Taking a social media course will up-level your skill set, but there are 100s to pick from online. It’s not easy to choose which ones are right for you.
If you’re in this situation, you’ve come to the right place! Keep reading to learn about popular social media training courses and resources.
Some classes are for beginners, while others are for the more experienced pros.
There are also options for specific social media platforms. These are perfect if you need a refresher or a deep dive into a platform’s capabilities.
Taking the right course can give you the confidence to run a social media campaign for your business. Better still, it could be what you need to reach the next level of your marketing career.
And the best part is many courses and resources on this list are completely free.
Ready to dig in? Let’s do it.
Bonus: Read the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence.
Social media training for beginners
Social Marketing Training | Hootsuite Academy
An industry-recognized certification will surely look impressive on your resume.
Social Marketing Training from Hootsuite Academy was designed by social media marketing strategists and practitioners.
The result is a certification course that gives you the practical skills you need to start seeing results on social media.
Cost: $199
Length: 6 hours
Skill level: Beginner and Intermediate
Recommended for: Marketers wanting to develop foundational social media skills in strategy, community, content, and advertising.
You’ll learn:
- Optimizing social media profiles
- Creating a social media strategy
- Growing a community of loyal fans
- Best practices for content marketing
- The basics of social media advertising
Social Media Marketing Foundations | LinkedIn Learning
The course is divided into 7 sections each with its own quiz to prove your proficiency. The videos are quick and to the point–the longest video is only 3 minutes and 25 seconds long.
However, this does leave a lot to be desired if you were looking for anything in-depth.
Cost: Free
Length: 52 minutes
Skill level: Beginner
Recommended for: People looking for a basic overview of social media marketing and aren’t interested in a recognized certification.
You’ll learn:
- Developing a social media strategy
- Defining your audience
- Choosing the right channels
- Publishing best practices
- Building and maintaining a community
- Selling on social media
- Measuring activity
- Innovating with social media marketing
Social Media Specialization | Northwestern University
The Social Media Specialization is made up of 6 courses. It covers everything from strategy, listening, content, and advertising.
This program is taught by Randy Hlavac, a lecturer at Northwestern University. In this course, you will complete a capstone project to demonstrate the practical skills you’ve learned.
If you choose to view the course for free, then you won’t be able to earn a certification.
Cost: $59 per month (Or choose Audit to view it for free)
Length: Self-paced, but most people take 6 months to complete
Skill level: Beginner
Recommended for: Professionals looking to learn more about effective social media strategies.
You’ll learn:
- Using social analytics tools
- Becoming an influencer
- Developing engaging content
- Building a complete social media marketing strategy plan
Social Media Marketing Fundamentals | eMarketing Institute
Most courses use videos as part of their format, but eMarketing only provides an eBook for their curriculum.
This is a great option if you learn better by reading instead of watching videos.
There are 25 chapters including a glossary and sample questions for the exam. It covers basic topics like what is social media to more advanced content like social analytics.
Cost: Free
Length: 165-page eBook
Skill level: Beginner
Recommended for: People who prefer to read instead of watch videos
You’ll learn:
- How to reach your audience
- Get your audience engaged with your content
- How to incorporate blogging into your strategy
- Creating a social media strategy
- How to evaluate social media performance
- Tools for managing social media
Social Media Marketing | Acadium
This course has 35 beginner-friendly lessons on how to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Yelp, and LinkedIn.
You’ll also get to sign-up for Tasks which help you build a portfolio of your newly acquired skills.
The course is fairly basic and designed for people not familiar with social media.
Cost: Free
Length: Varies
Skill level: Beginner
Recommended for: People looking to get started with social media and are completely new to it
You’ll learn:
- Setting up social media profiles
- Creating and publishing social media posts
- Developing a social media strategy
- Tips and tricks to stand out from the crowd
- Automating your posts
- Measuring engagement
- Managing user reviews
Fundamentals of digital marketing | Google
Fundamentals of digital marketing will cover every aspect of marketing your business online.
SEO, social media, content marketing, and web analytics are just a few topics this course will teach you.
While there are some deep dives, most of the content only covers the basics. Once you pass the 40-question exam, you’ll receive an industry-recognized certification.
Cost: Free
Length: 40 hours
Skill level: Beginner
Recommended for: Social media managers looking to gain a comprehensive overview of digital marketing
You’ll learn:
- Analytics and data insights
- Business strategy
- Content marketing
- Display advertising
- E-commerce
- Email marketing
- Local marketing
- Web and mobile optimization
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- SEO
- Social Media
- Video
Social media marketing courses: intermediate to advanced
Advanced Social Advertising | Hootsuite Academy
Organic social media and paid advertising are two different strategies. If you need to develop your social media advertising skills, then this is the course for you.
It teaches you how to use advertising tools, track your campaign, and best practices of social ads.
Cost: $249
Length: 4 hours and 30 minutes
Skill level: Intermediate
Recommended for: Social media managers looking to master the art of running paid advertising campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram
You’ll learn:
- Setting campaign goals
- Using remarketing and lookalike audiences
- Building and testing social media ads
- Measuring the impact of ad campaigns
Advanced Social Media Strategy | Hootsuite Academy
This course is for managers, strategists, and leaders. It will give you a comprehensive understanding of how to build and scale social media in complex organizations.
The program was designed by Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications which means you’ll earn an academically recognized certification.
Cost: $999
Length: 20 hours
Skill level: Advanced
Recommended for: Experienced professionals interested in developing strategy skills to lead enterprise organizations.
