7 Industry-Recognized Social Media Marketing Certifications + How to Get One
October 22, 2024
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Launch your career as a Social Media Marketer. Build job-ready skills – and must-have AI skills – for an in-demand career. Earn a credential from Meta 5 months or less. No degree or prior experience required.
Instructors: Anke Audenaert
441,610 already enrolled
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(18,822 reviews)
Recommended experience
Beginner level
No degree or prior experience required. Enthusiasm for social media and basic internet navigation skills are required as well as a Meta account.
(18,822 reviews)
Recommended experience
Beginner level
No degree or prior experience required. Enthusiasm for social media and basic internet navigation skills are required as well as a Meta account.
Establish an online presence, build a following, and manage your social media accounts
Develop effective social media posts and create a strong social media brand presence
Create Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns in Meta Ads Manager that drive business results
Learn to evaluate and interpret the results of your social posts and advertising campaigns
Add to your LinkedIn profile
Want to turn your passion for social media into a career? In this program, you’ll learn how to create a social media presence on Facebook and Instagram that people want to follow! Social media marketing jobs are amongst the most in-demand skills for organizations of all sizes. Whether you’re completely new to digital marketing or you’ve been tinkering with social media platforms for your own business, you’ve come to the right place. This six-course program designed by experts at Meta and Aptly will provide an introduction to digital marketing and all the major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and more to prepare you with the skills and tools needed to grow an engaging social community and run effective social media advertising. You'll also have the option to learn how generative AI tools and techniques are used in social media marketing.
Upon successful completion of the program, you’ll:
Earn both a Professional Certificate and the Meta Digital Marketing Associate Certification, showcasing your skills in social media marketing and the use of Meta Ads Manager to potential employers.
The Professional Certificate is now ACE® recommended. You can learn more here.
Applied Learning Project
Throughout the program, you’ll get to practice your new skills through hands-on projects. Our projects offer an opportunity to apply social media marketing skills practically, such as:
Creating a Facebook or Instagram business page
Doing a brand exercise for your business
Creating posts on Facebook and Instagram
Creating a content calendar
Creating a creative brief for your social media ad
Building your own full ad campaign in Meta Ads Manager
Presenting your campaign results
By the end, you’ll have a project-based portfolio you can demonstrate to recruiters, potential employers or clients to help land the job!
Understand the landscape of traditional, digital and social media marketing
Understand the major social media platforms, how they function, and what role they play in marketing
Create SMART goals, identify KPIs, and define your target audience and their customer journey
Choose the right social media platforms and learn how to create social media policies
How to establish and manage a social media presence
How to create a brand, tone, and voice for a social media presence
How to manage a content calendar for a social media presence
How to evaluate the performance of content on social media and how to iterate on that performance
How to evaluate on which platforms to run social media ad campaigns and what makes an ad effective
How to craft compelling and effective visuals and copy for social media ads
Build an ad directly from your Facebook business page and your Instagram business account
Write a creative brief and create a social media ad
Structure campaigns in Meta Ads Manager
Build an ad that aligns with your marketing objectives and target it to your intended audience
Set a budget, placement, and schedule for your ads in Meta Ads Manager
Apply different techniques used to optimize marketing campaigns, such as attribution and marketing mix models
Implement an A/B test to optimize your campaign
Analyze dashboards and evaluate the ROI from your social media marketing efforts
Present and communicate campaign results to a team
Become certified as a Meta Digital Marketing Associate
Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.
When you complete this Professional Certificate, you may be able to have your learning recognized for credit if you are admitted and enroll in one of the following online degree programs.¹
When you complete this Professional Certificate, you may be able to have your learning recognized for credit if you are admitted and enroll in one of the following online degree programs.¹
University of Maryland Global Campus
Degree · 48 months
University of Maryland Global Campus
Degree · 48 months
Illinois Tech
Degree
¹Successful application and enrollment are required. Eligibility requirements apply. Each institution determines the number of credits recognized by completing this content that may count towards degree requirements, considering any existing credits you may have. Click on a specific course for more information.
This Professional Certificate has ACE® recommendation. It is eligible for college credit at participating U.S. colleges and universities. Note: The decision to accept specific credit recommendations is up to each institution.
Meta builds technologies that help people connect with friends and family, find communities, and grow businesses. The Meta Professional Certificates create opportunities so that anyone regardless of education, background or experience can learn high-quality skills to land a high-growth career—no degree or experience required to get started. Meta also offers training courses on the metaverse to educate people, brands, businesses and professionals on the opportunities it presents and what it means for our world today and into the future.
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Not only did this certification help expand the skills I already had, but also taught me new ones, such as creating effective social ads and brand strategies, developing a content calendar for any industry, scheduling posts, and more. Now, I’m working with small businesses and a nonprofit organization by providing team trainings and workshops on how to build their brand and launch successful marketing campaigns.
Learning from Canada
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Not only did this certification help expand the skills I already had, but also taught me new ones, such as creating effective social ads and brand strategies, developing a content calendar for any industry, scheduling posts, and more. Now, I’m working with small businesses and a nonprofit organization by providing team trainings and workshops on how to build their brand and launch successful marketing campaigns.
Learning from Canada
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Aptly is an online education provider that specializes in technology and the tech industry, powered by a team of educators, digital marketers, and instructional designers. Through their hands-on, applied education programs, they’ve helped hundreds of thousands of students, employees, and marketers gain the skills and knowledge to succeed in the digital economy. Meta and Aptly partnered to produce the series of courses in the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate.
