Content marketing is a continually evolving industry that continues to change with time. While the general concept remains the same, the processes, best practices, and techniques are constantly changing. The best way to stay updated with them is to focus on doing content marketing certifications and courses.
Many content marketing certifications are developed to keep all forms of content marketers in mind. That includes beginners, entry-level marketers, digital marketers, and even seasoned content marketing experts.
In any case, no matter how experienced you are, doing content marketing certifications can help you stay up to date and relevant in the industry.
In this article, we’ll be going over some of the best content marketing certifications you can do in 2021.
Let’s get started.
Do I Need Content Marketing Certifications?
It can be hard to establish yourself as a beginner in the content marketing industry. While your work speaks for itself, you still need to be able to show others that you know what you’re doing. The best way to portray your capabilities is through having some key certifications under your belt.
While having certifications backing your skills is crucial, it’s equally important to remain updated on the industry trends and best practices. Completing courses and certifications gives you an updated outlook on all things content marketing.
For example, as a content marketer, you may be focusing your efforts on content writing and publishing. Therefore, by doing additional courses, you can delve into content strategy, content analysis, search engine optimization, Google AdWords, KPI tracking, metrics analysis, and more.
Being multi-faceted and skilled in all content marketing functions is critical to becoming an expert content marketer. Furthermore, it also helps you derive a career path for yourself, depending on your expertise.
In the long run, you can develop an individual content marketing strategy and digital marketing strategy. Most people tend to confuse both of them; however, there is a very distinct difference.
Eventually, you can also learn how to develop a social media strategy, do email marketing, inbound marketing, mobile marketing, web analytics, PPC, and digital advertising. In any case, the idea is that the more content marketing certifications you do, the more knowledge you rack up.
While the starter certifications and courses only delve into the fundamentals and what is good content marketing, you can eventually opt for bigger and even paid certifications and courses. They tend to be based on specialized topics and content marketing functions.
Top Content Marketing Certifications You Can Do Today
You’ll find plenty of digital marketing certifications, certificate courses, and certification exams online. Many organizations and digital marketing institutes have developed their own certificate programs that range from digital marketing certificates to social media marketing certificates, SEO certifications, Facebook Blueprint certifications, and more.
However, you have to focus on getting the best among them that offer the highest value. While each certificate program and course is designed for different levels of experience and industries, it’s best to make a note of it for future reference.
In any case, the following content marketing certifications are the best you can opt for today.
1. Content Marketing Course by HubSpot
Rating: 5/5
Price: Free
HubSpot has become one of the most well-known platforms for marketing, sales, and CRM software. It’s used by millions of people across thousands of organizations, giving the company a unique perspective on all things marketing. Using that expertise and experience, HubSpot launched the HubSpot Academy that hosts courses on a wide range of subjects.
One of their best courses on the HubSpot Academy is the Content Marketing Course. It’s a free certification course that focuses on the essentials of becoming an effective content marketer. Once you’re done, you get a completion certificate that’s valid for a year.
It’s an absolutely critical course for starters because it covers all the fundamentals of content marketing at its core. Therefore, in total, the course covers around 12 main topics, including the following.
- Generating Content Ideas
- How to Build a Content Creation Framework
- The Best Way to Create Quality Blog Content for Your Audience
- The Power of Storytelling
- Long-Term Content Strategy
- How to Create Pillar Pages and Topic Clusters
- How to Build an SEO-Powered Guest Blogging Strategy
- Effective Content Promotion
- How HubSpot Leverages Blogging to Rank #1 on Google
- Repurposing Content
- Creating a Successful Video Marketing Strategy
- Measuring and Analyzing All Your Content
The entire certification course is in video content and takes about 6 hours. However, you can watch it at faster speeds if you can keep up.
In the end, you’ll be taking an exam that will test everything you learned. However, upon passing the exam, you’ll receive the completion certificate that you can download, print, or put on your LinkedIn profile.
To learn more about the Content Marketing Course by HubSpot, you can go here and sign up.
