You do not need a spare ₦500,000 to learn digital marketing. Everything a paid bootcamp teaches in month one - search basics, running a first ad, setting up analytics - is available free. A realistic ninety-day plan covers fundamentals, one channel, and a first real project with a published result.
TL;DR
- The first ninety days cost nothing but time.
- Learn fundamentals, then one channel, then do real work.
- Paid training earns its cost after this, not before.
Days one to thirty: fundamentals
Understand the channel map, set up the free Google stack on a real site or profile, and learn to read the reports. Use free platform courses and this blog. Finish with a written one-page explanation of how a business you know acquires customers.
Days thirty-one to sixty: one channel
Choose search, paid, content or social. Go deep on free material. Run something real: a small ad with your own money, a page you try to rank, a content series on one platform. Measure it.
Days sixty-one to ninety: a real project
Find a small business, agree one measurable target, do the work, and write it up as problem, approach and result. Publish it. You now have a portfolio piece and a reason to be taken seriously - and a clear view of whether paid, assessed training is worth it for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is free learning enough to get hired?
It is enough to build a first portfolio piece. Assessment, real briefs and placement are what paid programmes add.