Social media governs so much of our daily lives. Whether you are an active social media user or a passive observer, much of your online life is likely influenced by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and more.
For good reason, social media marketing and digital marketing have grown massively in the past decade. The big data that makes social media marketing possible means companies can reach potential clients through their specific demographics and interests. Social media platforms allow companies to seamlessly advertise products and services through targeted ads or social media content.
If you are interested in learning more about this ever-expanding sphere of marketing, you should consider taking a social media marketing course. From learning the basics of social media and social networks to exploring the intricacies of email marketing, content marketing, and content creation, there is a lot to learn. Who knows, maybe one course will be enough to convince you to pursue a career as a social media manager or a digital marketer.
Reasons to Take a Social Media Marketing Course
Social media has become such an integral part of how we live our lives, both only and in the real world. Without social media, you may not have found your favorite cafe or met your significant other, for example. These connections are part of why it’s important to learn how to use social media. But how should you use it differently as a professional?
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Having professional and/or educational experience in social media marketing can open up a world of professional opportunities. If you work in communications or development, for example, chances are that you have been asked to participate in new initiatives that require social media marketing skills.
From a business perspective, it is in a business owner’s best interest to prioritize marketing professionals and marketing campaigns to advance their company’s goals. Business leaders want to make sure that all of their expenses, including advertising and marketing, are going to bring in the highest possible ROI (return on investment). Investing in qualified and knowledgeable social media marketers can increase a company’s ROI, meaning that your job prospects as in the field will be good.
Whether you work for a small business, a large corporation, or for yourself, understanding the business of social media is an extremely valuable skill. For example, you may think you understand the basics of Instagram because you use it in your personal life, but do you have the graphic design skills necessary to take your posting to the next level? Thankfully, there’s a course for that.
What Kind of Social Media Courses Can I Take?
There are a ton of different kinds of social media marketing courses out there, from the general to the specific. But be cautious, as they are not all high quality. To help, we have come up with a list of some of the best options. Let’s take a look at a few of the major subjects and categories of social media marketing courses you can find on the web.
Back to Basics: What Is Social?
Sometimes going back to basics is the best way to become an expert in any given field. Thankfully, Coursera, one of the Internet’s most popular and extensive platforms for massive open online courses (MOOC), offers a specialization on the subject called “Social Media Marketing: How to Profit in a Digital World.” The course, offered in partnership with Northwestern University, starts with an introductory class called “What Is Social?” and is followed by five additional classes.
“What Is Social?” is an introduction to the world of social media that goes beyond the basic knowledge of most everyday users. The course aims to teach business owners, managers, and marketing professionals about the potential of digital marketing.
It focuses on engagement and strategy while also giving you the tools, skills, and insight to improve your bottom line. The next classes are: The Importance of Listening, Engagement & Nurture Marketing Strategies, Content, Advertising, & Social IMC, The Business of Social, and Social Marketing Capstone Project.
Skillshare is another major provider of MOOCs that offers many concise and educational video tutorials and lectures. Its basic introductory social media strategy course is a series of tutorials that will give you the knowledge you need to create a strong social media foundation for your business.
Social Media Strategy
When getting started in social media marketing, you should think about the strategy you want you to use so that your brand can reach its full potential. HubSpot offers a social media strategy certification that promises to teach you how important social media is to modern business practices, as it is “the ultimate way to do inbound marketing.” The HubSpot website also promises that this thorough course will be the only social media certification you will ever need.
Content Marketing and Content Creation
To build an engaging social media presence, you must have content. It’s all about consistency and frequency. Creating content and then figuring out how and when to roll it out is an art. Taking a content creation or a content marketing class can help you nail down the details of this aspect of social media marketing.
Udemy offers several courses on content creation, from general graphic design courses to specific courses on Canva and Instagram. The Social Media Marketing: Content Marketing Masterclass 2020 course is a great way to immerse yourself in content marketing. The course promises to teach students how to plan and execute a social media calendar as part of a broader strategy. As part of the course, students will get a chance to put their new skills to the test in several projects, including creating engaging social media posts.
Business and Social Media
Social media is an indispensable tool for many businesses. To understand how social media impacts business and how it can be leveraged, you might consider taking a course on business and social media.
The Coursera and Northwestern University specialization in Social Media Marketing also includes a class called “The Business of Social.” The main goal of the course is to teach students ways to link their sales and marketing systems to their social media. Students will learn how to engage both target customers and actual customers, and can then measure overall social investment.
Coursera and Yonsei University in South Korea offer an International B2B Marketing course to focus on business to business marketing. Though the course doesn’t focus exclusively on social media, it does focus more generally on digital marketing and the ways that you can leverage social for B2B marketing.
Social Media Monitoring
If you want to learn the ins and outs of how social media works, then studying social media monitoring is a great place to start. Udemy offers a course called Social Media Monitoring that promises to teach students about keyword filtering and validation, Google Analytics, how to understand your social media dashboard and curate content, and more.
Social Media Analytics
Offered through Quintly Academy, this course is an introduction to social media analytics specifically. In it, you will learn the fundamentals of analytics so that you can build content, create a strategy, and employ that strategy efficiently by taking analytics into account.
Social Media Management
Managing a company’s social media accounts is becoming an increasingly popular side gig or even a full-time freelance gig. If you’re interested in taking your social media work to the next level by developing other companies’ brands, then you should focus on social media management.
Udemy offers several courses in this area. One standout is “WIN at Starting a Social Media Management Business.” This course is for students who already have a fairly advanced understanding of social media and who want to start their own business consulting and creating social media strategies for other companies. The course will help you make sure you are offering the right products and services at the right prices for your potential customers.
Conclusion: What’s Next for Social Media?
The future of social media is unpredictable. TikTok is the newest mainstream player in the US sphere, but who knows what will come next. That’s why taking courses to expand your horizons and specialize in social media will help you get closer to reaching your social media marketing goals.
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