Running a successful marketing strategy requires a wide range of skills, from content creation to graphic design. If you’re looking to elevate your skills and stay ahead in the ever-evolving digital marketing world, you’ll be pleased to know that there are plenty of free online courses available. We’ve compiled a list of 35 courses that cover various aspects of social media and marketing to help you become a marketing wiz in no time.
General Digital Marketing Skills:
1. Fundamentals of Digital Marketing certificate: Offered by Google Digital Garage, this course covers topics like online business strategy, search engine marketing, Google Ads, advertising on social media, and email best practices. It’s perfect for beginners who want to master the basics of marketing.
2. Google Ads certifications: Google offers six free courses on different Google Ads tools, including Google Display ads, Google Search ads, Google Video ads, Google Shopping ads, and Google Apps ads. Each course comes with a certification option to showcase your expertise.
3. Buffer’s Week of Webinars on Digital Marketing: Buffer offers a series of YouTube videos covering various topics like getting your content seen on Facebook, Instagram marketing, branding, and PR outreach. It’s a great resource for learning the basics of online marketing at your own pace.
4. Meta Blueprint marketing courses for businesses: Meta Blueprint offers a series of professional development courses designed to help small business owners learn marketing best practices. Topics include finding your audience online, mapping customer journeys, setting marketing goals, creating a brand tone, and using social media to understand your audience.
5. Pay Per Click University: Created by WordStream, Pay Per Click University is a free resource to help marketers and business owners build PPC and digital marketing skills. It covers topics like pay-per-click (PPC) basics, keyword research, landing page optimization, A/B testing, and more.
6. Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content: This course on Coursera, taught by Jonah Berger from the University of Pennsylvania, explores the psychology behind viral content and teaches you how to create contagious ideas and spread them through social media and other digital marketing channels.
7. Email Marketing for E-Commerce: Skillshare offers a 25-minute course on email marketing automation, optimization, and personalization, taught by Ariana Hargrave, Director of VIP Services at Mailchimp. It’s perfect for marketers looking to enhance their email marketing strategies.
8. Marketing in a Digital World: Offered by Coursera and created by the University of Illinois, this course focuses on how technology is transforming marketing strategies and tactics in a digital-first world. Taught by a professor, it has garnered a 98% approval rating from over 500,000 students.
9. Inbound Marketing Certification Course: HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Certification course covers inbound marketing and sales techniques, email marketing, content marketing, and growth-driven design. It’s suitable for beginners to advanced learners.
Social Media Strategy:
10. Introduction to Social Media Strategy: This Skillshare webinar by Buffer covers various aspects of social media strategy, including getting started, finding your voice, creating and curating content, using the right marketing tools, and paid advertising strategy.
11. Introduction to Social Media Advertising: Another Skillshare course by Buffer, this one focuses on demystifying key terms and vocabulary, setting campaign goals, targeting audience segments, developing compelling copy and visuals, and iterating and optimizing campaigns for long-term success.
12. How to Make Your Instagram Content Stand Out: Meta Blueprint’s course teaches you how to create a brand tone on Instagram, batch create photo and video content, create an iron-clad content strategy, and develop content aligned with marketing goals.
13. What Is Social?: Offered by Coursera and created by Northwestern University, this course helps you significantly improve your social media strategy using effective methodologies. It covers social media trends, defining target audiences, and data analysis.
14. Social Media Monitoring: Udemy offers a course on social media audience and customer monitoring. It covers topics like keyword filtering, Google-related searches, the benefits of using Google Alerts, identifying influencers, and monitoring strategies for different social media platforms.
15. The Business of Social: Another course from Coursera and Northwestern University, this one focuses on tying social media into real business growth objectives. It covers the discovery of where social media fits, shifting power from brands to consumers, and offering product ideas that stick in a digital world.
16. Social Media Ethics: Udemy provides a course on social media ethics, which helps professionals understand how to use social media effectively and ethically. It covers legal considerations, good judgment, and consideration for others on social media.
17. Advanced Social Media Marketing for Picking Up Clients: Udemy offers a course on picking up coaching and consulting clients within 48 hours using social media. It covers common social media myths and mistakes, using Facebook Groups, attracting YouTube subscribers, and creating quality content for social media.
18. Mastering TikTok: Skillshare provides a course on TikTok, focusing on the algorithm, creating and editing TikTok videos, writing engaging captions, using hashtags, and discovering trending content.
19. DIY Viral Video: A Class on Making iPhone How-To Videos: Skillshare offers a course on making viral videos using your iPhone. It covers setting up, shooting, editing, and sharing videos to create engaging content.
20. TikTok Masterclass: Skillshare also offers a TikTok Masterclass, covering creating a TikTok account, TikTok features, creating and sharing TikTok videos, and using effects and sounds.
Analytics and Data Tools:
21. An Introduction to Consumer Neuroscience & Neuromarketing: This Coursera course by Copenhagen Business School explores the psychology behind consumer decisions and how to tap into their emotions using content.
22. Digital Marketing Analytics in Practice: Offered by the University of Illinois on Coursera, this course teaches you how to collect, analyze, and visualize data in the context of a company’s marketing strategy.
23. Social Media Analytics: Quintly offers a free course on social media analytics, covering goal-setting, metrics, reporting, and the social media landscape.
24. Discover the Next Generation of Google Analytics: Google’s course on the new Google Analytics 4 interface helps you navigate the new platform, understand metrics and dimensions, and set up GA4 for your business.
SEO and Blog Content:
25. SEO Training: This Udemy course by Eric Schwartzman teaches you how to integrate SEO into your marketing activities, understand SEO terminology, and implement effective SEO strategies.
26. Writing for Brands: Freelancing in the Age of Content Marketing: Skillshare provides a course on writing for brands, covering content marketing basics, working with brands, marketing yourself as a writer, and crafting the perfect pitch.
27. SEO Training Course: Coursera offers a course on SEO by Moz, focusing on building a monthly SEO plan, using social media profiles for SEO, link building with Twitter, and mapping keywords to content.
28. Content Marketing for B2B Enterprises: Udemy provides a course on content marketing for B2B enterprises, covering B2B marketing tactics, content creation, identifying industry influencers, and building a data system.
29. High-Impact Business Writing: Offered by the University of California at Irvine on Coursera, this course covers the basics of business writing, different business document types, and informal and social media communication.
30. Internet Marketing for Smart People: Copyblogger’s 20-day email course covers various aspects of internet marketing and copywriting best practices.
Graphic Design Basics:
31. Graphic Design Basics: Offered by Canva, this course covers basic design elements, how to think like a designer, and how to kick off the design process.
32. Graphic Design Tips & Tricks: LinkedIn Learning provides a course on graphic design, covering best practices, typography, layout, and logo design.
33. Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Graphic Design: Skillshare offers a course on graphic design principles, taught by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips from MICA. It covers design principles, self-critique, and applying what you’ve learned to your own projects.
34. How to Create Better Graphic Design: Udemy offers a course on creating better graphic design. It covers graphic design principles, copywriting, creating a consistent design look and feel, and more.
35. The Landing Page Conversion Course: Unbounce offers a course on creating landing pages that convert. It covers landing page design, core elements, and the psychology of conversion.
These free online courses cover a wide range of topics in social media and marketing. Whether you’re a beginner looking to build a solid foundation or an experienced marketer looking to expand your skills, these courses will provide you with valuable insights and knowledge. So, dive in and elevate your marketing skills today!
