Best Social Media Marketing Courses Online

28 Social media marketing courses online. Beginners + professionals.

As social media has become inextricably woven into our daily digital lives, you probably know what’s trending on your favorite platforms before you’ve even finished your breakfast. Savvy businesses and entrepreneurs have long since embraced social media as an effective way to build their brands using the latest social marketing strategies and trends.

For professional marketers, pursuing a career in social media promises excellent work prospects and a dynamic and fast-paced landscape. Below, we list the best social media marketing courses online for career or business purposes.

Overview

It is not uncommon for people outside the industry to think that social media marketing is as easy as managing their social media profiles. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Social media marketers are simultaneously graphic designers, video editors, copywriters, community moderators, savvy advertisers, crisis communicators, research enthusiasts, data wranglers, and much more. You aim to get seen, build brand awareness and loyalty, and sell goods or services – often in 200 characters, 90 seconds or less.

Given the high level of impact of social media marketing in the Digital Age, brands can’t afford to participate, and the career opportunities for social media marketing professionals in this industry will only continue to grow.

Social media marketing falls under the umbrella of digital marketing, which is any effort to promote or sell goods or services online. This includes websites, email marketing, eCommerce sites, search engine optimization, and social media. Keeping up with new social media (and features) emerging regularly requires ongoing education.

Below, we list dozens of long, short, beginning, advanced, paid, and free social media marketing online courses to hone this specialized — and lucrative — skill set. Alternatively, here is a list of the best digital marketing courses.

Best Social Media Marketing Courses Online 2026

Domestika	GetSmarter	Udacity	Coursera
Domestika Certification	MIT	Udacity Nanodegree	Northwestern University
from $14.99/class	$2,300. Certificate.	from $399	from $59/month
★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
View Courses	View Course	View Course	View Course

*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Read the full disclosure at the end of this post.

Note: This review provides an overview of the best social media marketing courses online. We cannot claim comprehensiveness as there are many other classes available.

1. Domestika Social Media Courses

Domestika (visit website) offers hundreds of self-paced classes on topics ranging from illustration, graphic design, and writing to social media and content marketing strategy.

Instagram Feed Design with Canva focuses specifically on how to create your brand and presence on Instagram using the graphic design platform Canva. Within Canva, you will develop your brand’s typography style and color palette, create post templates, and work with GIFs. Students will make 12 consecutive posts for their Instagram feed.

For learners who want to manage social media communities, Domestika offers the Introduction to Community Management class. Learn the different types and essential functions of a social media manager, how to evaluate your competition, and content creation and planning through the lens of community management. Perhaps most valuable is a unit on the purpose of various networks and what kind of conversations they facilitate. 

For social media advertisers, Google Ads and Facebook Ads offer end-to-end education. The class teaches digital marketing principles and creating social media ad accounts. You will explore different ad types and targeting strategies and buy social media ads. By the end, you will have a complete marketing strategy plan for both platforms.

Platform: Domestika | Level: Beginners, Intermediates | Topics: Writing, Ads, Strategy
Info: Browse category Social Media on Domestika. From $14.90. Up to 75% off.

2. Social Media Strategy – MIT, GetSmarter

The Social Media Strategy course (visit website) by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers unique and valuable insight to established marketers, business leaders, NGOs, and policymakers alike. It focuses on the science behind social media.

Instructor Sinan Aral uses his book, The Hype Machine, to lay a scientific foundation for approaching social media marketing strategy. Noting that intuition alone will not lead to effective marketing in a hyper-socialized world, Aral first presents the neuroscience and economics of social media and then how this helps build a successful strategy.

Modules include social media and the brain, the economy of attention, personalized mass persuasion, and the future of the social media “Hype Machine.” You will leave the program with a certification and a playbook of tactics to employ now and in the future.

As a GetSmarter student, you also receive access to the 2U Career Engagement Network, which provides professional development resources and events. It is among the best social media marketing courses online for marketers, managers, and professionals.

Provider: MIT, GetSmarter | Time: 6 weeks | Certificate: Yes.
Level: Professionals, Managers | Pace: Instructor-lead | Price: $3,250 or £2,600
Info: Visit course website. Get free prospectus. Browse all online courses in Marketing.

3. Social Media Marketing – University of Cape Town

GetSmarter’s Social Media Marketing (visit website) by the University of Cape Town guides learners through the principles and strategies that will build brand awareness and reach target audiences. The program is for anyone interested in leveraging social media for marketing purposes and having a professional career prospect in mind.

