For school leavers, students and parents choosing how to learn digital marketing. Every option compared on price, time and recognition, with what each does better.
Pathways: Changing careers | Choosing what to study | Upskilling at work | Compare your options
Quick answer: You can study digital marketing through a university degree, a TAFE or RTO diploma, a bootcamp, free platform certificates or a self paced online course. A degree or diploma gives you a recognised qualification. A short course lets you try the work first. Our Essentials course costs $499, paid once, and is not accredited.
Essentials, the foundations path: You will be able to audit a business's digital presence and write a 90 day marketing plan across search, social and email, which is the first task most employers and first clients hand a new marketer.
Lessons take about 20 minutes each, so they fit around classes, a part time job or exams. Essentials has over 50 lessons, about 18 hours in total, or about four months at three lessons a week. Deluxe has 100 lessons and Expert over 150. Short courses have 12 to 34 lessons. Every course comes with 12 months access from the date of purchase.
| Option | Price | Time | Recognised qualification | What it does better than us |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University degree | Not priced here. Fees depend on the course and your place type, so check the university's own page | Varies. Check the university's page | Yes | The most common qualification in the field: in the 2021 Census, 51.9% of Australia's marketing specialists held a bachelor degree [1]. Campus, lecturers and a broad business education |
| TAFE or RTO diploma or certificate | $634.90 (North Metropolitan TAFE, WA, Certificate IV core units at the concession rate) [2] to $8,760 (Melbourne Polytechnic, Diploma of Marketing and Communication, non subsidised) [3] | About 6 months full time [3], longer part time | Yes | A qualification on the national register, subsidies and VET Student Loans for eligible students, and timetabled classes |
| Bootcamp or short course | $899 (Academy Xi, Foundations, self paced) [4] to $4,750 (AIM, Mini MBA in Digital Marketing) [5] | Self paced with 6 months access [4], or 25 hours online plus 2 days [5] | No | Live teaching, a cohort and, at some providers, career services |
| Free platform certificates | Free (Google Skillshop foundational certifications [6], HubSpot Academy [7]) | A few hours, for example about 3 hours for HubSpot's Digital Marketing certification [7] | No | Free, and a brand employers know |
| 20 Minute Marketing | Essentials $499, Deluxe $799, Expert $999, paid once. Short courses $79 to $149 | Self paced, 12 months access | No. Certificate of Completion | Not applicable. Current platform skills and a portfolio piece at a low price |
Competitor prices checked 28 September 2026 on each provider's own page. Prices and inclusions differ, so check the provider's page before you decide. TAFE fees depend on your state and eligibility.
More detail: us vs a TAFE or RTO diploma, us vs bootcamps, us vs free certificates, all options, and a digital marketing class vs a marketing degree.
It costs less because it is self paced. There is no campus, no cohort to run, no live class schedule and no accreditation overhead, so the price covers the lessons, the practice brief, expert tutor support from the founder and updates when the platforms change.
What it is not: it is not accredited, it is not a nationally recognised qualification, it is not live classes and it is not a job guarantee. What it is: a named teacher, lessons updated when the platforms change, a portfolio piece your child can show, a Certificate of Completion and a 30 day money-back guarantee from the date of purchase (terms).
The foundations path, written for someone starting from zero. Over 50 lessons, a portfolio brief and 12 months access, paid once.
The course finder asks where you are starting, what you want and how much time you have, then suggests one course.
No. Our courses are not accredited and they are not a nationally recognised qualification. When you finish a course you receive a Certificate of Completion, which records that you completed a self paced online course. It claims nothing more than that.
What you can show an employer or client is the work itself: the portfolio piece you build from the course's practice brief. Alongside it, collect the free certifications from Google Skillshop and HubSpot Academy as you go. They are free, they prove you know a specific platform, and they sit well next to a portfolio.
If a job you want lists a formal qualification as essential, a TAFE or RTO course is the right choice. We explain why accredited courses update slowly in why accredited courses lag the platforms.
You do not need a business, a website or an ad budget of your own. Each course ends with a practice brief on an obviously fictional business, and you finish with a piece of work you can show an employer or a first client. Present it as a practice project, never as work for a real client. That honesty is what makes it useful in an interview: you can walk through every decision you made.
Digital Presence Audit and 90 Day Plan for The Wattle Spoon, a fictional regional Victorian cafƩ: a three to four page audit, a one page priority matrix and a 90 day plan laid out week by week.
Multi-Channel Campaign Plan for Tallowwood Electrical, a fictional Brisbane electrician: a campaign plan with the budget maths and a keyword map, a draft Google Ads Search campaign built without spending money, a four email follow up sequence and a monthly report template.
Every lesson is written by Adrian Prokopiec, who runs digital marketing for two national brands. We update lessons when Google, Meta and the AI tools change. You also get expert tutor support from the founder for your 12 months, so you can ask about a specific part of your work. You can see how he works in practice in our free SEO Lens Chrome extension, which lets you check any page the way Google reads it.
It depends on what the roles you want ask for. A degree gives you a recognised qualification, and about half of Australia's marketing specialists held a bachelor degree in the 2021 Census. A short course gives you practical platform skills and a portfolio piece for far less money. Many people do a short course first to find out whether they like the work.
No course can promise you a job, and we will not. You get practical skills, a portfolio piece built on a fictional practice brief and a Certificate of Completion. If the roles you want list a qualification as essential, you will need a degree or a TAFE or RTO course as well.
No. Essentials starts from zero. You do not need a website, a business or an ad budget: the practice brief supplies one.
No, and that's a deliberate choice. 20 Minute Marketing is not a registered training organisation, and our courses are not nationally recognised training.
Accreditation adds cost, and that cost would put practical digital marketing education out of reach for many people, especially young people starting out. It is also slow. The national Certificate IV in Marketing and Communication hasn't been updated since October 2020, while Google, Meta and the AI tools change every few months. We update our lessons when the platforms change, and every lesson is written by someone who runs digital marketing for two national brands.
If you need a qualification on the national register, a TAFE or RTO course is the right choice. If you want current, practical skills, a portfolio you can show an employer or client, and a Certificate of Completion, you're in the right place. Many learners also collect free certificates from Google and HubSpot alongside our courses.
Essentials has over 50 lessons of about 20 minutes, about 18 hours in total. At three lessons a week that is about four months. You have 12 months access from the date of purchase.
Essentials costs $499, Deluxe $799 and Expert $999, paid once. Short courses cost $79 to $149. There is no payment plan and no student loan, and there is a 30 day money-back guarantee from the date of purchase.
Every lesson is written by Adrian Prokopiec, who runs digital marketing for two national brands. You also get expert tutor support from the founder for your 12 months.
Essentials is $499, paid once, with 12 months access, expert tutor support from the founder and a 30 day money-back guarantee from the date of purchase.
See EssentialsCompare your optionsPrices and course details were read on each provider's own website on the date shown. Prices change, so check the provider's page before you decide. Figures shown to the cent on a provider's page are rounded to the nearest dollar here unless quoted in full.
Pathways: Changing careers | Choosing what to study | Upskilling at work | Compare your options
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