37 Free Social Media and Marketing Courses to Elevate Your Skills Today

• Updated on: 2019-03-05
• Read original article here

37 Free Social Media and Marketing Courses to Elevate Your Skills Today
by Brian Peters
When I first started out with digital marketing, I was blown away by the sheer amount of online social media and marketing courses available!
I read hundreds of articles and enrolled in as many marketing courses that I could possibly get my hands on. Even today, millions of resources  continue to be published online every month.
It’s enough to wonder …
Where can you go for the best, most useful marketing information?
I’ve had the chance to test out and research a huge amount of resources, and I’m excited to share with you 37 free social media and marketing courses that you can enroll in to upgrade your skills across the board. 
Let’s dive in!
The list here includes free online marketing courses in a number of social media-related topics and disciplines. If you’d like to dig into one area in particular, here’s a quick table of contents so you can jump to the section that’s most important to you:
Getting started with social media
Finding your voice
Using the right marketing tools
Paid advertising strategy
Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate
About this course: 
We’re super excited to bring you our very first  Skillshare class on social media marketing strategy! This 45-minute, straightforward class will help you create a rock solid foundation for your business or brand on social media.
Whether you’re looking to foster brand awareness, increase website traffic, or drive sales, learn how to craft a simple social media strategy to achieve your goals on Facebook and Twitter. From finding your voice to paid advertising, Brian Peters (Digital Marketing Strategist at Buffer ) walks through his process for custom social strategies.
Bonus: We’re offering our community members two free months of Skillshare here (allowing you to access our class for free starting today!): www.skl.sh/buffer
Demystifying key terms and vocabulary
Setting campaign goals
Developing compelling copy and visuals
Iterating and optimizing campaigns for long-term success
Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate
About this course: 
We are proud to introduce our brand new  Skillshare class on social media advertising! This is a follow-up to our first Skillshare class (above) and will cover everything marketers and businesses need to know about succeeding with social media ads.
This introductory class is perfect for marketers, brands, small business, freelancers, and everyone looking to harness the potential of paid social advertising. By the end, you’ll be ready to run your first social media ad campaign — and connect with customers, convert views into action, and drive impact for long-term business success!  Brian Peters (Digital Marketing Strategist at Buffer ) walks through his process for custom social media advertising strategies.
Bonus: We’re offering our community members two free months of Skillshare here (allowing you to access our class for free starting today!):  skl.sh/buffer_advertising
Skill level: Beginner
About this course:
“What Is Social?” is a massive open online course (MOOC) for business owners, executives, and marketing professionals who want to significantly improve their abilities to grow their social media strategy using effective, proven methodologies. In short, it’s a really awesome, action-based intro to social media.
The exciting part with this hands-on class is that you not only get to hear about ways to grow your professional persona using social media, but you will actually do it! “What Is Social” is the first in a six-course specialization offered by Northwestern University (a top university in the United States). Once you finish this first course, you can continue on with the next steps of the track: Social Media Marketing: How to Profit in a Digital World.  (The first course is free; the full track costs $426.)
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Using Google Alerts and its benefits
Identifying influencers and content curation possibilities
Monitoring strategies for Facebook, Twitter, and more
Skill level: All Levels
About this course: 
This free social media class on how to monitor what your audience and customers are saying online is for marketers looking to keep a finger on the pulse of their community. Whether you’re just starting out in social media or are a seasoned veteran, this course has actionable social monitoring takeaways for people of all skills levels.
The course provides detailed examples of monitoring in action, allows you to get an overview of the different social media monitoring tools available for use, and strategies for how you can use what you’ve learned and apply it to your own social media program.
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Discovering where social media “fits in”
How to tie social media to real business results
Managing and measuring a successful social media program
Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate
About this course:
“The Business of Social” is for businesses owners, marketers, and social media managers looking for ways to tie social media directly into real business growth objectives . In other words, those looking to drive real, measurable value from a social media strategy and program.
Instead of focusing on how marketers can create great content for social media, this class more focuses on how exactly to measure your social investments in terms of time, cost, and opportunities.
