Dive Brief:
- Google announced its Academy for Ads digital training platform in a company blog post.
- The courses are designed to be viewed on any device from desktops to laptops to mobile devices, and offer marketers of a range of skill levels a way to either learn to navigate Google’s advertising offerings or brush up on how to apply already acquired skills to the mobile marketing space.
- Courses cover a variety of topics of interest to marketers including: digital concepts, AdWords basics, AdWords Display, Video for Brand and DoubleClick Bid Manager.
Dive Insight:
Google is hoping to help marketers learn how to best make use of Google’s ad products in a mobile-first world. As the largest digital advertising player, Google has a vested interest in ensuring marketers' digital marketing skill levels are up to grade.
Recent research suggests marketers are in fact struggling to keep up as technology and the landscape evolve quickly. The Digital Marketing Institute's report found that digital marketing skill levels have declined since 2014. The Google program could help partially address the problem.
The Academy for Ads also addresses how, as college graduates enter the workforce, the demand for mobile-friendly online training is likely to increase as this is a channel where they spend a lot of their time.
The post explained that users requested the training that Academy for Ads provides, “Becoming a digital advertising expert takes time, and it’s important to get off to a good start. Only 50 percent of marketers say they’re confident in their knowledge of digital advertising, despite the wide range of educational materials available – sometimes ‘more’ isn’t the same as ‘better.’ You’ve told us that you want quick, bite-sized training in more interactive formats. And we heard you.”
Marketers can either sign up directly to access the training, or can sign in via the Google Partners portal. Offering the training benefits Google because the more marketers understand about its ad offerings, the more likely they are to take advantage of those capabilities.
