I received a surprising email this morning from one of my web marketing newsletters with an ad for a new bachelors degree and masters degree for Internet marketing. Over the last decade, traditional graphic design programs at universities have segmented separate courses and degrees for web design & media arts, but this is the first Internet marketing degree that I have seen.
This is long overdue in my eyes. When searching for a web marketing professional it is hard to compare apples to apples or even apples to oranges. Each marketer has their own strategy, time lines, costs & degree of professionalism. I have had marketing campaigns quoted for as little as $250 a month to $4,000 a month for the same project guaranteeing the same results. Who is right in this instance? Does the cheaper company have no idea what they are getting into and wasting my time or maybe the more expensive marketer wants to learn on my dime. Each marketer sites their success, but you never see their failures or even the percentage of their campaigns that are successful. Any marketer can have a case study or two of successes when doing 100 campaigns. A degree will help qualify professional web marketers and ensure they are not a fly-by-night operation.
Even with a degree, professionals will need to continue to learn the latest techniques and experiment with the ever changing search engines algorithm. The degree will set them apart for others and allow a wave of professionalism to appear throughout the industry which is for the best.
