Here’s a List of Free Online Marketing Courses

If you’re new to marketing – or you’d like to brush up on your skills – there are several online courses.

My own marketing knowledge is a mix of first-hand experience and online training.

I studied journalism, and then media theory and practice with a focus on social media. A few years ago, I completed an 8-week marketing course from a provider which offers courses from leading universities. That course was around ZAR10 000.

But you don’t need to fork out anything at all to start your learning journey.

There are several online learning platforms. In this post, I will refer to the ones I have experience with.

Hubspot Academy

Hubspot is a software developer, and they make products for companies to manage their sales and marketing, e.g email marketing campaigns. I’ve been a long-time reader of their blog. It’s packed full of practical marketing articles.
Hubspot Academy is their online learning platform. I completed the Inbound Marketing certification.
The course is short – I finished in about two weekends. However, it’s packed full of great learnings. And because the lessons are quite brief, you stay engaged.
The courses include a set of videos, downloadable study guides and links as additional resources.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management tool. For instance, it allows you to schedule posts and monitor specific topics or brands on social media.
Hootsuite Academy has a range of free courses, and paid certifications. I selected the Social Media strategy – From A to Z. It is about 30 minutes long, and provides an overview of social media strategy.
Apart from the free courses, you can access guides like Ebooks on social media trends and managing your ad spend on Facebook. Overall, Hootsuite is a great resource to consult as you map your social media strategy.

Open2Study

Open2Study provides short courses online, offered by training providers and universities across the world. Courses cover a broad range of topics, and you can find accredited courses on here too.
I completed Writing for the Web, an important skill in marketing. The course was filled with practical examples. It’s a month-long and broken down into four modules. I was able to implement much of what I learnt immediately, and would definitely recommend this one if you’re about to start online writing.

Coursera

Coursera has among the widest range of courses to choose from. You can complete free courses or opt for paid specialisations. I’ve enrolled in a few courses over the years. I enjoyed Understanding the Media by Understanding Google. It demonstrated how Google owned so much of what we do online. Formats and learning materials differ from course to course, e.g. some have weekly assignments while others have tests at the end. In some courses, you will not be able to access the tests and students forums using the free version.

Happy learning!

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