Where Can I Study Digital Marketing in the Philippines?

Do you want to study digital marketing in the Philippines? If you are looking for the best digital marketing course in the Philippines, there are a number of options to choose from. While there are a lot of online courses available out there, you may be looking for a digital marketing course that’s (a) instructor-led, (b) live, and (c) based in the Philippines.

You would think you can study digital marketing in the Philippines through one of our universities or colleges? Well, not really. There is no undergraduate course in digital marketing being offered either by top-tier universities or smaller colleges. Even most marketing courses in college do not even have a subject in digital marketing. It’s only a few like UAAP and UST that includes a subject or elective in digital marketing.

For this purpose, we’ll leave out online courses and specialized programs and focus on live instructor-led digital marketing courses in the Philippines. After all, the best way to study digital marketing in the Philippines is through live classes taught by local subject matter experts.

Key Factors to Consider

So, how do you know which is the best digital marketing course in the Philippines? Consider these key factors:

1. Curriculum. Make sure the curriculum is comprehensive, meaning it covers the major areas of digital marketing. That should include social media marketing, email marketing, search marketing (SEO and PPC), display advertising, website optimization, and analytics. The syllabus should also be updated regularly as digital marketing is always changing. And the content must be consistent and standardized.
2. Industry Recognition. There are many digital marketing courses in the Philippines, but only very few are recognized by the industry, i.e. Internet/tech companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, etc. as well as digital marketing agencies such as WPP, Omnicom Group, Dentsu, Publicis, etc. Aside from the course or certification being recognized by the industry, it’s even better if global industry players have a hand in developing or approving the syllabus.
3. Faculty. Check who the lecturers are. If you want to study digital marketing in the Philippines, you should learn from the best SMEs. Do they have the credentials and experience to teach digital marketing? Are they industry pioneers, digital marketing leaders, or thought leaders? What company do they represent? If they are full-time professors, they may not have sufficient industry experience. If you search their name on Google or LinkedIn and they don’t seem to be credible, it should give you pause.
4. Continuing Education. Find out if the program includes continuing education. This could be in the form of webinars, ebooks, short courses, etc. It’s a huge plus if the program doesn’t end with completing the course but provides opportunities for you to learn more.
5. Assessment. Courses that have objective assessments, usually through an exam, are the most credible. And the most credible exams are ones that are standardized and proctored. It’s too easy to answer a post-course quiz at home while taking the course when you can just Google the answers at the same time.

Digital Marketing Courses in the Philippines

There are only a handful of live, instructor-led digital marketing training providers in the Philippines, namely:

1. DMHQ
2. CDM
3. CIIT
4. Inventive Media
5. Ateneo CCE

DMHQ

This is the digital marketing training arm of Learning Curve, Inc., the education partner of the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI), the global leader in digital marketing certification. This is the best option to study digital marketing in the Philippines because it combines best practices and local context.

Curriculum. DMI has several digital marketing courses, including post-graduate and master’s programs. But comparing apples to apples, we’ll focus on DMI’s flagship digital marketing program, the Certified Digital Marketing Professional (CDMP) course. The 10-session syllabus covers the following modules:

1. Introduction to Digital Marketing
2. Content Marketing
3. Social Media Marketing
4. Search Engine Optimization
5. Paid Search
6. Display & Video Advertising
7. Email Marketing
8. Website Optimization
9. Analytics
10. Digital Marketing Strategy

Definitely, the course covers all the major areas of digital marketing. In the Philippines, DMHQ runs DMI’s CDMP program for 15 weekly, half-day online live sessions, totaling over 40 hours of training. This is combined with on-demand videos from DMI, which are assigned for self-study.

DMI upgrades the curriculum every six to 12 months, with minor changes throughout the year. That said, the CDMP program is already on Syllabus version 9.2. DMHQ’s lecturers also provide any new updates during their sessions. There is no other digital marketing curriculum that is as updated as often as DMI.

The curriculum is centrally developed by a team of educators and digital marketing experts at the Digital Marketing Institute, so the content is standard and consistent wherever the course is delivered. That means a student from the Philippines will learn the exact course content as a student from Dublin, London, New York, Singapore, or Dubai. But DMHQ’s lecturers also add local context and case studies to enrich the program even further.

Industry Recognition. Only DMI has the support of all the major Internet/tech players such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Hubspot, IBM, and Twitter, among others. Their global heads for e-learning, online academy, and digital marketing are part of DMI’s Global Industry Advisory Champions. That means DMI’s syllabus is reviewed for relevance and accuracy by the very platforms used for social media marketing, search marketing, display and video advertising, email marketing, and analytics. No digital marketing training provider can claim the same.

Faculty. For DMI’s CDMP program, DMHQ has a hand-picked core pool of lecturers who are industry pioneers and real subject matter experts who have worked in some of the biggest agencies and brands, including DDB, Denstu, GroupM, Havas, Maxus, Socialytics, ThoughtBuzz, TrueLogic, Arriba Digital, Wavemaker, Yahoo, Yehey, ABS-CBN, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Inquirer.net, Metrobank, Rappler, and PLDT.

