HubSpot Academy Is Free — So Why Would Anyone Pay for a Marketing Course?
HubSpot Academy certifications are free, polished, and everywhere. But free has a cost. Here is what paid marketing courses actually give you that HubSpot cannot.
Google’s $300 Marketing Certificate vs. a $2,000 Course: What’s the Real Difference?
If you are comparing a Google digital marketing certificate vs bootcamp options, the price gap is massive. But the real differences go deeper than cost.
How to Create a Blog Post in WordPress: The Digital Engine Method
Learn our proven step-by-step process for creating blog posts in WordPress that attract readers, rank in search engines, and drive business growth using The Digital Engine methodology.
The Solopreneur’s Guide to Digital Marketing: Why Most Courses Aren’t Built for You (and One That Is)
Most digital marketing courses assume you have a team. Here’s why solopreneurs need a different approach, and a course designed specifically for one-person businesses.
Is a Digital Marketing Certificate Worth It? An Honest Breakdown of ROI, Costs, and What Employers Actually Want
Thinking about a digital marketing certificate? Here’s an honest analysis of costs, ROI, and what employers really value, from free Google certs to $4,000 bootcamps.
Week 15: Blockchain-Secure LinkedIn Certification Issued to Students
This week, when students complete their 15-week higher education course, the student will be awarded a blockchain-secure LinkedIn certification on the last day of class. We have teamed up with Accredible at credential.net to provide our certification and badge, which students can proudly display on their LinkedIn profile. Check out Read more…
Week 14: Completing the 8-Week Live Practicum with Final Reports
This week students complete their 8-week live practicum using the Digital Engine curriculum. Over the past 13 weeks, students have created their own inbound digital marketing campaign, complete with a newly built website with blogs, social media posts, emails, search engine optimization with keyword analysis, multiple analytic platform audits, and Read more…
Week 13: Organizing Leads into a Zoho CRM Database
The last two weeks students have audited their campaigns and made strategic decisions to improve performance in any of the four categorical areas where they may be weak. Students examine 16 different variables through their InGen Analytics report to determine where they may need to spend extra time to improve Read more…
Weeks 11-12: Students Audit Their Inbound Marketing Campaign
Over the last two weeks, students have learned how to audit their content, social media, and email campaigns for strengths and weakness. Auditing this information will help them to better understand whether their strategic initiatives are working as they intended. To begin their content analysis, students use CoSchedule to examine Read more…
Week 10: Email Marketing Strategies with Intuit’s MailChimp Platform
This week we are all about MailChimp. The past two weeks have been focused on digital communication effectiveness around website and social media content. This week we continue that discussion with email. As we say here at the Digital Engine, email is the “heartbeat” of your inbound marketing campaign. Staying Read more…
Week 9: Social Media Strategy and CoSchedule’s Online Marketing Calendar
Last week our students focused on the “how” of good digital strategy, learning how to create and curate interesting content. This week, we turn our focus to the “where” of digital communication effectiveness by teaching social media strategy. Even though in the planning stage students selected their primary digital communication Read more…
Week 7: Fall 2023 Campaign Kickoff Including Student Website List
This week celebrated our inbound marketing campaign kickoff. The students have been working very hard over the last three weeks to prepare for this week. They have completed their setup instructions for both their mechanical and aesthetic builds. Likewise, they have all of their goal funnels setup, tested them to Read more…
Week 5: Aesthetic Website Setup and Serialized Content Selection
Last week, students were instructed to set up the mechanics of their website to make it operate as the hub of their inbound marketing campaign. With our step-by-step instructions, this process can take about 5-6 hours to complete. And while our aesthetic instructions are half as long, constructing the look Read more…
Week 3: Purchasing Digital Assets and Building Websites
After deciding on a topic last week and developing a brand positioning statement and tagline, this week students purchased their digital assets. This includes students leasing their website URL from ICANN for one year and purchasing monthly web hosting and branded email plans. Using these three assets, students will build Read more…
Week 2: Topical Selection Foci for Live Practicums
When it comes time for students to pick their practicum topic for the semester, I have found it is important to help them consider a few different ideas before selecting. First, this project is so much better for students if they complete it on their own, rather than in groups. Read more…
Week 0: Introducing the Higher Education Course Content
This fall 2023 semester, we are going to show you behind the curtain of our Higher Education course here at the Digital Engine. Our courseware is designed to teach students how to manage an inbound marketing campaign from conceptualization to actual lead generation. This is so important in the real Read more…
The Power of WordPress: Why It Conquers Wix and Squarespace
When it comes to creating and managing websites, WordPress has emerged as the leading choice for individuals and businesses alike. In fact, HubSpot reports that WordPress is used by 43.2% of all websites on the Internet, up from 39.5% in 2021, and is used by 65.2% of all websites that Read more…
Aesthetic Design Setup Instructions Added to Our Courseware
We have an exciting announcement to make! As requested by our students, more instruction on the aesthetic design of your site has been added to our courseware and curriculum. If you have a current membership at the Digital Engine, then you can access our new instruction set here. Included in Read more…
5 Important Reasons You Should Use Inbound Organic Digital Marketing
In today’s highly competitive digital landscape, companies strive to gain a competitive edge and establish a strong online presence. Inbound organic digital marketing, as highlighted by the Digital Marketing Institute, has emerged as a crucial tool to reach and engage with target audiences effectively. While paid digital marketing offers immediate Read more…
Gates vs. Socrates: Generative AI Debates Prompted by ChatGPT and MidJourney
Is there a better example of using the creativity of Generative AI in the classroom than this video? Instead of providing a review of the AI created debate between Bill Gates and Socrates, we wanted to demonstrate how both ChatGPT and Midjourney can be used to create unique and innovative Read more…
DALL-E Can Help Students Express Their Creativity
DALL-E is a 12-billion parameter version of GPT-3 trained to generate images from text descriptions, using a dataset of text–image pairs. OpenAI, DALL-E’s developer, has found that it has a diverse set of capabilities, including creating anthropomorphized versions of animals and objects, combining unrelated concepts in plausible ways, rendering text, Read more…
5 Reasons Why Upgrading to GA4 Analytics by July 1, 2023 is Essential
In the ever-evolving digital landscape, data has become the lifeblood of businesses. It provides invaluable insights into customer behavior, website performance, and marketing strategies. As businesses strive to stay competitive, they must harness the power of data analytics to make informed decisions. Google Analytics has long been a go-to platform Read more…
Is Artificial Intelligence Already Conscious? Watch This. You Decide.
