What are the benefits of a social media marketing certification? How do you choose social media marketing courses and start your certification journey? Get answers in this article.
A social media marketing certification can be a valuable asset in today’s evolving social media environment. Hubspot’s 2022 State of Inbound Marketing Trends report reveals that social media is the top channel marketers are using in 2022 to reach audiences [1]. According to Statista, there are 4.7 billion active users on social media across platforms worldwide. As of January 2022, Facebook was the most used social media platform, with around 2.9 billion users accessing it monthly [2, 3].
As different social platforms expand and afford brands more ways to reach audiences, digital marketers can update their skills with a certification or certificate in social media.
Building digital marketing skills with a social media marketing certificate or certification program can offer several career benefits. Completing the coursework means you can master relevant, job-ready skills in this field, including building a target audience around a brand, designing social media marketing campaigns, and executing a content strategy. You can also explore your creativity inside a structured learning experience and combine your creativity with technology, strategy, and data analysis. A certification, rather than a social media marketing course, typically means you’ll hold a credential.
In addition, getting a certificate or certification in social media marketing can lead to more job prospects in the marketing world. A certification can help show you have up-to-date social marketing training and know how to use social media marketing strategies to drive business goals. Some roles and opportunities you may qualify for include:
Social media coordinator
Social media strategist
Digital media strategist
Starting a business as a social media consultant, specialist, or strategist
According to Payscale, people with a social media marketing certification earn, on average, $52,000 in the US, as of October 2022 [4].
Keep reading to explore social media marketing certifications and the steps to get your credential.
Explore seven social media marketing certifications from well-known brands and industry leaders. Each credential below offers digital marketers a comprehensive journey through the world of social media marketing and a shareable digital credential upon completion.
We’ve organized the certification list according to what you’ll learn, the cost to register and complete, and the time it takes to get the credential.
Credential | What you’ll learn | Cost | Time to complete |
---|---|---|---|
Hubspot Academy: Social Media Strategy Certification Course | How to develop social media marketing strategies, social advertising strategy, and use social listening and monitoring to learn about your online audience | Free | 4:05 hours |
eMarketing Institute: Social Media Marketing Course and Certification | How to leverage different social platforms and blogging tools, as well as analytics and automation, to build a business' online presence | Free | 165-page e-book + 60-minute exam |
LinkedIn Learning: Become a Social Media Marketer Learning Path | How to build a business' online presence through social media, including social advertising, and how to measure a social media campaign’s effectiveness | Free 1-month trial, then $39/month with LinkedIn Learning subscription | 12:48 hours |
Meta & Coursera: Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate | How to grow a social media presence and create ad campaigns and measure their performance | Free 7-day trial, then $39/month with subscription | 7 months |
Hootsuite: Social Marketing Certification Course | How to grow a social media following, develop engaging content, and design effective ad campaigns | $199 | 6:00 hours |
Online Marketing Institute: Social Media Marketing Certification, Level 1 | How to apply insights from followers’ engagement, establish a thought leadership brand, and measure the success of social media efforts on different platforms | $859 | 6:36 hours |
eCornell: Social Media Marketing Certificate Program | How to design a social media strategy, create engaging content, develop a social listening system, and measure your marketing efforts’ success | $2,625 | 3 months |
In addition to the social media marketing certifications above, you might consider certifications, certificate programs, or social media marketing courses that focus on specific skill sets. These could come in handy when completing an upcoming project or applying for a job requiring more specialized knowledge.
For example, the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate and Meta Marketing Analytics Professional Certificate both offer material on using data to make informed business decisions. You could apply learnings to social media marketing scenarios, such as using software to track and analyze data on customer behavior.
certificado profesional
This is your path to a career in data analytics. In this program, you’ll learn in-demand skills that will have you job-ready in less than 6 months. No degree or experience required.
4.8
(calificaciones 105,673)
1,492,770 ya está inscrito
Nivel BEGINNER
Tiempo promedio: 6 mes(es)
Aprende a tu propio ritmo:
Habilidades que desarrollarás:
Spreadsheet, Data Cleansing, Data Analysis, Data Visualization (DataViz), SQL, Questioning, Decision-Making, Problem Solving, Metadata, Data Collection, Data Ethics, Sample Size Determination, Data Integrity, Data Calculations, Data Aggregation, Tableau Software, Presentation, R Programming, R Markdown, Rstudio, Job portfolio, case study
certificado profesional
Launch Your Career in Marketing Analytics. Build in-demand skills and gain credentials to go from beginner to job-ready in 5 months or less. No degree or prior experience required.