You’ll learn:
- What to research to create a social media strategy
- How to create strategies that support social media objectives
- How to tell your brand’s story on social media
- How to develop influencer guidelines
- Best practices for social media listening and monitoring
Social media management courses: individual networks
Facebook courses
Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate | Meta
Meta’s social media marketing course for Facebook (and Instagram) is made up of 6 courses.
It covers everything from social media management to paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
While there’s an emphasis on Meta tools, you’ll be able to apply the strategy skills to platforms outside of Meta.
You will also complete a capstone project to demonstrate the practical skills you’ve learned.
If you choose to view the course for free, then you won’t be able to earn a certification.
Cost: $59 per month (Or choose Audit to view it for free)
Length: Approximately 100 hours but it’s self-paced
Skill level: Beginner
Recommended for: Professionals looking to learn how to create a social media presence for businesses with an emphasis on paid advertising
You’ll learn:
- Create engaging content
- Interact with social media users
- Manage a content calendar
- Evaluate the success of posts
- Create effective ads for social media
- Create ads in Meta Ads Manager
- Measure ad campaigns’ success
Additional resources: Meta also offers free Facebook courses for beginners.
Instagram Courses
Instagram Training Course | Hubspot
This course by Hubspot is designed to teach you how to create and implement a successful Instagram strategy.
There are 6 courses each with its own quiz. You won’t get a certificate at the end of this course, but you’ll have gained knowledge on how to use Instagram for business.
Cost: Free
Length: 2 hours and 30 minutes
Skill level: Beginners
Recommended for: Social media marketers wanting to learn about creating an effective Instagram marketing strategy.
You’ll learn:
- The elements of a successful Instagram strategy
- Creating remarkable content for Instagram
- How to get more followers
- Setting up Instagram ads
- Creating content for Instagram ads
- Evaluating your Instagram ad campaigns
Additional resources: Meta offers free Instagram courses for beginners. You can also check out our guide on Instagram courses to boost your skills.
LinkedIn training courses
Marketing on LinkedIn | LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn shows you how to organically reach your audience using the LinkedIn platform.
This training covers how to use LinkedIn for personal branding and for marketing your business.
It’s a great option for those learning how to create engaging content for LinkedIn–no matter if it’s your personal profile or a business page.
Cost: Free during the trial month or $29.99 for lifetime access
Length: 57 minutes
Skill level: Beginner
Recommended for: Professionals looking to leverage LinkedIn to reach their target audience
You’ll learn:
- Building an effective profile or business page
- Sharing relevant content
- Networking on LinkedIn
- Using employee advocacy to grow
TikTok courses
How to Build Your Personal Brand on TikTok | Influencer Marketing Hub
This one is for influencers and businesses alike.
It covers everything from how to use TikTok to how influencers and brands work together.
Creating a successful TikTok marketing strategy is work, but it can be rewarding.
Cost: Free
Length: About 3 hours
Skill level: Beginner
Recommended for: People looking to become content creators on TikTok or marketers wanting to learn how the creator economy works
You’ll learn:
- The basics of TikTok
- Crafting your persona
- Building your audience
- Increasing engagement
- Collaborating with brands
- Making more money as an influencer
Additional resources: TikTok offers several free modules for those who are new to TikTok.
Free Twitter courses
Twitter Flight School | Twitter
Look no further than Twitter Flight School for free courses on Twitter.
It offers multiple badges for people to learn about ad manager fundamentals. You’ll also learn how to get started on Twitter, and using Twitter for creatives.
Each course comes with several comprehensive lessons based on the topic. You’ll need to pass the assessment exam with an 80% score or better to receive a badge.
Cost: Free
Length: 2-4 hours, depending on the course
Skill level: Beginner
Recommended for: Social media managers wanting to strengthen their Twitter marketing skills
You’ll learn:
- Creating your first ad campaign
- Measuring ad campaign success
- Creating a content strategy for Twitter
- Using your brand voice
Pinterest course
Pinterest Marketing Mastery | Udemy
Pinterest Marketing Mastery teaches you how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your site.
It’s perfect for beginners since it covers how to create a pin and develop an overall marketing funnel. It also shares tools you can use to create an optimized pin.
Cost: $16.99
Length: 1 hour and 12 minutes
Skill level: Beginners
Recommended for: Social media managers who are new to using Pinterest as part of their marketing strategy
You’ll learn:
- Creating a Pinterest funnel
- Creating high-quality pins
- Automation for Pinterest
- Finding inspiration for pins
Additional resources: Pinterest offers several guides on how to use the platform for business and advertising.
Youtube courses
YouTube Creators | YouTube
YouTube Creators is practically the one-stop shop for everything you need to create content on YouTube.
While it’s geared towards content creators, businesses and social media managers new to YouTube marketing can also benefit from this resource.
They frequently post new and updated content on how to make a YouTube strategy.
Cost: Free
Length: Varies
Skill level: Beginners
Recommended for: Creators and social media managers looking to start a channel on YouTube and improve their growth
You’ll learn:
- Getting started on YouTube
- Building your community
- How to make money on YouTube
- Growing your channel
- Policies and guidelines
- Understanding YouTube analytics
Mark Cuban once said, “Learn, learn, learn. The greatest competitive advantage is knowledge.”
It’s time to invest in yourself because that’s the highest ROI you can make.
Ready to start your learning journey? Join Hootsuite Academy today to access the best social media training courses created by practitioners and experts at Hootsuite. Then use Hootsuite to make applying your new knowledge and skills an absolute breeze. Try it for free by clicking the link below!
Do it better with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media toolkit. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.
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