2. The Strategy of Content Marketing on Coursera
Rating: 5/5
Price: Free
The Strategy of Content Marketing is a complete content marketing course on Coursera offered by the University of California (UC Davis). While Coursera is known to have some of the best courses on various subjects, this is the best content marketing certification you can opt for on the site.
The primary objective of the certification is to teach you how to create an ideal content marketing campaign. Therefore, using that, you can create a content strategy and train your customers according to your needs.
Furthermore, the course also delves into the right way to write engaging copy for your website, ads, and more. You learn to build your brand with and around creative content to continually engage customers and build a unique brand identity.
On average, the course takes around 20 hours, including the lectures, exams, and more. By the end of it, you will get a certification that you can share on your website, LinkedIn profile, or other platforms; you can also download the certificate if you want to add it to your portfolio or resume.
The best thing about the course is that it’s completely free. Being backed by UC Davis puts it under the Professional Education category. That’s why you can show its certification as an official document.
Furthermore, the course covers the following topics and knowledge areas throughout.
- The complete content marketing ecosystem
- All the strategic types of content, including blogs, videos, graphics, 2D animation, infographics, and more
- The concept of strategy in marketing
- Creating the ideal content marketing strategy
- Effectively managing your content, content plan, and overall strategy
Additionally, during the 5-week course, you’ll also be doing quizzes to test your knowledge.
If you want to learn more about UC Davis’ Strategy of Content Marketing course, you can go here.
3. Content Marketing Fundamentals by SEMrush
Rating: 5/5
Price: Free
SEMrush has grown to be known as a go-to marketing brand for digital marketing tools and techniques. The software has helped thousands of companies manage their content marketing strategies, digital marketing efforts, and more.
Using the knowledge gained from selling the software, SEMrush started an online learning academy with certifications. The certification exams cover a wide range of topics, including content marketing, content strategy, on-page SEO, PPC, social media marketing, and various tutorials.
The Content Marketing Fundamentals course is a 2-hour course that delves into the importance of content for your brand. It details how you can leverage content and its promotion to improve audience engagement and the user experience.
Once you’ve completed the course, you will have to complete a certification exam. However, upon completion of the exam, you will receive a personalized certificate that you can print, download, put on your website, resume, or LinkedIn profile.
However, if you’re familiar with content marketing, you can also take the exam directly.
The course covers a lot of topics, including the following.
- Content audits
- Content ideation
- Competitor research
- Audience/target market research
- Content calendars
- Content creation
- Business goals in content marketing
- Implementing content marketing
- Content distribution
- Content promotion
- Measuring content success
- Content tips, tricks, and techniques, including best practices
By the end, you’ll have a good idea of how to get started with content marketing. However, completing the course and getting the certification doesn’t make you an expert. It only helps you develop an idea of how you should move forward.
In any case, if you want to learn more about SEMrush’s Content Marketing Fundamentals certification, you can go here.
4. Content Marketing Specialist by Digital Marketer
Rating: 5/5
Price: $495
The Content Marketing Specialist certification by Digital Marketer is complete with content marketing basics, content strategy tips, and information on leads and sales. All of it is designed to help you get more visitors and conversions.
According to the course description, its primary purpose is to help users convert their organic traffic and all their potential sales at each stage of the marketing funnel. That way, every potential lead can be sold to directly.
However, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an expert content marketer or someone new. The certification course revises and emphasizes the creation and promotion of content to increase visitors, leads, and sales.
Furthermore, the entire course has five modules that have a total of 50 video lessons. That also includes handouts you can download and print, along with quizzes in each module to test your newfound knowledge.
When you complete the course, you will receive a digital certificate that you can download and print. Furthermore, you’ll also get a content marketing specialist badge that you can share on your website, LinkedIn profile, or at other places like your email signature. Therefore, it’s a great way to show people that you’re a certified content marketing specialist.
The following summarizes each of the five modules.
- Starting off, the first module focuses on the fundamentals of content marketing.
- Module 2 focuses on content that helps improve awareness.
- The third module delves into content that generates leads.
- After that, the fourth module goes into content that sells.