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Common social media myths and mistakes
The art of using Facebook Groups
Attracting YouTube subscribers and creating engaging videos
Creating quality (not spammy) content for social media
Skill level: Intermediate
About this course: 
The tagline for this social media class is “picking up clients with social media in 48 hours or less.” Which points to the fact that this instructor dives into intermediate social media strategies . Moving beyond more beginner tactics like setting up social media accounts and basic posting strategies, this class assumes that you already know those things and provides details on how to best use the channels that you’re already familiar with.
All you need for this course is an active Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit account and you’ll be on your way to learning the secrets behind picking up clients on social media.
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Creating a quality Facebook Page and experience
Skill level: Beginner – Advanced
About this course: 
Perfect for small businesses, marketers, agencies, and advertisers, Facebook Blueprint is your one stop shop for everything there is to know about running successful advertising campaigns using your Facebook Business Page . This huge resource of free, self-paced social media classes will cover best-practices and top strategies used by the world’s largest brands.
With Facebook becoming very much a “pay-to-play” platform , this is the perfect opportunity for businesses and marketers to fully grasp everything there is to know about ensuring that your advertising dollar stretches as far as possible.
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Skill level: Beginner
About this course: 
All social media managers and marketers start somewhere. This free social media class from Constant Contact is a great resource for those who are looking to dive into the world of social media without all of the complications. It offers a step-by-step guide to building a presence on almost every social media platform you can think of.
For those unsure if social media is right for you or for your business, this class is a great way to dip your toes in and start small with social media marketing . Who knows, you may find that social media is just right for you!
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Created by: University of Illinois
How tools such as smartphones and 3D devices are changing the marketing sphere
How power is shifting from companies and brands to consumers
Offering product ideas that stick in a digital world
Skill level: Beginner
About this course:
“Marketing in a Digital World” is one of the most popular free marketing courses on Coursera – with more then 100,000 students enrolled to this date. Taught by a professor at the University of Illinois, this class focuses on the transformation of marketing strategies an tactics into a digital-first world. Specifically, how technology is putting the power of marketing into the hands of the consumer.
This marketing course is perfect for marketers looking to understand where the marketing field is today and how you can leverage new-age strategies to attract customers. And for those who are keen to continue their learning, this course is part of a larger Digital Marketing Specialization for the University of Illinois.
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Skill level: Beginner – Advanced
About this course:
This awesome (or should we say huge?) set of classes from the one and only Neil Patel is a great place for marketers looking to learn about a huge variety of online and digital marketing tactics. Class topics range from beginner SEO  and content creation strategies to advanced social media, email marketing and paid advertising.
What makes this course is that Neil Patel presents the information in very easy-to-learn and snackable ways. The lessons are presented in video format and range anywhere from 3:00 – 12:00 minutes. Each video also comes with a full transcript allowing more visual learners to follow along.
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Skill level: Beginner – Advanced
About this course:
HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Certification is full of super actionable, hands-on learning material that allows marketers to take their general inbound marketing know-how to the next level. The certification consists of 12 different classes and more than 4.5 hours of learning material in both video and text format.
You’ll learn all about SEO, blogging , landing pages, lead nurturing, conversion analysis and reporting come together to form a modern-day inbound marketing strategy. This free online marketing course is presented in different modules, where after successful completion of all the lessons and tests, you’ll be HubSpot certified!
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Created by: University of Pennsylvania
What makes ideas sticky
How social influence shapes behavior
The power of word of mouth
Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate
About this course:
Taught by University of Pennsylvania Professor and best-selling author , Jonah Berger, this free online marketing course helps to answer the mystery of why some ideas and products become popular and why others do not. It’s perfect for social media managers and marketers looking to put a “science” behind their content marketing method.
You’ll start with an understanding of why things catch on in the first place and how you can use those lessons to create viral content online. Then, you’ll move on to spreading your new and creative ideas through social media and other digital marketing channels.
