10 of the Best Social Media Marketing Courses to Take Today

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment growth for marketing managers is expected to be 7% from 2019 to 2029.

To stand out from your competition in the hiring process and be completely confident in your ability to fulfill your social media role, you may want to take a social media course.

In this blog post, we’re going to cover some of the best social media marketing courses available today.

The best social media marketing courses

1. Social media certification

For free

Platform: HubSpot Academy

HubSpot’s Social Media Certification Course is a robust program designed to help you acquire customers and partners, and build brand loyalty. Since social media is the key to inbound marketing, this course ties in seamlessly with the two concepts.

The course is flexible enough that you can work on it in your time. It covers essential topics such as measuring ROI, expanding reach, creating social media content, and social listening. You can also take certain lessons as part of the HubSpot Academy course – for example, this one about advertising on social media.

Notable Takeaway: Learn How To Build An Inbound Social Media Marketing Strategy

2. Basics of digital marketing

For free

Platform: Google Digital Garage

Google’s social media certification has over 300,000 students and offers courses in social media, mobile marketing, SEO, and web optimization.

The courses explain paid and organic search and teach you how to develop search engine optimized websites.

Learning how to optimize pages for searching a popular search engine (for free) sounds like a win-win situation. After completing the course, you will receive a digital certificate that you can add to your LinkedIn profile and continue your resume.

Notable takeaway: better understanding SEO and its relationship with digital marketing.

3. Social Ads 101

For free

Platform: Wordstream

WordStream provides the educational resources necessary to develop a strong understanding of social media advertising. This includes social media ads on a variety of platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and LinkedIn.

There is also information on why and how to advertise on social media, as well as information on best practices for advertising on these platforms.

Finally, you will learn more about social media ad metrics and social shopping – this way you can effectively measure your success and target your audience when and where they are ready to make a purchase.

Notable Feature: Learn about social ads on major platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and LinkedIn.

4. Social media training for beginners

For free

Platform: constant contact

Constant Contact is a great educational resource for beginners and newbies in the world of social media marketing.

There are step-by-step instructions on how to create and maintain your social media presence on all major platforms. These include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google My Business, YouTube and Snapchat.

Notable Feature: Learn Everything You Need to Get Started in Social Media Marketing.

5. Online social media marketing courses

Price: Free or paid (depending on the social media course)

Platform: Skillshare

On Skillshare, you can choose classes that suit your interests and save classes that you can refer to later. There are a variety of business topics that you can take courses on.

As for social media marketing, you can filter social media marketing courses based on the time it takes to complete, whether they are free or premium, whether the topic is trending or not, and a lot more.

Notable Souvenir: Pick the specific social media marketing topic and class time that best suits your needs.

6. Acadium Digital Marketing Course

For free

Platform: Academy

Acadium is a training and mentoring program – there are a number of lessons in the Digital Marketing course that you can take before, after, or during your training.

The courses offered cover a range of digital marketing topics including, but not limited to, social media marketing, paid advertising, email marketing, SEO, and content marketing.

Notable Finding: Gain a thorough understanding of digital marketing while completing an education that gives you hands-on experience.

7. Social Media 101 Training

Price: $ 97

Platform: Boot Camp Digital

Boot Camp Digital’s Digital Marketing 101 is powerful, video-guided training that delves deep into the basics of digital marketing and how it can be used for social media. This is a beginner’s training and can be completed in six hours.

Boot Camp customers include Nike, NASA, GE, and Georgia-Pacific, and the platform gives buyers unlimited post-purchase access. It provides a digital marketing template, ROI information, benchmarking, and a free digital tools course.

Notable Findings: Learn about digital marketing and work your way through a comprehensive section on social media marketing and strategy.

8. Fundamentals of digital marketing, social media and e-commerce

Price: $ 585

Platform: Wharton, University of Pennsylvania

Wharton’s course is an advanced introduction to the interface between digital marketing, social media marketing and e-commerce. It’s a self-directed, six-week course that takes up three hours of your time each week.

This course is specifically aimed at marketers, small business owners, and consumers who want to learn about social media techniques. You will learn how to create marketing campaigns that will be effective for your business.

Notable snack: Marketing course for professionals.

9. The strategy of content marketing

Price: Register for free

Platform: University of California, Davis

In this online course from the University of California, Davis, you will learn how to create a content marketing strategy and develop an understanding of the ecosystem surrounding that strategy. A lot of time is also spent working on strategic writing and framing.

The different types of content marketing are discussed along with their relevance to social media marketing. There is five weeks of material, coupled with videos, exercises, readings and quizzes.

Notable Findings: Learn about the power of integrating your content marketing and social media marketing strategies.

10. Social Media Marketing Masterclass

Price: $ 149.99

Platform: Udemy

This offering from Udemy is not a complete Level 1 social media course, but rather a master class on the subject that uniquely focuses on ethical digital marketing techniques.

You will learn how to create a powerful marketing strategy and schedule that aligns with achieving business goals.

You’ll also learn how to integrate social media marketing with your business, email marketing, and building an online community. This course can be completed in 20 hours and will give you a certificate of completion at the end.

Notable Findings: Learn How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy and Timeline for Your Unique Business.

Find Your Ideal Social Media Marketing Course

Social media marketing can be extremely powerful when done right – and understanding how to use the most effective, up-to-date strategies will help you stand out from other social media marketers and strategists and advance your career.

So choose the right course for your level of experience, budget, and goals – then start learning.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in November 2019 and has been updated for completeness.