- The fifth and last module focuses on the content that helps improve retention and loyalty.
If you want to learn more about the Content Marketing Specialist certification by Digital Marketer, you can go here.
5. Content Marketing Certification by AMA (American Marketing Association)
Rating: 5/5
Pricing: $249 for AMA members – $349 for non-AMA members
The American Marketing Association is one of the most well-known and renowned marketing associations in the US. Their certifications are recognized globally by most companies.
The AMA’s Content Marketing Certification is designed to bring all the relevant knowledge related to content strategy, planning, creation, and promotion, while also delving into the right measurement techniques.
However, this course is designed for marketing professionals and experts who have at least 4-7 years of experience. Therefore, there aren’t any outstanding eligibility requirements, but ideally, the individual should have a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree.
The entire course covers the following topics in detail.
- Content strategy
- Content types, such as webinars, blogs, e-books, videos, podcasts, illustrations, infographics, and more
- SEO basics and fundamentals
- The entire content marketing foundation
- Developing visual content campaigns
- Google Analytics fundamentals
At the end of the course, you’ll have to give an online exam made up of multiple-choice questions (MCQs).
However, the 2-hour test is extremely hard to master and to pass; it requires a score of 80% or higher. You can try out the exam three times within one year of your registration.
You can find several exam preparation resources on the website. Therefore, it’s best to study and go through all the relevant course material before attempting your exam to maximize your chances of success.
If you want to learn more about the Content Marketing Certification from the American Marketing Association, you can go here.
6. The Copyblogger Content Marketer Certification Program
Rating: 5/5
Price: $495
Copyblogger’s Content Marketing Certification program is designed for experienced content writers, professional content marketers, digital marketers, and marketing specialists who want to boost their content skills. That includes content writing, content creation, and content distribution skills.
However, the program isn’t available all year round; it’s available for a limited time during the year when Copyblogger starts to hand out certifications. That’s why you need to add your email on their website so that you can get a notification when the time comes.
After successfully completing the course, you can apply for the Content Marketing Certification. At that point, the editorial team will review your application and decide whether you pass.
However, once you pass, you will get a printable and downloadable certificate. Moreover, you will also receive a badge you can show on your website, LinkedIn profile, or any social media page.
Most importantly, you’ll be listed in Copyblogger’s list of certified content marketers on their website.
Above all, the certification course covers the following.
- The art of content writing and creation
- Developing content strategies as a content marketer
- Developing content marketing strategies
- Content success framework
- Strategic content types
To learn more about Copyblogger’s Content Marketer Certification program, you can go here.
7. Content Marketing: Grow Your Business with Content Marketing on Udemy
Rating: 5/5
Price: $129.99
Udemy has become one of the most well-known learning platforms, along with Coursera. The site has thousands of online courses and certifications on countless subjects.
While Udemy has a lot of content-related courses, there’s one content marketing course and certification that stands out.
Therefore, this particular course is created by Phil Ebiner and the Video School, and it focuses on utilizing content marketing to grow your brand and business.
There are no prerequisites or prior knowledge requirements; since you’ll be learning content marketing basics too, it’s a great course for beginners.
During the course, you’ll be learning the following.
- Understand the fundamentals and basics of content marketing.
- Learn about different ways to utilize content marketing to grow your business.
- Develop an understanding of target audiences and how you can create audience-specific content.
- Increasing your subscribers, followers, and customers.
- The right way to create a social media strategy to use sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to promote your content.
- Create a content ideation and creation system that helps you put out new ideas.
- Set up working marketing funnels.
- Correct way of publishing content with the proper format.
- The best way to measure and analyze the results of your content marketing efforts to maximize success.
In total, the course content has 13 different sections with 61 lectures. The total length of the course is around 5.5 hours. However, in addition, you get various downloadable resources, ultimate guides, and e-books for further reading.
Furthermore, you can complete the course content at your own pace, and by the end, you can get reviewed by the marketing professionals who’ve developed the course content. Upon completion, you get your certification badge.
To learn more about the Content Marketing for Beginners certification on Udemy, you can go here.
