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Social media marketing is a powerful tool that almost every successful company takes advantage of in today’s market. It’s an interactive and engaging outreach method that presents new ways to attract customers every day.
With the most popular platforms having users in the billions, companies have a pool of potential customers to pull from through their social media marketing techniques. Along with acquisition, companies can grow a direct channel to communicate, promote, and nurture a faithful audience base of paying clients.
Social media marketing also entails working with “influencers,” or social media users with large followings. Influencers that are popular in your company’s space can bring their audience to you and help humanize your brand if you work with them correctly.
With many marketing programs in the traditional university space now covering the facets of social media marketing, if you’ve already graduated or want to switch careers, it’s easy to feel left behind. Online courses can supplement your desire to learn and give specialized attention to the specific social media marketing method you want to learn.
From nailing down the basics to advanced classes on one platform, online courses are a great way to educate yourself on the world of social media marketing.
Featured Courses:
The Best Social Media Marketing Courses
To help the searching process, we’ve gathered a list of our favorite social media marketing courses you can take online right now. They’re broken up into two sections, one that is targeted towards beginners and one for those who are a bit more experienced.
Social Media Marketing Mastery by Udemy
- Price: On Sale
Social Media Marketing Mastery is excellent for beginners just starting to learn about this type of outreach. The course has an impressive roster of over 39,000 past students and comes in eight different languages, including English. Course Envy, a company based in Los Angeles that has taught over 100,000 students, created the course.
In Social Media Marketing Mastery, you will learn:
- Instagram marketing
- YouTube marketing (using layouts, video ads, etc.)
- Facebook Ads
- Optimize your LinkedIn profile
- Create high-quality ads on all social media platforms
The course consists of eight and a half hours of video material and 19 articles that you have lifetime access to.
The Complete Digital Marketing Course by Udemy
- Price: On Sale
The Complete Digital Marketing Course teaches you how to master digital marketing strategies, social media marketing, YouTube marketing, Facebook marketing and more. Over 240,000 students have enrolled in this course, and with 4.5 stars, it is very well received by those who take it.
In this course, you will learn how to:
- Grow a business from scratch
- Work as a freelance marketer from home
- Get a high-paying job in digital marketing
- Research the market to validate ideas
- Successfully use SEO
- Increase Twitter followers
- Get 1000 Facebook likes
- Avoid common mistakes
- etc.
This course comes with 37.5 hours of video material, 29 articles and three downloadable resources. You do not need any previous knowledge or experience to excel in The Complete Digital Marketing Course, and the skills you acquire from this course are suitable for all type of marketing, including as B2B, B2C, physical product, and more.
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, Social Media, and E-Commerce by edX
- Who's it for? Beginners - Intermediate
- Price: $585
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, Social Media, and E-Commerce is great for all skill levels, though it is advertised for intermediate learners. It spans six weeks and suggests two to three hours of work per week, but you can work at your own pace. No previous knowledge is required, but familiarity with marketing concepts and branding could be a great supplement.
The course offers you a chance to learn:
- Social media and digital marketing techniques
- How to make your product more effective
- How to leverage new business models
Digital Marketing Specialization by Coursera
- Who's it for? Beginners
- Price: On sale
Don’t let this course being marketed to beginners fool you; there is plenty of information to be learned for marketers of all skill levels.
Digital Marketing Specialization can significantly improve your business and overall digital marketing skills. You can learn at your own pace with this course, and videos are offered in multiple languages.
Social Media Marketing Tips for Growing Followers by Skill Share
- Who's it for? Beginners
- Price: On sale
Social Media Marketing Tips for Growing Followers will teach interested participants how to increase your followers, create a great bio for your profiles, choose which platform is best for you, write engaging posts, strengthen your brand, and drive more traffic from social media to your personal website.
The course is organized by designer and founder of CatCoq, Cat Coquillette. She explains that the course was designed to display the exact steps you need to take to achieve the success she has in the social media space.
Digital Media and Marketing Principles by Coursera
- Who's it for? Advanced
- Price: On sale
Digital Media and Marketing Principles teaches students how digital technologies impact today’s marketing strategies. If you are looking to update your old marketing methods to include a digital flair, this is a great class to learn from. You will also learn how you can develop marketing communication strategies to boost your business. The class emphasizes engaging with customers and making meaningful relationships.
The course has flexible deadlines and takes approximately 15 hours to complete.
Social Media Marketing - Complete Certificate by Udemy
- Price: On Sale
Social Media Marketing is targeted at all learners, but we believe that intermediate and advanced students will benefit the most from this class. Created by SO ME Academy, they advise that entrepreneurs and marketing personnel will also find this class very engaging.
You will learn how to:
- Build a social media strategy
- Successfully plan goals and tasks
- Use social media for customer services, PR, and marketing
Once you enroll, you will gain access to 16 articles, two and a half hours of video material and 29 downloadable resources.
What Can You Get from Social Media Marketing Courses?
As the world of social media marketing is relatively new to the outreach space, those used to traditional methods may be lost on what they actually need to learn. Can you measure metrics from social media marketing? Is there a way to put specific initiatives into place?
While this type of marketing does leave a bit of the old behind, social media marketing replaces it with updated ways to reach your target audience that include:
- Growing a business online from scratch
- Making money as an affiliate marketer
- Creating social media marketing strategies that will expand your company’s reach
- Increasing product sales through social media
- Using ads to promote your brand
- Using Google Business to help your search engine optimization (SEO)
In addition to your education, for some of the online courses that you finish, you may receive a certificate of completion. You can take this back to your current workplace or put it on your resume when applying to new positions.
What Makes a Good Social Media Marketing Course?
As the internet holds a wealth of information, and more courses than you care to count, there are a few characteristics you should evaluate a potential course with. The selection process starts with your goals. You want to ensure that the class you pick will teach you the exact skills you need to know.
1. Skills Taught
If your company wants to begin a Twitter page, you likely aren’t going to select a course that focuses on how to grow an Instagram following. Interested in working with influencers? You’d need to find a specialized course that talks about how to navigate these types of relationships.
2. Instructor Legitimacy
Social media marketer is not a term regulated by any professional industry. Since anyone can make an account on any social media site, you want to ensure that you’re truly learning from an expert. Finding someone with years of experience in the space that has evolved with the role is a great place to start when looking at instructors.
3. Price
Online courses come in many different price ranges. You can find classes from zero and low-cost options to expensive membership programs. Just because a course is cheap doesn’t mean it’s lesser than an expensive class. When assessing whether a class is worth the price, remember to consider the reputation the class has by looking at student testimonials and ratings.
If the class fits your needs, is reviewed well, and it comes at a lower price tag than expected, it could be a great option to begin your social media marketing education.
Final Thoughts
Social media marketing is an exciting field as these social platforms continue to integrate into our everyday lives. Taking an online class to jumpstart or further your career in marketing can help introduce you to this new skill.
With many skill levels and price ranges, you can find the perfect online course that teaches you what you want to know about social media marketing.
Interested in learning more about this field? Check out Benzinga's top picks for the best marketing classes.
Southern New Hampshire University Online
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