15 Quality Social Media Marketing Courses To Grow Your Brand

Facebook, Instagram, and other social websites are some of the most popular in the world. They provide businesses with quick access to millions of potential customers, which is why social media marketing has become such an effective way to grow your brand. But it requires training. In this article, we explore some great social media marketing courses that you can complete online, to expand your knowledge and become a potent social marketer.

The courses that we’ve listed are between 4 to 80 hours long, with the average length around 15 hours. They can all be completed online, and are delivered by a mixture of businesses, universities, and other educational institutions. A variety of social topics and platforms are included, and there are a mixture of free and paid options so you can select something that suits your budget. There’s something for everyone, from rookie social media marketers to those who have already successfully dabbled.

Some of the courses that we’ve listed are Australian-based (we’re a Brisbane company), so every price is listed as AUD. But the courses can be taken by anyone. For those that have start dates, you’ll need to check when the next available date is, because they usually repeat throughout the year.

We hope you find a good course that suits your needs!

Free social media marketing courses

Here’s our selection of great free social media marketing courses, both general and specific.

Social Media Certification

Provider: HubSpot
Length: 4 hours
Skill level: Beginner
Certificate: Yes
Cost: Free
Link to course

HubSpot provides a huge variety of free educational courses through their academy. For this one, you’ll learn how to develop an effective social media strategy for your business, based on inbound marketing techniques. It includes how to create a content strategy, how to expand your reach, how to build relationships for good brand loyalty, the best social media metrics to measure, and more. For a free course that only takes around four hours to complete, this is well worth it.

Social Media Marketing Specialization

Provider: Northwestern
Length: 50+ hours
Skill level: Beginner
Certificate: Yes
Cost: Free
Link to course

In this 7-month course by Northwestern University, you’ll learn the basics of social media, the importance of “listening” to what your target audience is saying using the best tools, how to engage with people in a way that builds trust, and how to produce content that resonates and attracts followers. The course is carried out by skilled people from some of the biggest companies in the world, including IBM and Taco Bell.

Viral Marketing and How To Craft Contagious Content

Provider: University of Pennsylvania
Length: 4 hours
Skill level: Beginner
Certificate: Yes
Cost: Free
Link to course

Going viral is a common goal for social marketers, and in this course by the esteemed Wharton University in America, you’ll learn how to create content that skyrockets. They explore the main ideas behind viral marketing and what makes it work, so that you can create effective content with a much higher chance of success. The course is run by professor Jonah Berger, who uses lots of ideas from his best-selling book Contagious: Why Things Catch On.

Meta Blueprint

Provider: Meta (Facebook)
Length: N/A
Skill level: Beginner to intermediate
Certificate: No
Cost: Free
Link to course

This isn’t a single course, but Meta’s entire library of “mini” courses that teach you how to market on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It’s a treasure trove of information that you can slowly make your way through, including topics like setting goals, your customers’ buyer journey, attracting the right audiences, creating adverts, and using WhatsApp to support people. The lessons are short and simple, and you’ll be diving in and out of plenty of topics. Well worth a look.

Applied Social Media Marketing

Provider: Charles Sturt University
Length: 4 weeks
Skill level: Intermediate
Certificate: Yes
Cost: Free
Link to course

This four-module course from Aussie Sturt University teaches you how to build a practical social strategy for your business, explores the intricacies of each platform, discusses the investment and risks that you will take, and a whole lot more. The lessons are given by industry-leading digital marketer Andrew Mashman, who has been in the trenches for over 20 years.

Social Media Analytics Course

Provider: Quintly
Length: 4 hours
Skill level: Beginner
Certificate: No
Cost: Free
Link to course

You won’t be an effective social marketer unless you know how to measure your performance, and in this course by Quintly, you’ll learn exactly that. They start by giving you a basic overview of social media analytics and why they are vital to your success, before exploring competitive analysis, data-based goals, the right KPIs, automating reports, and more. By the end of the course, you should have a solid understanding of how to accurately measure your social efforts.