Instruction begins with an overview of how to navigate the social media landscape. From there, you will explore the principles of social media content strategy before learning practical tools for content creation, community management, advertising and budgeting, and finally, campaign evaluation.

By the end, you will have developed your comprehensive social media marketing strategy. As a GetSmarter student, you also receive access to the 2U Career Engagement Network, which provides professional development resources and events. This is one of the best social media marketing courses online for ambitious beginners.

Provider: University of Cape Town, GetSmarter | Time: 8 weeks | Certificate: Yes.
Level: Beginners, Intermediates | Pace: Instructor-lead | Price: $1020 or £820
Info: Visit course website. Get free prospectus. Browse all online courses in Marketing.

4. Digital Marketing Nanodegree – Udacity

Udacity’s Digital Marketing Nanodegree (visit website) is Ideal for new digital marketers and social media strategists. The class thoroughly explores digital marketing principles and strategies with a social media marketing elective to round out the class. Students will develop marketing plans for their own or a sandbox business.

This course begins with the fundamentals of digital marketing, where you will learn how to define your business’ value proposition and brand. Afterward, participants will advance to map out the customer journey, appropriate social media channels, and content creation. You will also dive into analytics and campaign evaluation, learning to use Google Analytics to measure acquisition and conversion behavior.

Building on this digital marketing foundation, the social media marketing elective explores how to leverage popular platforms’ power to promote your business.

You will also learn the important differences between each social media platform and how this affects strategy. Furthermore, students gain the skills to best manage their online presence, understand the principles of community management, learn content creation strategies, and leverage paid and organic social media marketing campaigns.

Udacity’s model offers robust support, including project reviews by industry leaders, a student community, mentorship, and career services such as GitHub review and LinkedIn profile optimization. Overall, it is undoubtedly one of the best online social media marketing courses if your current focus is digital and social media marketing.

Type: Nanodegree | Instructors from: Udacity, Stanford, Google, Consultant Agencies
Capstone: Yes | Level: Beginners | Prerequisites: None | Time: 3 months
Info: View course page. Subscription from $109/month. Access to all nanodegrees.

5. The Social Media Marketing & Management Masterclass – Udemy

Udemy’s Social Media Marketing & Management Masterclass (visit website) provides comprehensive digital marketing and social media strategy instruction. The main goal is to help learners with zero experience become professional social media marketers, managers, and consultants.

Twenty-six sections cover all social media marketing topics. Market Strategy explores finding and reaching your target audience. Business Branding and Design will guide you through the process of defining your value proposition, developing your brand’s personality, including colors and fonts, and how to leverage your mission to tell your brand’s story.

Other lessons include content marketing, copywriting, sales psychology, emotional intelligence, persuasion and influence, and how to have difficult online conversations. Having covered the fundamentals, students access lessons about mobile marketing and advertising on key social platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Quora, and Twitter.

This class boasts over 30 hours of video content and 90+ downloadable resources and templates. Given its affordable price tag, it is probably among the best online courses for beginners to learn social media marketing strategies.

Instructor: Robin & Jesper, Udemy | Level: Beginners | Video: 33 hours
Price: View course. From $19.99. Up to 95% off. Browse category on Udemy.

Platforms: Browse our lists of the best Coursera courses or Domestika courses or Udacity courses or GetSmarter courses or LinkedIn courses and edX classes.

6. Social Media Strategy: Design, Manage, and Launch Campaigns – Domestika

As a globally minded platform for creatives around the world, Domestika (visit website) notably offers its self-guided, concise courses in multiple languages to anyone interested in leveraging their creativity into a lucrative career. While marketing experience or knowledge is helpful to get the most out of this social marketing class, it is not requisite.

In just a few hours of lecture and ten exercises, this social media course guides you from the research phase of a social media campaign through to launch. To begin, instructor Ana Marin reviews successful social media campaigns by other businesses, analyzing what made them successful and how SMART objectives contribute.

Next, she presents the market research process, from defining your target audience and customer personas to finding out where they are online and how they can interact with your brand. You will then explore idea generation and how to pair creative content with suitable platforms to make your brand stand out.

Ana’s social marketing course culminates in a lesson on storytelling, prototyping, and how to prepare for campaign measurement before you even launch. Upon completion, you will develop your own brief and upload it for instructor review.

Instructor: Ana Marin | Level: Beginners | Lessons: 14 | Time: 2 hours
Info: View course. From $14.90. Up to 75% off. Browse category Social Media.