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Understanding and using Google Analytics Data
Conversion Reports and collecting actionable insights
Skill level: Intermediate
About this course: 
This “Diploma in E-Business” course is a comprehensive resource for marketers, business owners, and advertisers who would like to get the most out of their digital marketing efforts. You’ll learn things like the fundamentals of promoting your business online, using various Google-powered tools, and how to track and make sense of the vast amounts of data available to you.
Whether you have a deep knowledge of how to market your business online or are just getting started, this marketing course is an awesome way to strengthen your digital marketing skills.
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PPC for lead generation and B2B
Skill level: Beginner – Advanced
About this course: 
Learning the ins-and-outs of all of the marketing tools that Google offers is quite the task. But marketers and business owners have seen the direct benefits of mastering the various Google advertising platforms in terms of business ROI. This marketing course offers a direct line to always-updated resources for everything Google.
This course is also a part of a Online Marketing Challenge from Google. Students that plan to take the Online Marketing Challenge are encouraged to complete the Digital Marketing Course first. Marketers looking to learn everything there is to know about Google (and advertising), this is a great place to start!
Why the field of analytics is and why it’s booming
Popular analytics tools and applications
Introduction to the language of SAS
Skill level: Beginner
About this course:
This “Introduction to Analytics” course is a great starting point for marketers looking to understand what the field of analytics is all about and how to apply it to a variety of businesses and situations. If you’re looking to go beyond the very popular  marketing spreadsheets , this course is perfect for you.
This class is broken up into 12 videos of varying length – anywhere from 5-30 minutes and will take you about 2 hours to complete from start to finish.
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Skill level: Intermediate – Advanced
About this course:
Google Analytics Academy is an incredible online resource for marketers looking to up their game in everything Google-related. With the importance of tracking and incorporating data into your marketing strategy, there has never been a better time to learn all you can about one of the most data-rich resources in the world.
Some of the most popular modules from the Google Analytics Academy include Digital Analytics Fundamentals and Google Analytics Platform Principles . Both of those courses will give you a solid foundation of how to implement data into your strategy and how you can use the platform to best inform your decisions moving forward.
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Emotions, feelings, wanting and liking
Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate
About this course:
I put this fantastic course on Neuromarketing under the Analytics and Data section because it really gets into the nuts and bolts of why people make the decisions that they do online and in real life. Understanding that can help marketers and business make decisions based on data and research.
You’ll be taken on a journey through the basic brain mechanisms in consumer choice, and how to stay updated on these topics. The marketing course will give an overview of the current and future uses of neuroscience in business and how you can apply it to your own social media and marketing strategy.
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Terms such as Grouping and Custom Calculations
Skill level: Advanced
About this course:
I have the tendency to cringe when I hear the words “Excel PivotTables.” But I also understand how important the use of PivotTables can be in diving into your analytics and making informed decisions about marketing .
This course will teach you how to do Data analytics with Excel PivotTables effectively and efficiently. At the end of the lessons, you will understand the concept, various scenarios and types of Business analytics . Along with that you will learn, how to use one of the strongest features of Microsoft Excel, which is the PivotTables.
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Created by: University of Illinois
Topics include:
Data Collection, Analysis and Visualization
How data fits into a company’s marketing strategy
Making informed marketing decisions based on data
Skill level: Advanced
About this course:
Taught by Kevin Hartman, Head of Industry at Google, this free marketing course on “Digital Analytics” focuses on the specific data collection, analysis, and visualization techniques used by the world’s top brands. Unlike some of the other analytics classes offered online, this one focuses specifically on marketing.
This marketing course will set you up with a full understanding of how to properly approach data analytics in marketing and how to make informed decisions based on your finding. In short, you’ll be a data wizard!
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Using keywords, headings, lists and links
Skill level: Beginner
About this course:
Knowing how to write well is an important skill for just about anything, but knowing how to write for the web is a whole different ball game. It takes clear and concise copy to gain the attention of your readers in just a few seconds.
This course will help just about anyone – from journalists to technical writers to developers to aspiring bloggers – create content that really engages and converts online. It also will teach you the skills needed to accommodate the requirements of online readers through web design, writing style, structure and SEO .
