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As the world advances, so do social media trends. This is why taking social media marketing courses has become essential for every content creator and brand owner who wants to stay in vogue. Proper strategy, content creation skills, and copywriting formulas are all vital to the adequacy of your knowledge in this feed.
Therefore, we have carefully compiled a list of social media marketing courses to take in 2025, expecting that these will shape your strategy on social media management moving forward. Some of these courses are free, while others are paid courses.
Types of Social Marketing Courses:
Social marketing courses are generally classified into two by the article’s design. They are self-paced courses and cohort-based courses.
Self-paced courses usually have pre-recorded content that you can download and learn on your own based on your schedule. These courses are more flexible than cohort-based courses. However, if you’re not so disciplined, there’s little to no accountability or exposure to community learning.
Cohort-based Courses: Conversely, cohort-based courses have a fixed start and end date. In this organized setting, you undergo the material in real-time with other students and your instructor(s). These courses pave the way for accountability and networking because they are done with a group of individuals with shared interests. However, these courses are not as accommodating as self-paced courses to your schedule.
No type of course is better than the other. Cohort courses are best when you want a structured and communal learning experience. Self-paced courses are a better choice when you have a busy schedule and want to learn independently.
Free Social Media Marketing Courses
Social media algorithms differ. In other words, social media management isn’t one-size-fits-all. Every social media platform has its own rules. Social platforms create courses designed to ace their algorithms and learn more about all their characteristics. Below are the courses:
- TikTok Academy: You will learn everything TikTok can do for small businesses.
- Growing your business with LinkedIn pages: for learning how to use LinkedIn for business.
- Instagram’s creator course: for learning the platform basics, understanding how to create Instagram reels, and ways to earn.
- Meta Blueprint: for learning about the basics of digital marketing, Facebook, Instagram, and ads.
- Pinterest Academy: for learning the ins and outs of Pinterest advertising.
Courses to build a Social Media Marketing Strategy
This section contains courses that allow you to build a strong social media marketing strategy from the foundation. Some contain directions for creating content, writing top-notch captions, and many more.
- Social media marketing course (Meta)
- Best course for beginners seeking professional training
- Price: Free.
- Instructor(s): Anke Audenaert, Daniel Kob.
- Length: The course lasts five months and requires 10 hours/week. It is self-paced.
Content:
- How to build a strong social media presence
- Analyzing your social media performance
- The ins and outs of meta ad management.
Meta’s social media marketing course is a top-free course for learning the fundamentals of social media marketing. The course is widespread with over 17,000 reviews.
It’s designed for beginners. So, if you are starting in social media marketing from another career, Meta’s course is the best fit for you.
The course also offers a completion certificate, evidencing that you’ve completed the program. So, if you want to stamp a social media certification on your resume, there you have it.I
2. Impactful social writing
Best course for becoming a thought leader in your niche
Price: $127.
Instructor(s): Erica Schneider, Kasey Jones
Length: Not publicly available. There are five modules of content.
Content:
- How to build your brand
- How to stay consistent on social media
- How to generate social media post ideas that your audience would want to read
Erica Schneider and Kasey Jones teach impactful social writing. These people have built successful businesses through their social media channels. So, this course helps you learn the principles they followed with frameworks and real-world examples.
It’s not a free online course, but it’s a better choice for someone who wants to build a personal brand, hone in on their target audience, and find their unique voice on social media.
Kindly note that the course offers a 14-day money-back guarantee if you believe the social media marketing course isn’t worth your money.
2. Social media marketing course (HubSpot)
Best course for small business owners seeking to learn the fundamentals
- Price: Free.
- Instructor(s): Crystal King, Dayne Topkin, Corey Braccialini.
- Length: You can complete nine lessons independently within five hours (by approximation).
Content:
- Development of social media marketing strategy as a small business owner
- Ways to drive inbound traffic that’ll help you grow your revenue
- Fundamentals of social media advertising
HubSpot Academy is an established name in the world of social media marketing. This free course by the company is a good start for any small business owner looking to kickstart their social media marketing efforts.
Meta’s course might be geared towards its networks, so HubSpot is a good choice if you want a well-rounded free course. The module includes basic knowledge about social media marketing for marketing professionals for all social media platforms. Like Meta, it also offers social media certification if you need it.
3. The content operating system
- Best course for newsletter creators who want to build a social media presence
- Price: $99 for unlimited access.
- Instructor(s): Justin Welsh.
- Length: 90 minutes with additional text-based modules.
What you’ll learn:
- How to grow your newsletter subscribers using social media marketing
- How to use social media automation to 3x your distribution and growth
- How to repurpose your newsletter content into social media posts
Justin Welsh has grown his following to over 613,000 on LinkedIn and 493,000 on Twitter (now X). The content operating system is a course that shows the behind-the-scenes of his content creation process.
The course teaches you to generate newsletter ideas, convert them into social media posts, and grow your list using your social media marketing skills. Since Justin’s marketing strategies revolve around newsletters and text-based social media platforms, this course is best for newsletter creators looking to do social media marketing on LinkedIn and X.
4. Content marketing blueprint
The best course for SaaS businesses looking for social media marketing inspiration
- Price: Free version available. Paid plan costs $50/month.
- Instructor(s): Andrew Meng, Thomas Kim.
- Length: Free video guide of roughly two hours. The databases are paid.
What you’ll learn:
- Video guide on how to market your SaaS product using social media
- Database of viral SaaS companies and the frameworks they use (paid)
- AI-powered search within their database to find SaaS accounts like yours.
Andrew Meng and Thomas Kim have worked to scale their own personal social media accounts, run SaaS businesses, and grow revenue via social media marketing. The content marketing blueprint course is a playbook for how SaaS businesses can learn social media marketing to increase their bottom line.
A free video guide teaches you how to grow your SaaS business using social media marketing. But they also have two evergreen databases of viral SaaS businesses and the frameworks they use at $50/month. They update the database multiple times a week.
Take the video guide for a spin, and if you like it, invest in the database. It can be beneficial to see the strategies similar businesses are following and learn from them. They also have a Discord community of those who take this course.
Note: If you’re looking for something similar in the public sector, I found this social media marketing diploma run by Joanne Sweeney. But at €1750, it’s a heavy hole in the pocket, so think carefully before investing.
5. Social media united
Best course for aspiring social media managers
- Price: Free.
- Instructor(s): Rachel Pederson.
Length: There are over 42 lessons.
What you’ll learn:
- How to become an excellent social media manager
- How to find, manage, and retain various freelance clients
- The basics of running a Facebook page, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Quora, and Pinterest
Rachel Pederson runs her social media marketing agency and teaches how to be an excellent social media marketing manager using her course, Social Media United. The course used to cost $69/month earlier but is now completely free.
Rachel’s course content is a great step-by-step guide for anyone who wants to learn how to freelance as a social media manager or sharpen their in-house social media marketing skills. Pederson’s course is top-notch for handy templates, community support, and learning client management.
Remember: Courses aren’t an automation for success
There are plenty of social media courses out there. But ultimately, the real test is how you implement what you learn in the real, ever-changing world of social media marketing.
Many social media courses also lack up-to-date information because the digital world constantly changes. This is why I’d always recommend taking a course that teaches you evergreen foundational knowledge—like finding your target audience, learning to read social analytics, reaching your marketing goals, etc.—that can last even as the platforms change.
And if you’re wondering whether you should stick to free social media marketing courses or upgrade to paid ones, I’d recommend sticking to free classes until you feel they have nothing left to offer you. Once you need to learn more, invest in paid ones to learn advanced topics.