CXL Institute Digital Psychology and Persuasion Minidegree review — Final Thoughts
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself” ~ Peter Drucker
This article is the last one in my series reviewing & sharing what I’ve learned from CXL Institute’s Digital psychology and persuasion MiniDegree.
Why do this minidegree in the first place?
When I had to make a decision of whether I wanted to go through with this mini-degree or not, I came across these questions that would help make the decision for me -
- What the market needs were in terms of Marketing and User Experience
- What my current knowledge and skillset was
- Where was the knowledge gap to make more impact
Almost every online business wants increased sales and better brand perception while simultaneously adding value to its customers.
At the time, I was competent in traditional Digital marketing strategies and techniques.
My curiosity for getting to the root of why some digital marketing strategies/conventions worked while others did horribly, even when they worked for others, led me down the rabbit hole of Behavioral Economics and Neuromarketing.
At this point, it became clear to me that all big companies — the tech giants, the fortune 500 companies, etc. used human insights research in their design and marketing.
If I had to become a top 1 percenter when it came to my craft, I had to learn how to apply human insights research as well.
This is where CXL Institute Digital Psychology and Persuasion Minidegree came into the picture.
What was covered?
The Digital Psychology and Persuasion minidegree was entirely self-study and self-paced.
It consisted of 22 courses, totaling about 45 hours of material. The courses were in both video and text format. The program also included extra resources like research studies, links to relevant information, references, and tools recommended by instructors.
There were quizzes along the way to make sure I actually learned & not just passively consumed the material.
It also has a final exam at the end, based on which the certification will be granted. I will earn my certificate of completion once I complete the Minidegree and pass the final exam.
Some of the awesome courses in the program included:
- Attention basics, decision making, and memory
- Principles of persuasive design
- Neuromarketing and nonconscious motivation
- Cognitive biases
- Building trust, habits, and loyalty
- Consumer psychology as it applies to websites, communication, and pricing strategy
- Product messaging and sales page copywriting
- Psychological backfiring and how to avoid it
- Developing and testing an emotional content strategy
The minidegree also includes a Facebook Group for discussions & real-time chat support.
I’ve covered a huge chunk of what was thought in this mini-degree, in detail, in my previous 11 articles.
However, there were certain stellar courses that I chose not to cover. There were a lot of subtleties and nuances in these courses which can’t be covered in a simple blog post.
The Outcome
I can confidently say that I have learned proven psychological frameworks to fully understand user behavior and influence purchase patterns.
I also consider myself capable of integrating psychological tactics into my marketing, conversion optimization and design efforts and I’m well on my way to become a top 1% marketer/designer.
I’ve currently completed 2 of the 4 exams in the course and have received the respective certifications.
I’ll be completing the final exam for the mini degree certification shortly.
Why CXL Though?
This was a question I had when I was deciding if I should invest in the mini-degree or not, & would have loved a clear answer at that point.
CXL Institute is a leading skill-building provider for digital marketers, analysts, and conversion rate optimizers. All of the instructors on the site are leading industry practitioners — people who are at the top of their game.
A wide range of companies from giants like Google and Walmart to Zalando, Symantec, Deloitte Digital, Progressive Insurance, Cisco. Companies who make a lot of money from their digital analytics and marketing efforts.
You don’t have to take just my word for it. Check out these reviews.
https://www.g2.com/products/cxl-institute/reviews
As I said in my first post, the use of Neuromarketing and Behavioral economics in Marketing isn’t something that is widespread knowledge and thus there aren’t a lot of courses out there on this.
Hence, the Digital Psychology & Persuasion Minidegree is unique with no real alternatives.
Even then if you were to compare CXL to other Course providers out there, CXL offers the most value.
I bought into CXL completely when I saw their ROI report.
Companies like Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Hubspot & other Fortune 500 companies have got measurable Returns on their Investments in training from CXL Institute.
You can check out the CXL institute ROI Report here.
When I started the minidegree it was priced at $899. However, as of today’s date, CXL institute has revamped its pricing completely.
The minidegree as of the time of this article being published costs $599.
Also, it’s interesting to note that the yearly Personal All-Access pass to CXL Institue which includes access to all the minidegrees and all the courses is also priced at $599.
Considering the value, I think it’s a steal at this price.
Free CXL Courses and other relevant resources
If you want to get a taste of what the minidegree has to offer, you can:
- Go through my previous articles. I go quite in-depth about what’s covered in the course material.
- Go through the Free Courses on CXL — Free courses on all things conversion optimization, digital analytics, growth, and UX — Taught by the best industry practitioners.
Some other relevant and useful resources which you can use too level up, irrespective of whether you get the course or not —
- The CXL Blog
- The CXL Youtube channel — tons of valuable content here for FREE.
- The Pe:p Show — the youtube channel of the founder of CXL
- https://meclabs.com/
- https://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/
- https://www.msi.org/
That’s all for this one folks! If you’re a business owner, digital marketer, or UX/UI designer, this minidegree will empower you to develop strategies inspired by a proper understanding of human behavior, rather than dogmatic conventions. This will give you a strategic edge over your competitors & improve your bottom line. Learn more about how you can benefit here.