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The basics of writing for, and working with brands
Marketing yourself as a writer
How to craft the perfect pitch to a brand
Skill level: Beginner
About this course:
Have you ever wondered how all of those great bloggers get writing gigs for brands online? This course provides the framework for starting a successful freelance career if that’s something you’d be interested in. Taught by Brian Maehl of Contently, “Writing for Brands” is an actionable, 30-minutes writing course that breaks down the process into simple steps.
Whether writing turns into a full-time career for you or just a fun project to tackle on the side, the folks at Contently are happy to help prepare you to pitch your content ideas to brands both big and small.
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Skill level: Beginner
About this course:
Optimizing a web site for search engines  requires looking at a ton of unique elements both on and off your website. This course on SEO from the folks at Moz will help you to start making sense of it all. Most importantly, it will help you form consistent SEO habits that you can implement long after this course is over.
If you’re interested in getting started with optimizing your website for search engines and how social media has the power to fit within that strategy, this is a great place to start for beginners.
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Informal and social media communication
Skill level: Beginner
About this course:
Writing great copy that is meant to drive people to take a specific business action is a unique and valuable skill to have for marketers and business owners alike. This “High-Impact Business Writing” course is aimed at helping you get your thoughts on paper in a clear and concise manner.
Structured as a 4-week class, you’ll start with the basics of businesses writing, including why it’s important, and move to more advanced topics such as preparing business documents and translating ideas to more informal channels such as social media. In short, helping to to become a business copy whiz!
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Created by: Smithsonian Design Museum
Topics include:
Identifying and defining basic design principles
Effectively critiquing your own work for balance
Applying what you’ve learned to your own projects
Skill level: Beginner
About this course:
Have you ever wanted to get started with design so that you can create your own images for social media and marketing? This “Graphic Design Basics” from will set you up with a solid foundation to branch out as a beginner designer.
In this 35-minute class designers Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips walk students through what it takes to create great designs. Including, the 5 important and fundamental aspects of design and how you can apply those to every one of your projects moving forward.
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Identifying and defining basic design principles
Effectively critiquing your own work for balance
Applying what you’ve learned to your own projects
Skill level: Beginner
About this course: 
Did you know that in 2016, visual content is more than 40X more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content? Today, it’s becoming important, even crucial for marketers to have at least some basic knowledge of key design terms .
This course does a deep dive into the five steps for better visual communication. These components include creating ideas and applying them to your design, communicating ideas effectively within the design, and having a consistent design look and feel.
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Created by: Design and Art Direction Mason Gentry
Topics include:
Why some design mediums need to communicate more quickly than others
Thinking behind great graphic design
A birds eye view of the entire field of graphic deisgn
Skill level: Intermediate
About this class: 
Are you interested in deepening your knowledge of graphic design or how graphic design can be applied in the real world? The class “Graphic Design 101” is specifically for developers who may know a little about graphic design, but would like to learn more.
Many students who take this class have the ability to recognize a good design when they see one, but may not know WHY it’s a good design. This free online design class looks to help answer the “why.”
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Setting up for a great video
Tools and techniques for shooting a video
Finalizing and sharing a videos online
Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate
About this course:  Video marketing is making a huge splash online and on social media. But one thing what we consistently hear is that marketers aren’t quite sure where to start. Yet, videos have the potential to engage an audience in new and exciting ways – Just look at BuzzFeed Tasty for an example of the power of video!
In this short class, Nicole Farb shows how you can create your own video in a scrappy, easy, and high-quality way and how she has seen huge success with it in the past. Perfect for marketers and social media managers just getting started with video.
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Over to you!
As Malcolm Gladwell said in his book Outliers , “It takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field.”
Malcolm’s quote just goes to show that with enough effort, patience, and practice, you can learn anything you put your mind to. We hope that this lists helps you to find some great online social media classes and marketing resources.
Have you taken any online social media or marketing courses recently that you truly loved? We’d love to hear them!
Please feel free to leave us a comment below and we may add it to our list!
Originally written Mar 11, 2017. Last updated Oct 31, 2017