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.

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!

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