LinkedIn For Business

Provider: HubSpot
Length: 1 to 2 hours
Skill level: Beginner
Certificate: No
Cost: Free
Link to course

The second free HubSpot course in our list, this one will teach you the basics of how to market using LinkedIn. They walk you through the ABC’s of the platform, including the core marketing features that will help you attract followers and drive engagement. Then you’ll jump into how to generate real leads using the platforms, and finally how to create enticing adverts. It’s a great introduction to the world’s most popular business platform.

Writing for Social Media

Provider: University of California (Berkeley)
Length: 15+ hours
Skill level: Beginner
Certificate: Yes
Cost: Free
Link to course

This course is delivered by the prestigious Berkeley University in California, and focuses on how to write effectively for social media. Your brand’s voice is a strong part of its identity, and you’ll want to express it in a way that helps to strengthen it while also adhering to good writing principles for social media. The course teaches you how to structure your writing and create engaging posts that resonate with your target audience.

Paid social media marketing courses

Facebook Advertising Course

Provider: The University of Sydney
Length: 8 hours
Skill level: Beginner to intermediate
Certificate: No
Cost: $450
Link to course

Facebook is one of the biggest advertising platforms in the world, because it can work so well. This course by the University of Sydney teaches you how to create potent ad campaigns on Facebook, delving into the most suitable objectives to use for your campaign, how to get your ads in front of the right people, how to measure the ads in the right way, and much more. It’s a steal for $450.

Social Marketing Training

Provider: Hootsuite
Length: 6 hours
Skill level: Beginner
Certificate: Yes
Cost: $199
Link to course

Software firms like Hootsuite and HubSpot often create courses because it helps them to promote their products. And as experts in their industry, they usually have the knowledge to provide great information. This course is no exception. For just $199, Hootsuite teaches you the essentials of social media marketing, so that you can effectively promote your brand across the major platforms, and grow your business.

Digital & Social Media Marketing

Provider: University of Technology Sydney
Length: 80 hours
Skill level: Beginner to intermediate
Certificate: Yes
Cost: $2,988
Link to course

This 80-hour course is the most expensive on our list, but is a more thorough dive into social media marketing and what makes it work. It’s a mixture of pre-recorded and facilitator-led lessons, which cover both theoretical and practical concepts that directly translate to success. By the time you’re done, you’ll be able to apply what you’ve learned in the real world to attract new audiences and generate revenue from social media.

Content & Social Media Marketing

Provider: RMIT
Length: 50+ hours
Skill level: Beginner to intermediate
Certificate: Yes
Cost: $1,200
Link to course

Content plays a huge role in social media marketing—you won’t get very far without posting relevant, engaging content to your audiences. In this 6-week course by RMIT, you’ll learn how to design and execute a killer social media strategy that uses the platforms best suited to your goals. They’ll teach you how to create and distribute the right content with a view to grow your followers and ultimately boost your business revenue through each platform.

Short Course in Social Media Marketing

Provider: Upskilled
Length: Up to 4 months
Skill level: Beginner to intermediate
Certificate: Yes
Cost: $1,996
Link to course

UpSkilled is a highly rated educational company who offer a range of business and computer courses, one of which is this short course in social media marketing. It covers how to write and distribute great content, how to engage the audiences that you want to engage, how to advertise through social media, and how to expand your organic reach through the different platforms.

Social Media Marketing Mastery

Provider: Udemy
Length: 10 hours+
Skill level: Beginner to intermediate
Certificate: Yes
Cost: $79.99
Link to course

This popular course from Udemy walks you through the A to Z of social marketing, including how to monetize Instagram, how to create likeable YouTube videos, how to create killer Facebook Ads, Twitter marketing, and much more. There’s over 10 hours of video to be watched, 31 articles to be read, and 33 downloadable resources included. This course is excellent value for money.

Instagram Marketing

Provider: Open Colleges
Length: 20 hours
Skill level: Beginner
Certificate: Yes
Cost: $795
Link to course

The world’s most popular image-sharing platform is a fantastic way to promote and grow your brand, and in this course by Open Colleges, you’ll get to grips with its most valuable features. You’ll learn how to create an enticing, clickable Instagram profile for your business, how to build an active, engaged follower base, and how to effectively monetise the platform.

Social media marketing courses—summary

Social media marketing courses are a great way to grow your knowledge and learn how to tap into some of the biggest audiences in the world. Every business can benefit from social media marketing, and these courses will teach you how to do so. Good luck!