When you think of coding, your next thought probably isn’t digital marketing. It’s more likely to be UX design or software development.
Coding skills can be instrumental in digital marketing, and coding bootcamps can help set you up for a successful career.
What Are Coding Bootcamps?
Coding bootcamps are designed to give students the programming skills employers look for. Generally, between 12 and 40 weeks long, these courses aim to get students into the tech field without spending years in undergraduate school.
With the internet and software playing such an essential part in our lives, more and more skilled programmers are needed to develop and maintain the tools we need to thrive.
For the past several years, many employers have said they’ve seen skills gaps in recent graduates—that is, students are often graduating with skills that are a bit out of date.
Coding bootcamps have moved to fill that gap, designing intensive courses designed to get people ready for the current workforce in a short amount of time. In true modern fashion, many of these courses are remote, but there are also options for in-person teaching.
How Much Do Coding Bootcamps Cost?
Coding bootcamps are significantly cheaper than most undergraduate educations.
When you commit to a four-year university degree, you can expect to pay about $10,000 per year at a public school in your state—approximately $40,000 total. If you attend a private or out-of-state college, the cost rises exponentially.
Meanwhile, the average tuition for a coding boot camp is just under $14,000 for the entire program.
Bootcamps may also allow you to pay your tuition over time, and some, like Flockjay, waive your tuition if you don’t land a well-paying job after completing the program.
How Can Coding Bootcamp Help You Get a Job in Digital Marketing?
When it comes to digital marketing, you don’t have to have incredible coding skills—but they can make a big difference. The more knowledge you have about how the technology your brand runs on works, the better.
Think of it like the “required” and “preferred” skills sections on job postings. Chances are, most applicants will have nearly all of the “required” skills, but having some of the more unique “preferred” skills could help you stand out.
If you have coding as one of your skills, a potential employer knows you should be able to speak the same language as the UX and development teams. This could make things smoother for everyone, as it means at least one member of the marketing team understands what’s possible given budgets, deadlines, and other restrictions and can create marketing campaigns accordingly.
Additionally, if you’re working at a small business or start-up, it may need someone to wear multiple hats.
Regardless of your company’s size, your coding skills could help you as a marketer in various ways.
Interacting with Websites
It’s become much easier to build and run websites in recent years. With platforms such as WordPress, Shopify, Wix, and SquareSpace, you don’t need coding skills to create a functional site.
But, if you’re reliant on the in-built tools of these platforms, you don’t have the same level of flexibility. When something doesn’t work, you need external support to fix it, and any downtime is money lost.
We talk a lot in marketing about owning the medium (one of the main reasons you should have a website). When you’ve got coding skills, it’s like you’ve got greater ownership of your assets.
Working With Data
Data is essential to digital marketing. We’re constantly learning about our audience and tweaking our strategies to improve performance, which isn’t possible without understanding how to use data.
Coding and data science go hand in hand, and bootcamps courses could teach you to detect patterns in large data sets using artificial intelligence and machine learning. This way of thinking is extremely useful in digital marketing, and we already see a shift towards these technologies in the industry.
Working with data is a vital part of digital marketing, and coding skills, particularly those offered in a data science course, can be valuable.
Decisions About the Future
Digital marketing advances closely align with advances in technology. If you’re not keeping up with the latest trends in marketing, you risk falling behind. This is why businesses need innovators in their marketing departments.
When you have high-level coding skills, it not only makes you more adaptable but also means you could help shape the future of digital marketing by designing your own application and bringing new ideas to life.
Looking at the impact marketing software has on the industry, it’s clear we need people who can understand these applications on a deep level and get the most out of them.
Managing Projects
If you find yourself managing an extensive digital marketing project, you need to bring lots of people together. Some of these folks will likely be developers.
A frequent challenge in these situations is that the marketing manager doesn’t know what the developers do, making both communication and hiring challenging. How do you know you’ve got the right person for the job if you don’t know what coding or web development entail?
A coding bootcamp can mean having informed, direct input on the project management and hiring processes, giving you greater control over what’s happening.
5 Coding Bootcamps for Digital Marketers
Online education has taken off in recent years, and there are lots of great programs that could help you find a job in digital marketing. With more than six million Americans studying online, online learning of all stripes is becoming more accepted by employers than ever before.
Here are some examples of coding bootcamps that could help you land a job or expand your skills in digital marketing.
Springboard
Springboard offers a variety of online courses in analytics, design, coding, and cybersecurity. Its Software Engineering Bootcamp says you’ll be able to “become a software engineer, guaranteed.”
This is an 800-hour program, so with 20 hours of study a week, it should take you around nine months to complete. Springboard offers flexible ways of paying, starting at $8,500 if you pay upfront. There are also options to pay monthly, defer payments (paying monthly once you land a software engineering job; if you don’t get a job in six months, you don’t pay), or obtain a low-interest loan.
