Give them what they want.
This is the goal and the holy grail of all of the creative struggles and engineering feats in the field of CRO. Such a simple and utilitarian idea. Presented by Momoko Price in the Intro to Conversion Copywriting course, a part of the CXL’s CRO Minidegree. I will develop this idea in this first blogpost and continue with more CRO-oriented topics in the rest.
So what do you want? How can I give it to you? And what’s in it for me?
I would figure, that you want to generate an opinion about the value of CXL’s program. I assume you are wondering if it is worth the money. Following CRO doctrine this hypothesis would need testing, but I’ll just go with it.
I will try to paint the picture by comparing it to other means I have used to build my knowledge so far.
CXL CRO Minidegree Vs. Udemy Growth Hacking
The single, most telling comparison is this:
CXL CRO = 73 hours of video
Udemy Growth Hacking = 8.5 hours of video
I’ve watched about 8 hours of CXL so far. It took me around 12 hours. And I’ve completed Udemy Growth Hacking. The entire course took 6 hours for me (I watched it at 1.5x speed).
CXL’s approach and density of content are just so much greater.
Udemy felt like reading a generic corporate pdf, you would just scroll through. A bunch of trendy buzz words with their definitions, which have no worth to a digital marketer, unless you are completely new in the business. Accompanied by filler content, which you just sit through in a ‘check-all-the-boxes’ mood. I felt like I could be the creator of the course.
Compared to that, CXL felt like a video call with a consultant. Direct, dense and valuable. Worth the money. They ask the right questions and they let you find out the answer. Serious and value-oriented, makes you pause and think. And appreciate the professionalism you are being treated with.
CXL’s CRO course costs around $900. Udemy’s Growth Hacking is $15 (the constant ‘TODAY ONLY’ offer). Don’t fool yourself, that’s exactly the value you will receive. Would you really try to build your career on a course worth a couple of beers?
CXL CRO Minidegree vs. ‘The Internets’
‘The Internets’ is all the content a Google search can find for you. The free stuff: massive amount of blogs and how-to videos. Probably all of us newbies spend a generous amount of time googling solutions, reading deprecated answers and signing-up for email lists of digital marketing celebrities with the hope, that someday you will receive some crazy valuable idea in your inbox (looking at you Neil Patel).
What each newbie soon discovers is, that the fragmented pieces of knowledge don’t add up. Blogs oppose each other. Many are of questionable quality. Many are written to climb up the SERP.
But most importantly, each piece of content that you are consuming with the hope to build a comprehensive understanding of the subject is written in its own style. There is no consistency on the internet. Soon this becomes a major deficit.
CXL’s masterfully thought-through content outdoes the plethora of internet knowledge crumbles any day.
You wouldn’t want to learn to drive a car through reading blogs, would you? There’s a convincing advantage in knowledge being delivered in a designed, unified way. With somebody in control of the situation.
‘CXL vs. In-person learning
It feels a bit out of place to compare these two modes of learning, especially because of the current pandemic. Socializing, buying stuff, learning, … Everything went online. The internet is taking over, with all of it benefits and drawbacks.
Of course, in-person communication has huge benefits. Nothing can come close to the potency of the feedback loop between a teacher and a student in an in-person situation. But if you are thinking about building your career working in the digital realm there is a high probability you are comfortable with the modern ways of communicating. It’s also highly probable you are a visual type of learner, which fills in some of the drawbacks of e-learning.
In my opinion, one should take advantage of all of the ways of knowledge accumulation. Join a local meetup group and participate in the community. But have a reliable source of knowledge also for those rainy afternoons, when nothing is going on ‘in the world’. With all of the benefits of online courses – on-demand content, ease of looking up bits of information, access to a huge amount of useful templates and frameworks.
CXL vs. CXL’s Scholarship
I’ve applied and was given the opportunity to have taken part in the CRO Minidegree. I went for their regular scholarship (check out the application form). This has saved me a considerable amount of money but does not come for free. I am now obliged to write 12 blog posts on the topic. But I’m gladly willing to do so since I want to train my writing and my English. It also does not hurt to create some more content for my agencies’ blog.
CXL created an ad-hoc program for people whose life was affected by COVID-19. It offers a single Minidegree option – Growth Marketing. If you meet the requirements and have the energy I would highly recommend it!
If you’d like to familiarize yourself with Growth Marketing, read our article on the topic including 10 useful tools that will help you reach your goals!
Final thoughts
In this blog, I’ve jotted down my perception of the differences between CXL and other ways of education I have experienced so far. It has not let me down, for sure.
The first week was humbling and I am in literal awe. I’ve even failed my first quiz (I’m definitely not used to failing quizzes on an online course). It has opened many questions for me. What do I want? Should I specialize in just a certain field? What about language – does it make any sense to try at being good at CRO also in languages, other than my first?
But I’ve also found comfort. I can see the new opportunities opening up with the growth of online businesses. And I see the astounding lack of CRO knowledge amongst the SME’s. There’s much to do in CRO. Looking forward to what innovation will life bring to our industry in the future.
Learn more about Maximizing Landing Page CRO In 7 Simple Steps.
As Business Intelligence and Analytics is our specialty, don’t hesitate to get in touch by emailing hello@gooodish.agency.