7. Social Media Marketing Specialization – Northwestern, Coursera

Coursera’s Social Media Marketing Specialization (visit website) by Northwestern puts an emphasis on Big Data, strategy, ROI, and analytics. It’s for beginner-level marketers who want in-depth instruction on the business behind social media marketing. The path comprises five online social marketing courses plus a capstone project.

In the first course, “What Is Social?“, you will take a holistic view of the social media landscape, how it has disrupted (and continues to disrupt) the marketplace, and how to use data to find your target audience.

The Importance of Listening offers free access to valuable Big Data tools and insights and guest instruction from industry executives who collect and analyze this data. Engagement & Nurture Strategies then focuses on two of the most effective social strategies in use today and the value of good design and quality blogs.

The fourth course in this specialization, Content, Advertising & Social IMC, explores paid/owned/earned media and how to develop an integrated approach to content creation for viral results. Finally, The Business of Social course conveys how to generate metrics and measurements that directly affect your bottom line.

Provider: Northwestern, Coursera | Type: Specialization
Pricing: Free trial. $59/month Coursera Plus. | Review: 4.7 ★★★★★
Info: View course. Browse: Search all social media marketing classes on Coursera.

Tip: Explore our lists of the best business courses, or entrepreneurship courses or business analytics courses, or business management courses, or data analytics courses to expand your skills further.

8. Powerful Social Media Marketing for Beginners – Udemy

Udemy’s Powerful Social Media Marketing course (visit website) will teach you the skills you need to start working quickly. It is suitable for those who aspire to work as freelance, in-house or agency social media managers but want to learn social media marketing from scratch. The class mainly focuses on essential principles and strategies.

Instructor Maggie Stara illuminates the differences between social media for personal use and business use before teaching you how to navigate popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as a brand.

You will then create a brand identity kit using only free tools. After this lesson, students explore social media strategy, including developing customer personas, how to leverage user-generated content, and when to use organic versus paid social media campaigns.

Recognizing the value of time management for the individual social media manager, Stara Sagely dedicates an entire section to optimizing workflow. The social media marketing course culminates in an intro to campaign metrics and how to make informed adjustments.

Instructor: Maggie Stara, Udemy | Level: Beginners | Video: 9 hours
Price: View course. From $11.99. Up to 95% off. Browse category on Udemy.

9. Social Media Marketing: Grow Your Followers & Go Viral – Skillshare

Taught through the lens of monetizing a creative side hustle, Skillshare’s Social Media Marketing course (visit website) focuses on specific tips and tricks that online business owners can use to grow their social media presence and increase sales.

Instructor Cat Coquillette, an artist entrepreneur, guides you through her process for cultivating a strong brand and driving traffic from social media to websites and online shops. Focusing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, Coquillette details how to craft a quality bio, compose quality posts, and decode your analytics.

You will also learn hashtag best practices and the best tools and apps for editing images. This online class is ideal for aspiring marketers, entrepreneurs or anyone managing an already-established brand.

Instructor: Cat Coquillette | Level: All | Review: 4.6 ★★★★☆
Info: View course page. Browse full category.
Price: $15/month. Get 30% Off Premium to try all meditation courses online.

10. Copywriting for Social Media – Domestika

Understanding that strong copywriting is an essential component of any successful social media campaign, Domestika (visit website) offers this beginner-level online course focused specifically on developing your copywriting skills.

Your instructor is Paul Anglin, who has written copy for major brands such as Nike, Apple, T-Mobile, and Microsoft. Anglin will walk you through his process for exceptional copywriting and share some of his favorite resources and books on the topic.

After an introductory overview, Module 2 will teach you how to develop a quality brief and how to perform meaningful research for idea generation. Unit 3 focuses on using the concepts of insight, challenge, and idea to craft compelling copy.

You will then dive deeper into the fundamentals of copywriting and writing for social. Lastly, the capstone project asks you to develop a complete copywriting campaign for your brand, from the initial brief, research, and idea generation to the final copy.

Instructor: Paul Anglin | Level: Beginners | Lessons: 14 | Time: 2.5 hours
Info: View course. From $14.90. Up to 75% off. Browse category Social Media.

11. Social Media Marketing Course – Professional Certification – Digital Marketing Institute

The Digital Marketing Institute’s Social Media Marketing certification is one of the most rounded and comprehensive programs on this list. It is crafted to suit beginners, sales and marketing professionals seeking to upskill, and entrepreneurs who want to boost sales and grow their online audience.