Continuing Education. DMI includes 12 months of free access to its Membership portal, which is packed with a never-ending library of e-books, webinars, videos, case studies, playbooks, templates, checklists, and short online courses, for continuing education. DMHQ also allows its CDMP classroom students to sit in for free for an entire year, so they can re-learn modules over and over.

Assessment. To get certified, DMI students have to pass a 3-hour, 200-item exam at a Pearson VUE test center. Real international professional certifications use Pearson VUE for assessing competence. This goes to show DMI’s certifications follow a global standard.

CDM

Formerly IIDM, which in turn is formerly E-Learning Edge, CDM is one of the early players in digital marketing training in the Philippines.

Curriculum. The Certified Digital Marketer (CDM) has undergone numerous changes, including its core curriculum and training delivery. Its foundational course is called the Digital Marketing Fundamentals program.

1. Digital Marketing Mindset
2. Introduction to Digital Media Planning & SEO
3. Introduction to Email, Mobile, and Social Media Marketing
4. E-Commerce, CRM, and Digital Measurement

The 4-day program (9:30am-6:30pm) covers 32+ hours of training. CDM does not indicate how often it updates its curriculum. The course content is developed by whichever lecturer is assigned to teach each module.

Industry Recognition. CDM claims to have a local and international advisory board of over 50 members that recognize its certification globally. However, its website does not name these members.

Faculty. Around 200 local digital marketing practitioners teach certain modules for CDM, according to its website, although a much smaller fraction is made of actual active lecturers. For the core program, the lecturers are experienced and credible subject matter experts from Ogilvy, Havas Ortega, Philam Life, and Globe Telecom.

Continuing Education. CDM offers its students lifetime access to its online portal that contains case studies.

Assessment. A CDM certification is earned upon passing an 80-item exam.

CIIT

Starting as a multimedia arts school, CIIT has branched out into computer programming, and fine arts. Aside from senior high school and college students, it also offers professional development programs, including digital marketing.

Curriculum. CIIT has a Digital Marketing Specialist Program as part of its continuing education courses.

1. Websites 101
2. SEO & SEM
3. Social Media Marketing & Advertising
4. Content Marketing
5. Email and Mobile Marketing
6. E-Commerce Strategy

The 10-session program (4 hours per session) covers many areas of digital marketing, with the exclusion of analytics. There’s more focus on blogging, e-commerce, and website creation.

Industry Recognition. The CIIT program is not recognized by the industry.

Faculty. Its website does not show who the lecturers are.

Continuing Education. There is no indication of any continuing education program.

Assessment. There is no formal assessment but there are required outputs, including a digital marketing plan.

Inventive Media

Specializing in web development, computer networking, and digital media, this training company has also branched out into digital marketing courses.

Curriculum. Inventive Media has three digital marketing courses, with its core program called Digital Marketing Fundamentals.

1. Introduction to Internet Marketing
2. Search Engine Optimization
3. Search Engine Marketing
4. Social Media Marketing
5. Email Marketing

As this is only a 2-day program (9am-7pm), the course covers mainly overviews of the different digital marketing channels.

Industry Recognition. The Inventive Media program is not recognized by the industry.

Faculty. The mentors listed on its website do not have major industry backgrounds.

Continuing Education. There is no indication of any continuing education program. But students can attend refresher classes for free for a whole year.

Assessment. There is no formal assessment.

Ateneo CCE

The Graduate School of Business of the Ateneo de Manila University has a Center for Continuing Education (CCE), which offers a short course on digital marketing.

Curriculum. The 6-day, half-day program covers:

1. Introduction to Internet Marketing
2. Digital Trends
3. Content Marketing 
4. Mobile Marketing 
5. Online Crisis
6. Overview of E-Commerce

Industry Recognition. This course is not recognized by the industry.

Faculty. The resource person works for a digital marketing agency.

Continuing Education. There is no continuing education program.

Assessment. The assessment is via Ateneo’s LMS.

Conclusion: Which is the Best Digital Marketing Course in the Philippines?

Based on the factors that you should consider, there are only two digital marketing course providers you should consider to study digital marketing in the Philippines: DMHQ, which runs DMI’s programs, and CDM, a local training company.

Both are industry-recognized, although CDM is only recognized locally while DMI is a real internationally-recognized certification with a syllabus validated by the actual global heads of e-learning and digital marketing of Google, Facebook, HubSpot, Microsoft, IBM, etc.

Both also boast of distinguished local subject matter experts. But as DMI is an educational institution with professional certifications that actually qualify as professional diplomas in European universities, its curriculum is more robust. The content does not depend on which lecturer is teaching the course modules. The course content is consistent and standardized worldwide, plus it’s updated more frequently.

Both also offer continuing education for their graduates, but DMI’s Membership portal is miles above in terms of content quality, volume, and frequency. Lastly, DMI’s certification is assessed through a legitimate Pearson VUE test center, adding real objectivity and credibility as being a global standard.

Given all these factors, DMI’s Certified Digital Marketing Professional (CDMP) program, delivered by DMHQ, is the best classroom-based digital marketing course in the Philippines.