront property, how do you increase your brand awareness
to get people to go to your website versus going to a competitor website or
to a brick-and-mortar business? I love with e-commerce that we can see the
impact of what we’re actually selling and working on. So through data analysis,
all the analytics piece, we can determine— we ran a campaign for $10 million, and
it brought us $30 million in profit. And that’s an awesome feeling that you
oftentimes don’t get with other media channels—think about television—
it’s very hard to prove whether or not that brought in money for the company. So I love seeing that bottom line and top line success with what we’re able
to do through digital marketing. Usually we’ll have weekly projects—
we’re working on a presentation deck for a new product that we think
our clients should use. Or we’re doing data calculations on
a campaign that was just run, and we’re trying to determine that
final return on ad spend. The common task for entry level e-commerce people depends
on what client they’re working with. At a small company, you know, you might be
on Excel or Google Sheets, calculating what your spend has been for
the past few weeks. And then trying to calculate again
that return-on-investment piece and then thinking about what new strategies
can we come up with to improve that. So maybe that’s having meetings with
internal stakeholders that say, “Hey, we should do XYZ if we want to
increase performance over time.” For a larger company, it can be a little
bit more difficult to know the day-to-day, because a lot of times it’s reactive. You get an email from
the in client who says, “We need you to look into this, and
we need you to look into that.” So you often have to jump
around on a lot of small tasks while tackling a larger project, such as, “We want to adopt $100 million
campaign over the course of a year.” And that takes several weeks to
months to pitch an idea like that. To be a successful account manager,
you need both hard and soft skills. The hard skills would be the data analysis
piece—you know, can you look at the data and determine what needs to be
done to improve the project or what we can take from
the project after it’s been ran. Soft skills could be as simple as just
being personable in a conversation where you know, you’re talking about the
small stuff, small chatting, and then going into very deep,
complex situations with that customer. It’s really about building trust and
earning that rapport early on. I let my clients know I’m open to them. If they have any issues or problems, they
should email me, they should call me, and I’ll be able to answer those questions. And then when it comes to my time for
a huge pitch, they already know me, they trust me, they’ve seen me
answer all these tough questions. And now I have this new product idea that
they love, just because we’ve been working together for the past several weeks or
several months. My number one piece of advice, which is simply: Be patient,
but be hungry. There’s so
much to learn about digital marketing. There’s so
much to learn about an individual client. Take time to hear that client’s needs,
as well as take time to learn about the products that you’re working on or
that you’re selling. There’s so much to learn and
you have to be open to it, you have to be hungry for it, and
you have to be patient enough to learn it because it does take time.

Congrats on completing the first
section of this course! I hope you’re feeling confident and
excited about the future. I know I am. How about a short review
before you finish up and move on to the next part of the course? First, you learned about how
to navigate this program and got some tips to help you
get the most out of it. Then, you learned about the digital
marketing and e-commerce industries and how they’ve changed the way we buy and
sell things. You discovered what digital marketing and
e-commerce specialists do on a day-to-day basis and
how they add value to businesses. After that, you explored some transferable skills that
will help you in your career journey, as well as some specialized skills
you’ll develop in this program. Then, you got into more depth
with the types of roles and responsibilities you might
have working in these fields. You surveyed the landscape
of available jobs and learned some tips for career development. You examined the differences
between agency and in-house work so you can start thinking about
which one is right for you. Finally, you met some Google employees and
learned about what they do and how they got where they are today. I hope everything you’ve learned so far is helping you build confidence
about your career journey, but if you feel like you need
a refresher before moving on, remember you can always go back and
review any content you’re unsure about. By picking up the basics, you’re
laying the foundation for the rest of your e-commerce and
digital marketing education. When you’re ready, I’ll meet you
in the next section of the course.