This course comprises ten modules and a final two-hour exam. It is taught using a mix of recorded lessons and live webinars. Several of the modules focus on leveraging specific and common social media platforms. Other lectures offer a deeper dive into fundamental concepts such as content and strategy/marketing mix.

Social Research is about translating Big Data into insights that you can use to engage your audience more effectively. Social Customer Service conveys how to use social media to improve your customer’s experience and, therefore, your brand’s reputation.

This program also dedicates an entire module to eCommerce and affiliate marketing. Upon completion, you receive your Digital Marketing Institute certification and access to their network of more than 200,000 members. It’s one of the best online social media marketing courses for advancing your career prospects and landing a job.

Platform: Digital Marketing Institute (DMI) | For: Professionals, Marketers
Style: Online | Certification: Yes. | Price: Various packages. $1,368.

12. Social Media Marketing Master Certification – Boot Camp Digital

With beginner-level to advanced content, Boot Camp Digital’s Master Certification program is designed for any marketer to attain a mastery-level certification. It is a self-paced program comprising eight online courses, each progressing from beginner to advanced.

Enrollment in this social media certification also gets you access to live instructor office hours, a private Facebook support group, and monthly calls and updates. Much like a traditional university, you progress from 100-level to 400-level courses within each module.

Six of the eight modules focus specifically on individual platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Another module guides you through the principles of Social Media Strategy, including how to listen and perform audience research, create a compelling marketing mix, and measure campaign success. The final module explores effective blogging, from setup to strategy to measurement and integration.

Platform: Boot Camp Institute (BCI) | For: Professionals, Marketers
Style: Online | Certification: Yes. | Price: $997

13. Advanced Social Media Certification Training Course – Simplilearn

Simplilearn’s Advanced Social Media Marketing Training builds advanced skills for learners with a social media foundation. Recent undergraduates are welcome, but basic field knowledge is required to complete this program successfully.

Enrollment gives you lifetime access to seven self-paced modules and six projects. The training modules explore converged social media, visual social media (leveraging images and video), and storytelling and offer best practices for building a sustainable social media strategy.

Furthermore, the extensive Advanced Content Marketing training module explores a wide range of concepts. You will learn about editorial mission statements, targeting customer intent versus demographics, effective B2B and B2C tactics, measuring content effectiveness, and the future of content online marketing.

Equally as extensive is Advanced Web Analytics, which builds on the basics of analytics (behavior, acquisition, conversion) with instruction around privacy and social media ethics and advanced methodology. Six supplemental projects provide hands-on experience in converged media, visual social, storytelling, and content marketing.

Provider: Simplilearn | Type: Professional Certificate | Support: 24/7
Duration: 3 months. 2-3 hours/week | Pricing: own pace from $1,999

14. Social Media Marketing – London School of Marketing

In this bite-sized short course, the London School of Marketing offers learners the foundations of social media marketing. The class can be taken separately or as part of their Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing program.

Twenty brief modules introduce key concepts in social media, content planning and scheduling, and setting goals and priorities. Several modules focus on setting up and crafting profiles for social media platforms and leveraging unique platform features, including Twitter chat, LinkedIn InMail, and the suite of Facebook features.

Notably, this program includes instructions on third-party apps for Instagram. Finally, you will learn how to use Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics and schedule, manage and report on marketing campaigns.

Platform: London School of Marketing | For: Professionals, Marketers
Style: Online | Certification: Yes. | Price: £495. approx. $600

Additional Social Media Marketing Online Courses

15. Strategic Social Media Marketing – Boston University edX

Boston University and edX’s six-week, scheduled social media marketing course is designed for learners with a foundation in the field. Focusing on strategy rather than platform-specific tactics, this class covers concepts such as social media listening and co-creation, understanding how to leverage the distribution of content in networks and communities, and assessing social media ROI.

16. Social Media Marketing – Cornell Certificate Program

Ideal for traditional marketers and entrepreneurs looking to upskill, Cornell’s Social Media Marketing certificate program also provides learners with a year of live, virtual Symposium events. In the class, you will explore strategy, social marketing across the purchase funnel, content marketing, listening and community management, and campaign measurement.

17. Professional Social Media Marketing Certificate – Meta

This six-course certification program from Meta welcomes beginners and professionals alike. By the end of the program, you will know how to set up and manage profiles on popular platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Meta’s suite of media; how to create compelling content; how to design, execute, and evaluate paid campaigns; and how to measure and optimize your social media marketing efforts.

18. Social Media Marketing Course – Acadium

This free social media marketing training course by Acadium utilizes six platform-specific units to teach you how to use each one to market your brand. Ideal for beginners who have no experience in the field, the course will teach you how to set up and manage your brand on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google Business, Yelp, and LinkedIn.