While Springboard focuses on software engineering, these skills are transferable to digital marketing. A big part of this program is the opportunity to work one on one with a mentor and a career coach to help guide you through your career path.
Springboard doesn’t offer success rates, but their similar Data Science Bootcamp resulted in 97% of their graduates finding jobs in their field within six months. They also gained an average salary increase of $25,800.
Key Info
- courses in analytics, design, coding, and cybersecurity
- $8,500 for software engineering course
- option to pay when you land a job (nothing to pay if you don’t find a job within six months)
- 800-hour program (nine months studying 20 hours a week)
- average salary increase for graduates of $25,800
Alchemy Code Lab
On average, graduates of the Alchemy Code Lab bootcamp found a related job in just 11 weeks, with a median salary of $80,000. Not bad for a 25-week program!
This full-time program is designed to get you ready for jobs in the real world. Teaching you skills in modern programming languages and development methods, Alchemy Code Lab takes six cohorts per year, with total program tuition costing $24,000.
Just as with Springboard, there are lots of different ways to pay. Choose from self-funding, Income Share Agreement (don’t pay until you get a job), and financing through partner lenders. There are also diversity-based tuition scholarships and GI Bill benefits available.
Alchemy Code Lab is based in Portland, but with a focus on the remote jobs of the future, it’s all accessible online. With solid results and 87 percent of graduates going on to work in tech, it’s been a good investment for many people.
Key Info
- $24,000
- flexible payment options including income share agreement
- full-time study
- 25-week course
Flatiron School
In Career Karma’s 2020 awards, Flatiron School was named the best coding bootcamp and best online bootcamp. The school claims to launch your career, and the stats back this up: 82% of grads land a job with an average starting salary of $69,000 a year.
Flatiron offers both in-person classes in New York City and an online program. They offer programs specializing in software engineering, data science, cybersecurity analytics, and cybersecurity engineering, each of which teaches you skills that can help in digital marketing.
The online software engineering course offers three different ways to study: full-time, part-time, and self-paced, giving students great flexibility with how they learn. The program costs $16,900 with options to pay upfront, in installments, or through a loan.
Courses begin every month, meaning you can quickly get started.
Key Info
- courses in software engineering, data science, cybersecurity analytics, cybersecurity engineering
- $16,900 for software engineering course
- flexible payment options
- full-time study, part-time study, and self-paced learning options available
- 82% of grads land a job, the average starting salary of $69,000 per year
Thinkful
Thinkful is a platform that prides itself on allowing you to pay only when you land a job in your career. It offers a range of tech-related subjects, including a specialist digital marketing bootcamp.
Each option has a slightly different timeframe (the full-time digital marketing course allows you to graduate in just six weeks), with the software engineering course offered as both full-time and part-time programs. The full-time option will require 50-60 hours a week and allow you to graduate in five months, with the part-time version requiring 25-30 hours a week over six months.
The courses vary in price, with the digital marketing one costing $7,500 while the software engineering bootcamp is $16,000. You also have lots of different payment options, some of which guarantee you don’t pay anything until you land a job.
Graduates have noted how Thinkful is focused on your career, which seems to translate into real-life results. Eighty-seven percent of software engineering students were offered a job within 180-days of graduating, with 27% reporting an annual base salary between $70,000 and $90,000 and 50% reporting a yearly base salary between $50,000 and $70,000.
Key Info:
- courses in software engineering, data science, data analytics, UX/UI design, digital marketing, product management, technical project management
- $16,000 for software engineering course
- flexible payment options
- full-time and part-time options
- 87% of grads land jobs within 180-days
Flockjay
Flockjay isn’t strictly a coding bootcamp, but it teaches similar ideas as a tech sale program. It’s more focused on the sales aspect of technology, which could be a helpful combination in digital marketing.
This ten-week program costs $6,000 for most US residents ($7,650 for California) and aims to give you “future proof” skills that are in demand now. Again, you have the option to pay zero tuition until you get a job paying at least $40,000, potentially making it an attractive investment for your career.
Flockjay provides instruction in the sales essentials and, importantly, has a strong emphasis on technology. While it’s not quite coding, it could satisfy many students interested in tech and equip them with important skills in digital marketing.
Key Info:
- tech sales course
- $6,000
- flexible payment options
- 10-week program
- average full-time job offer of $75,000 a year
Conclusion
Coding bootcamps could be a great alternative to four-year college degrees for students interested in technology. With payment options that allow you to pay nothing until you secure a job and courses that can be completed in less than a year, they’re a great way to propel yourself into the tech workforce.
As digital marketing is closely aligned with technology, these courses can also be an excellent way to snag a job in digital marketing. These skills are in demand in so many industries, so the main point is that you’re opening all kinds of doors for yourself.
You may not go into a coding bootcamp to become a digital marketer, but you may find digital marketing is a career you’re perfectly suited for.
Have you tried a coding bootcamp?
