Marketing best practices are constantly changing, and regardless of whether you’re a budding entrepreneur who’s just starting out or an established business owner, it’s important to make sure you have the basics down, as well as keep up with industry trends and give yourself the occasional skill boost. Learning some new skills or brushing up on your existing knowledge doesn’t have to cost a fortune, and it can be easy and accessible thanks to the variety of free, online marketing courses that are available. We’ve put together a list of five of some of the best free online marketing courses that you can use to help you to develop the most in-demand marketing skills.
What Courses are Available?
This course is intended for anyone who is brand new to marketing and wants to learn the basics. Its 24 modules cover the absolute fundamentals of digital marketing, such as how to build an online presence, find your audience, and how you can boost sales using digital advertisement. Using genuine examples of marketing success stories and packed with practical exercises, this course is taught by Google trainers and is accredited by the Open University and Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe. This course provides an introduction to some of Google’s most essential free tools, such as My Business, Ads, and Analytics. Once you have passed this online course, you’ll receive a certificate to add to your LinkedIn and Skillshop profiles.
This digital course is an absolute must for any marketer who wants to gain useful insights into SEO and advertisement performance. There are six free courses available which are dedicated to helping you master Google’s variety of advertising tools, and after completing each course you’ll have the option to complete an exam to receive a certificate. The best part about Google Ads Certifications is that you can choose to complete which of these courses are most relevant to you and what you want to build upon in your marketing strategy.
Hubspot Academy’s Inbound Marketing Certification is perfect for mastering the foundations of inbound marketing, and it aims to teach its learners how to grow their businesses using the Flywheel model. Focusing on creating valuable content that will appeal to your target audience, this course will help you to learn about SEO, keyword strategy, social media, email marketing, blogging, and much more. It consists of six different lessons and two hours’ worth of learning material which comes in the form of both text and video. You’ll be able to prove your new-found knowledge with an exam at the end of the course, which will deem you Hubspot-certified. This course would be well-suited to small business owners who are looking to build trust with their target audience, as well as anyone who wants to create a more customer-centred approach within their marketing strategy.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has launched a range of comprehensive professional development courses aimed at helping small business owners learn best marketing practices. The series of courses offered by Meta is focused on how to market your business using social media, with its topics covering how to find your ideal target audience, how to map customer journeys, how to set marketing goals, and how to set a brand tone. Meta Blueprint caters to all skill levels with its courses ranging from the basics of Facebook advertising to advanced tactics for maximising campaign performance.
There are a wide variety of free online courses which are easily accessible on the Alison website, all of which offer certification upon completion. The useful filter function means that you can easily browse and sort by course subject, course duration, learning level, and more. Many of Alison’s marketing courses involve only 5-10 total hours of learning per course, meaning you can easily incorporate a few into your working hours or even your spare time. The most popular marketing courses on the Alison website include:
This five-module course teaches you how you can use marketing strategies to promote your business as well as how to avoid any potentially costly pitfalls. Intended to act as an introductory course, you’ll also learn about the fundamentals of marketing, its importance, and what marketing really means.
Also a relatively short five-module course, you’ll learn to apply essential digital marketing skills such as SEO and WordPress to be able to generate traffic for your business. From how to create a business website to the importance of online surveys, this course will provide a comprehensive guide on how your business can utilise online tools to generate leads.
More Resources
If online courses aren’t your jam, or if you’re looking for something extra that you can use to brush up on your marketing knowledge, podcasts are a great option. You can listen to them while multitasking or on the go, so they’re very mobile and allow you to be more flexible while learning. Some popular, beginner-friendly options include The Digital Marketing Podcast, Marketing Over Coffee, and Duct Tape Marketing.
The digital age has revolutionised how businesses approach marketing these days; fortunately, acquiring new skills and refining existing ones doesn’t have to break the bank, thanks to the wealth of free, online marketing courses available. It’s important to keep up with industry trends and to be up-to-date with marketing best practices, so these free courses can be invaluable as they can easily fit into or around your working hours. The certifications obtained from these courses can also be a fantastic asset to add to your CV, enhancing your credibility in the world of marketing.
There’s something for everyone, too – so you can choose to simply take the courses that are relevant to what you want to learn. Whether you’re looking to get started with digital marketing, expand your knowledge base, or refine your existing marketing strategy, these free online courses provide invaluable resources that will ensure you have all of the tools to make your business stand out in today’s competitive market.
