Are you looking to get into the social media industry but don’t know where to start?

Or simply wanting to build your social media knowledge?

Online courses are a brilliant way to upgrade your understanding of a sector or a particular area of focus. 

They allow you to bring the education right to your home – providing high levels of convenience and flexibility. As well as the freedom to learn whatever you want. 

In today’s digital era, there are also a good number of online courses that are completely free and accredited, so what’s stopping you from gaining valuable knowledge?

In this blog we have rounded up our top four favourite courses:

Google Digital Garage: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

Master the basics of digital marketing with 26 modules to explore, prepared by Google trainers, packed full of practical exercises and real-world examples to help turn your knowledge into action. 

Self-paced, featuring helpful video tutorials and estimated to take only 40 hours for completion – it’s a great course of beginners.  

It’s even certified by the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe and The Open University.

Upcoming completion of the course, pass the final 40-question exam and get certified – who doesn’t love a certificate?

Plus, getting certified shows employers that you have a clear understanding of the core concepts of digital marketing – it’s a win-win. 

Be sure to also share your new qualification on LinkedIn. It’s a great way to show your network how you’ve been proactive with your time. 

LinkedIn Learning: Online Marketing Foundations

LinkedIn has a plethora of amazing courses that are completely free.

For those new to the industry, we recommend the Online Marketing Foundations course. 

Presented in a video format with chapter quizzes at the end of each of the 13 sections, it showcases participants how to promote their business effectively online and develop a targeted online marketing strategy that engages potential customers throughout the digital landscape.

Courses are run by different instructors, making no two chapters the same, but covering today’s digital marketing techniques in simple terms, demonstrating how to build a successful online marketing campaign for all digital channels: search, video, social, email, and display.

Upon completion of the course content, users will be awarded a digital certification. 

HubSpot: Digital Advertising 101

Another excellent free course is from HubSpot Academy. 

The above course specialises in digital advertising and provides 10 lessons where you’ll learn everything you need to create a customer-centric advertising strategy. 

This covers, journey-based advertising, bidding and targeting strategies, paid search, social media advertising, programmatic, reporting, and more.

The course also provides an overview on the key skills required to be successful within this remit, including: design, audience targeting, optimisation and analysis. 

Similar to the other suggestions, you’ll also get a certification on completion of the course.  

Along with this course, HubSpot offers a wide range of other amazing courses which are completely free. 

Facebook Blueprint

Facebook offers a range of courses which provide guidance on best-practice social activity for all its platforms, including Instagram and Whatsapp.

The courses are short and easy to follow, which is perfect for beginners. 

Topics include organic and paid ads, as well as community management guidance. 

Although there are no certifications, the courses provide great insight and step-by-step tutorials that give participants great knowledge on how to successfully and effectively use its platforms.

With so many courses available at your fingertips, there’s nothing stopping you from developing your knowledge and skills.

Which online social media courses do you recommend? Let us know in the comments on our post on Instagram or Facebook.