This Professional Certificate program is designed for beginners, no prior knowledge or experience required. Each course builds upon the previous one to reinforce fundamental social media marketing skills, including social media management and advertising. Upon completing this certificate, some entry-level jobs you may qualify for include social media manager, social media coordinator, social media specialist, and paid media coordinator.
Learn more about social media jobs.
A Meta certification is an industry credential that signifies proficiency on Meta technologies such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Whatsapp. Meta offers several certifications across digital marketing, marketing analytics and software engineering. As part of the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate, you’ll be able to take the Meta Digital Marketing Associate exam to become a Meta Certified Professional.
Through this Professional Certificate program, you’ll learn how to develop a social media presence for a business, including creating engaging content, interacting with users, managing a content calendar, and evaluating the success of your posts. You’ll also learn how to create effective ads for social media and how to create ads in Meta Ads Manager.
Earning your Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate signals to hiring managers and your professional peers a level of proficiency in these marketing skills. You can further demonstrate your expertise with the Meta Digital Marketing Associate Certification. As part of the program, you will be able to take the exam once for free and will have one free exam retake, if needed. You can point to both of these credentials during your job search as evidence of your knowledge, skills, and readiness for beginner social media marketing roles.
As part of the program, you will be able to take the exam once for free, and you’ll have one free exam retake, if needed. Any subsequent retakes will cost an exam fee which varies depending on your residing location. The exam fee will show up when you proceed to the check out page on the exam registration page. Sign up for the Meta Digital Marketing Associate Certification Exam in the Capstone course.
The Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate and Meta Digital Marketing Associate Certification are industry credentials that can signify your social media expertise to potential employers and clients. In addition to the resume credential, through each course, you’ll learn and practice key marketing skills, including content development, campaign management, and brand marketing, which are particularly valuable when seeking entry-level marketing jobs. You can leverage the credentials and skills you gain throughout your job search and as you establish your career.
Learn more about industry-recognized social media marketing certifications.
You will know how to create a social media presence for a business. You’ll know how to create engaging content, interact with users on social media, manage a content calendar, and evaluate the success of your posts. You’ll also know how to create effective ads for social media and learn how to create ads in Meta Ads Manager. You’ll know how to match the ads you create to your marketing objectives, select the right images and copy for your ads, get your message in front of your target audience, and measure the impact of your campaign. You’ll also learn how to communicate your campaign results to other people in the company.
Approximately 5 months at 5 hours a week.
You are not required to take courses 1-5 in a specific order, but we highly encourage you to take them in the order they are presented. However, in order to access Course 6, Meta Social Media Marketing Capstone, you will need to complete courses 1-5, first.
Introduction to Social Media Marketing
Social Media Management
Fundamentals of Social Media Advertising
Advertising with Meta
Measure and Optimize Social Media Marketing Campaigns
Meta Social Media Marketing Capstone
As you progress through the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate, you’ll notice that each course builds upon the knowledge and skills highlighted in the previous course.
In the Capstone course for this specialization, you will sign up for and take the Digital Marketing Associate Certification Exam with Meta. As part of the program, you will be able to take the exam once for free and have one additional free exam retake, as needed. If subsequent retakes are needed in order to successfully pass this exam, they will cost $50 each. It’s important to note that the exam is only available in English and these languages, and that you need a conversational level of English or Spanish to communicate with the proctor.
In order to successfully complete the exam you will need access to a laptop or desktop computer, using a Mac or Windows operating system, with a webcam for 105 Mins, uninterrupted. In addition, you will need a strong internet connection.
You may be able to earn college credit upon successful completion of this certificate program. The Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate is ACE® recommended. This means that many colleges and universities recognize this program as valuable coursework that can count toward a degree. Once you complete the certificate program, we’ll share details on how you can send proof of completion to your school.
Please note that the decision to accept specific credit recommendations is up to each institution and is not guaranteed. Check with your university to find out their policy, and read more about ACE Credit College & University Partnerships here.
No. You’ll gain a basic understanding of how the main social media platforms — like Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more — function and how businesses can use them for their marketing needs. You will learn how to develop effective ads for different social media platforms, but this program specifically focuses on how to develop these ads using Meta’s Ads Manager (for advertising on both Facebook and Instagram). While ad creation tools for different social media platforms differ, understanding how Meta Ads Manager works will help you quickly find your way around other advertising tools (though this program does not focus on how to use other advertising tools).
Visit the Learner Help Center for more information about learning on Coursera.
This program is available in any country with access to Coursera, however, the required Meta Digital Marketing Associate Certification Exam, proctored through Pearson OnVUE services, is restricted in certain locations. You can review the list of restricted countries by navigating to this page on the Pearson website and then by selecting “View ID Requirements”. There, you will find the most current list of countries where OnVUE delivery is restricted.
If your country is on the list of those restricted, you will unfortunately be unable to take the Meta Digital Marketing Associate Certification Exam and you will not receive the dual Credly badge. You may, however, still take the program. To receive the final professional certificate, you may reach out to a course moderator in the forums after program completion.
There are not any restrictions to using a VPN on Coursera, but do be aware that VPNs are not permitted for taking the Meta Digital Marketing Associate Certification Exam through Pearson OnVUE. If you need a VPN to access Meta Blueprint or Pearson, then you will not be able to complete the required exam. See the question above for more information regarding this scenario.
This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.
If you subscribed, you get a 7-day free trial during which you can cancel at no penalty. After that, we don’t give refunds, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. See our full refund policy.
Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate, or you can audit it to view the course materials for free. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Certificate, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Certificate. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.
¹ Median salary and job opening data are sourced from Lightcast™ Job Postings Report. Data for job roles relevant to featured programs (1/1/2024 - 1/1/2025)