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about artificial intelligence and what marketing education could possibly look like in a decade of exponential growth of technology. If you missed the debate on promise vs peril, click here. Nevertheless, it’s common knowledge that the exponential growth of technology is being powered Read more…
Addison’s Practicum Helps Land Job as a Creative Associate
In the spring semester of 2022, Addison Lentz opted to take The Digital Engine course before graduating May, not expecting it would lead to her job as a Creative Associate. When discussing how the course helped her land this position, she discussed how much she had learned and how easy Read more…
The Digital Engine Content Matrix & Editorial Calendar
In our instruction on content design, The Digital Engine teaches course participants how to create a content matrix. This matrix is critically important as it becomes the building blocks for your rolling editorial calendar, which is the life blood of your inbound marketing campaign. Unlike paid digital, inbound marketing is Read more…
Marketing Education During the Exponential Growth of Technology
In curriculum discussions surrounding current trends in marketing education, I am often asked about the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of education. There is no doubt that academics, especially marketing academics, are scrambling to keep up with the exponential growth in technology and innovation in both theory and Read more…
Lauren Overcomes Mental Health to Win Top Marketing Student Award
Lauren Hackett, a Belmont University graduate and winner of the Jack C. Massey College’s Top Marketing Student Award, used The Digital Engine to build her own mental health blog titled Your Story is Unfinished for her semester project. In her first blog, she blazes the door open about how it’s Read more…
Creative Content Lands a Film Internship in LA
Coleman Alford worked efficiently and effectively to build creative content to earn his DE Certification this semester. For as long as Coleman can remember, he has loved film, especially in the theater. To him, there is no better feeling than the excitement and emotional response he feels when watching a Read more…
Blockchain-Secure Digital Certification Demonstrates Skillsets on LinkedIn
When course participants complete the 15-week higher education course or the continuing ed “go-at-your-own-pace” course, then he or she will be awarded a blockchain-secure Certificate of Achievement. Here at the Digital Engine, we have teamed up with Accredible at credential.net to provide a block-chain secure digital certification and badge that Read more…
Delaney Provides Type 1 Insight for Incoming Freshmen
Delaney Walker’s 4th Birthday came with a surprise her family did not expect. Worried about all the water intake Delaney was taking in, her mom took her to the pediatrician. A simple blood test came back with the result of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Living with diabetes has been a Read more…
Platform Insights Increase Lead Generation
In order to successful track the inbound campaign, several different measurements will be assembled from the various components of the campaign design. Within the consumer acquisition module of the campaign, platform insights from the various social media channels and/or social media management tools will be used to determine the successful Read more…
Just Justice Lifestyle Brand Promotes Grammy’s Recipes
Justice Martin, a Junior at Belmont University, built the most aesthetically pleasing website for her lifestyle brand, Just Justice, in her spring 2022 course The Digital Engine. She has a passion for event planning, graphic design, advertising and anything that allows her to be creative. For her semester project, Justice Read more…
Suzanna Stapler Kicks Off Her Saturday Morning Cartoon
Suzanna Stapler is a former student of mine. She took my Social Media Marketing course in the Fall of 2017, and graduated from Belmont University in May of 2019. Suzanna was gracious enough to share a little of her success story with us about her company, Squillustrate, and provide a Read more…
Aaron Develops Content Leadership Around Golf and Business
In the spring semester of 2022, Aaron Sweet decided to take The Digital Engine course and focus his content leadership on golf and business in order to hone his skills in digital marketing, which is incredibly important to budding entrepreneurs. Aaron is originally from Memphis, Tennessee but graduated from Belmont Read more…
Lifestyle Blog Lands Lauren a Fashion and Beauty Internship
Lauren Allen quickly learned to manage a successful lifestyle blog in the field of fashion and beauty in just one semester of being a student of The Digital Engine. Lauren jumped into her project and became immersed in the process of building her website The LA Style, writing blog content, Read more…