4.7
(calificaciones 1,483)
37,548 ya está inscrito
Nivel BEGINNER
Tiempo promedio: 7 mes(es)
Aprende a tu propio ritmo:
Habilidades que desarrollarás:
Marketing Strategy, Data Analysis, Marketing Mix Optimization, Statistics for Marketing, Advertising Effectiveness Evaluation, Marketing, Digital Marketing, Python Programming, Tableau Software, Data Visualization (DataViz), Statistical Analysis, Linear Regression, Statistical Hypothesis Testing, Marketing Mix Modeling, Marketing Plan, A/B Testing, Meta advertising, Social Media Marketing, Ads Manager, Marketing Science, Facebook Advertising
Read more: Marketing Analytics: Definition + Career Guide
Follow the steps below to begin your certification journey:
Get clear on what you want to achieve as a social media marketer, from skills you want to learn to a career path you want to follow, so that you can select a certification to help you reach those goals. Here are some examples of goals that you can draw from to articulate your own:
Become familiar with the latest features on different social media platforms.
Learn how to use marketing software.
Advance into a leadership position in marketing.
Using the table above as a starting point, research different social media certifications to select the one that aligns with your social media marketing goals. Factors you’ll need to consider include:
The cost
The time it takes to complete the coursework
The breadth and depth of the coursework
How the certification outcomes correspond to skills employers are looking for
Once you’ve chosen a program, your next step is to complete the coursework. Be sure to allot sufficient time in your schedule to learn the material and be mindful of any deadlines by which you have to take a certifying exam.
Depending on the certification you get, you may be able to showcase your new credential online. Sharing your credential on your social media, website, portfolio, or in an email signature, for example, represents your new skills visually and can attract employers.
As social media continues to evolve, it’s important to update your skills to make the most of each platform and its features and remain competitive in the job market.
Some certificate programs may require you to recertify on a regular basis to maintain your credentials. Taking social media courses and building digital skills in other focus areas such as email marketing, mobile marketing, Google Analytics, content marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO) can also expose you to the latest marketing tactics, technologies, strategies, and digital marketing tools.
Read more: 8 Industry-Recognized Digital Marketing Certificates + How to Get One
Explore the options below to learn job-ready skills, such as building targeted ad campaigns in Meta, increase traffic to your website, engage with customers via email, and use social media analytics to make marketing decisions.
certificado profesional
Launch your career as a Social Media Marketer. Desarrolla habilidades que te prepararán para el trabajo para impulsar tu carrera profesional de gran demanda y obtén una credencial de Meta. No se requieren títulos de grado ni experiencia previa para comenzar.
4.9
(calificaciones 13,775)
191,268 ya está inscrito
Nivel BEGINNER
Tiempo promedio: 7 mes(es)
Aprende a tu propio ritmo:
Habilidades que desarrollarás:
Performance Advertising, Digital Marketing, Brand Management, Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media Marketing Strategy, Content Development, content management, Marketing Content Development, Campaign Management, Ad Management, Meta Ads Manager, Meta advertising, Marketing Optimization, Digital Analytics, Marketing Strategy, Communication, Ads Manager
certificado profesional
This is your path to a career in digital marketing. In this program, you’ll learn in-demand skills that can have you job-ready in less than 6 months. No degree or experience required.
4.8
(calificaciones 12,004)
317,504 ya está inscrito
Nivel BEGINNER
Tiempo promedio: 6 mes(es)
Aprende a tu propio ritmo:
Habilidades que desarrollarás:
Marketing, E-Commerce, display advertising, Email Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Customer loyalty, Marketing Analytics, Customer Outreach, Website Structure, Customer Awareness, Google, Search Engine Marketing, Social Listening, Social Media Bidding, Customer Engagement, Social Media Analytics, Social Media Branding, Email Writing, Email list segmentation, Email marketing strategy, Email marketing analytics, Contact management, Digital marketing KPIs, Spreadsheet management, Presenting to stakeholders, Media planning and strategies, Fulfillment and delivery, E-commerce platforms, E-Commerce Strategy, Seasonality, Job preparedness, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Portfolio preparation, E-commerce store optimization, Building customer loyalty
Hubspot. “2022 State of Inbound Marketing Trends, https://www.hubspot.com/hubfs/2022_State-of-Inbound-Marketing-Trends_V08122022.pdf.” Accessed November 2, 2022.
Statista. “Social Media: Statistics and Facts, https://www.statista.com/topics/1164/social-networks/#dossierKeyfigures.” Accessed November 2, 2022.
Statista. “Most popular social networks worldwide as of January 2022, ranked by number of monthly active users, https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/.” Accessed November 2, 2022.
Se puso a disposición este contenido de preguntas frecuentes solo con fines informativos. Se les pide a los estudiantes que realicen investigaciones adicionales para asegurarse de que los cursos y otras credenciales cumplan con sus objetivos personales, profesionales y financieros.