8. Content Marketing University on CMI
Rating: 5/5
Price: $995 for Individuals, $695 for Non-Profits, and $595 for Alumni.
The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) is the ultimate content marketing organization that’s recognized throughout the globe. Furthermore, they’re known for setting the standard for content marketing, and they’re the oldest ones in the business.
CMI launched their Content Marketing University to help people learn about content marketing, content strategy, and more. It’s a massive academic wing that has tons of certifications, training courses, webinars, and much more.
However, this course is designed by Robert Rose, CMI’s Chief Strategy Officer; he has transformed his Content Marketing Master Class series into a complete content marketing certification.
Furthermore, you’ll also find high-quality content from various marketing experts, influencers, and industry leaders.
There is over 30 hours of content and learning material in the course. Therefore, you get several core modules, can choose from electives, and, after that, you also get tons of resources and second-hand information. The ten core modules are taught by Robert Rose; they’re the ones you need to complete to get your certificate.
Furthermore, you’ll also be doing a lot of quizzes. In addition, the course gets new content track additions annually.
To learn more about CMI’s Content Marketing University, you can go here.
9. Content Marketing 101 by Helena Pearce
Rating: 5/5
Price: $44.90 (Currently $19.99)
Marketer and strategist Helena Pearce has worked as Head of Content for corporate giants like Amazon, Samsung, and currently, PlayStation. She has successfully been creating effective strategies for business growth.
Using that combined experience, she has developed an all-in-one content marketing course for CMs of all levels.
In the course, Helena takes you step-by-step through the creative process of building a dynamic content marketing strategy for a brand or business.
Furthermore, from developing a concept and publishing strategically to measuring metrics and driving growth, you’ll learn the secrets behind impactful online communication.
Once you buy the course you’ll have online access forever. Furthermore, you will be able to ask Helena any questions in the forum.
To learn more about Helena’s course and her content marketing course, you can go here.
Additional Certifications You Can Go For
Getting a content marketing certification is one thing, but if you want to become a great content marketer, you need to learn a lot more. That’s why it’s also advisable to opt for some other certifications that will help you in your content marketing career.
The following are some of the best complementary certifications you can opt for.
- Social Marketing Certification by HootSuite – is a complete certification course and exam on social media marketing modules on social media content development, sharing, ads, and much more. Check the $199 certification course out here.
- Digital Marketing Certificate Program by Cornell University – is a complete digital marketing course that focuses on getting you the right digital marketing skills and skill sets to traverse the digital marketing landscape. The $3,600 certificate program can be found here.
- Digital Media and Marketing Certificate Program by Duke University – is an online marketing powerhouse course with over 350 hours on content. It’s designed for everyone from content strategists to marketing professionals in small businesses. Check out the $3,195 certificate program here.
- Google Analytics Certification – is the official Google certification that helps you learn everything you need about Google Analytics. It’s an essential part of content marketing, and it’s best to be proficient with it. Google offers free courses, so you don’t have to worry about the price. Check it out here.
- Advanced Content Marketing Training by Market Motive – is an expert-level content marketing certification for established content marketers. It delves into everything from buying professional links to designing landing pages and brand affinity. The monthly membership is $299, and the annual one costs $2,999. Check it out here.
In conclusion, there are plenty of other content marketing certifications or related courses you can do, but focus on the best ones and build experience.
Wrapping It Up
Getting into content marketing isn’t that hard. You need a good command of your language, have a basic understanding of SEO strategy, and several other things like outreach, promotion, and the likes of it. You can learn all these things online using existing content in the form of blogs, videos, and infographics, among other things.
However, if you want to get established as a content marketer and climb up the ladder, you need proof of work. If you have case studies, high-ranking blogs, and relevant metrics, that’s a huge plus. But you should also focus on getting certified from various associations.
Opting for content marketing certifications not only increases your knowledge and expertise but also helps you establish yourself. It’s a great way of saying, “I get it.”
Therefore, opt for a content marketing certification or several of them. Start with the free ones and then move on to the paid ones and rank up in 2021.