19. Social Media Marketing Course – HubSpot Academy

Taught through the lens of inbound marketing, HubSpot Academy’s free social media marketing course is ideal for entrepreneurs and aspiring marketers alike. Four hours of instruction will teach you the strategic principles of social media marketing, how to listen and monitor, content creation and strategy, influencer marketing, measuring ROI, and the basics of paid advertising. This course also features a lesson on crisis communication.

20. Social Media Quickstarter – Constant Contact

The popular email marketing platform Constant Contact offers a series of free articles on social media marketing as part of its Social Media Quickstarter class. Ideal for beginners, each of the five bundles provides a step-by-step guide to setting up and managing your brand profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google Business.

21. Social Media Marketing Courses + Certification – eMarketing Institute

This free beginner-level course by eMarketing Institute comprises a comprehensive ebook and subsequent exam for certification in social media marketing. You will explore the principles and strategies behind choosing the right platforms for your brand, effective blogging, targeting, engagement, content curation, paid advertising, and ROI.

22. Social Media Marketing Strategy for Small Business – Alison

Alison’s free online social media marketing course is designed to aid small business owners and entrepreneurs use social media to grow their online audience and boost sales. Four units cover setting up and managing an engaging website, essential considerations and benefits of specific social media platforms, and measuring engagement. Complete an online exam to receive your certification.

23. Digital Marketing Skills: Social Media – FutureLearn

Using a mix of short videos, articles, audio, and activities, this FutureLearn course offers business professionals and marketing beginners a practical introduction to social media marketing. In less than 10 hours of content, you will learn the basics of targeting, evaluating which social media channels to use, managing your online presence, listening and researching, and measuring campaign performance.

Choosing the Right Social Media Marketing Course

To be sure, this is a long and diverse list! But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By focusing on a handful of considerations — namely, your business goals, your budget, your timeline, and the level of support you prefer — the best course will reveal itself.

If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur with a little cash to spend who wants to start using social media to grow your online business and boost sales, you might consider online social media marketing courses like those offered by the Domestika suite or Skillshare. For something a little easier on the wallet, courses by Acadium, FutureLearn and Alison are perfectly reasonable choices.

Are you seeking a career change or a jumpstart in your new social media marketing career? GetSmarter, Udacity, and the Digital Marketing Institute can help.

Established social media marketers with the capital to invest in their careers can undoubtedly benefit from intermediate and advanced-level instruction such as the science-oriented course by  GetSmarter/MIT, Simplilearn’s extensive advanced certification program, or Hootsuite’s substantial career-boosting suite.

Once you’ve got your candidates, try narrowing them down further by reviewing your budget, timeline, and support level. At this point, a few favorites will emerge from which you can deduce the ideal course.

Social Media Marketing Courses – Summary

The exciting and ever-changing world of social media marketing offers endless opportunities for entrepreneurs and marketing professionals alike. You can use it to grow your online audience and boost sales. Or pursue a career that yields excellent value for businesses, agencies, and individuals.

While many online social media courses can seem overwhelming, knowing your general and business goals, budget, and learning style can help you keep your eye on the prize. With the best online social media course to guide you, you’re just steps away from taking advantage of one of today’s most lucrative skill sets.

More Online Courses

• Free Social Media Marketing Course – YouTube – View
• Content Creation: Sustainable Social Media Strategies – Domestika
• SMM Fundamentals Course – Neal Schaffer, Semrush Academy
• Social Media Marketing Intensive – Digiteers
• Facebook & Instagram Marketing Online Course – Keystone Online Studies
• Multimillion-Dollar Facebook Ad Campaigns Course – Adword Experience
• Meta Blueprint Marketing Online Courses for Businesses

List of marketing jobs, careers, and specializations

• Facebook Ads Manager or Facebook Advertising
• Google Ads Manager
• Digital Marketing Consultant
• Social Marketing Professional
• Social Media Trends Researcher
• Supporting and managing social media communities
• Marketing Analytics + Analysis
• Influencer marketing
• TikTok marketing and advertising

In your opinion, what are the best online courses for social media marketing managers? Which programs have you taken? What have you learned? Please let us know in the comments below, or contact us via email for questions.

Sources: Intro to Social Media –1 | MIT Overview – 2 | Social Media Strategies – 3

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to some of our partners. courselounge may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. It does not add any extra costs. All reviews, opinions, descriptions, and comparisons expressed here are our own.