The Best Social Media Training Courses

Is social media training overrated? Can’t I figure it out on my own? Well, certainly we can try, but can we really succeed in knowing the strategies and all of the rapid changes as they come about?

Not quite.

Social Media Training is Essential

Social media training courses give us a plethora of information in a really tight, time-saving packages. They also are often lifetime memberships with frequents updates.

What does that mean for you?

Simply revisit them every 6 months or so to find more goodness.

I pulled together courses (some of which I’ve taken) that will help you up your social media for business game. If you’re looking for a social media training course, this post is your pot of gold!

Hint: If you want to see the free courses, search ‘free’ by using cmd + f on Mac or cntl + f on Windows.

General Social Media Training

Social Media 101

Creator: Constant Contact
Cost: Free
Topics Include:

• Facebook 101
• Twitter 101
• LinkedIn 101
• Pinterest 101
• Instagram 101
• Google+ 101
• YouTube 101
• Snapchat 101

25 Expert Social Media Growth Strategies

Creator: Brian Peters, Buffer
Cost: Free
Topics Include:

• The best (free) tool for finding great content
• Getting started with video marketing on a budget
• 5 hidden Instagram features for marketers
• Our must-have image creation tools for marketers
• The power of resharing content on Facebook
• 10 free stock photography resources for marketers
• Building your brand through content curation
• Create an educational screen recording to sell your product
• Understanding social media algorithms and to use them in your favor

Care for a sneak peek of part of this course?

Introduction to Social Media Strategy

Creator: Brian Peters, Buffer
Cost: Included with a Skillshare free trial or paid subscription
Topics Include:

• Choose the right social platforms for your business
• Create and curate effective visual content
• Use tools like Buffer to schedule, analyze, and improve your posts
• Execute Brian’s 5-step Facebook advertising plan

Social Media Marketing Education

Creator: Hootsuite
Cost: Free
Topics Include:

• Intro to Social Media Marketing
• Social Media Strategy
• Optimizing Your Social Media Profiles
• Content Marketing Fundamentals
• Growing Your Online Community
• Social Advertizing Fundamentals

Social Media Marketing Society

Creator: Social Media Examiner
Cost: $45.oo per month (membership for all-access)
Topics Include:

• All platforms
• Many industry leaders contributing
• New trainings and hangouts several times monthly
• Forum for members

Facebook Marketing Help

Facebook for Business

Creator: Brad Batesole, Lynda.com
Cost: $24.99 a month for access to all trainings
Topics Include:

• Planning your page
• Engaging your community with status updates, photos, and video
• Creating events and scheduling posts
• Pinning and embedding posts
• Moderating comments on your page
• Creating a boosted post
• Creating advertisements
• Using Insights to track likes, post reach, page visits, and more
• Adding page administrators
• Linking to Twitter

Retail Marketing Academy

Creator: Samantha English
Cost: $197.00 or $697 (with Mastermind)
Topics Include:

• Your Brand
• Your Facebook Ad
• Using Power Editor
• Your Audience
• Creating High Converting Email Collector Forms
• The Art of the Follow-Up
• Understanding Reporting

Jumpstart Your FB Marketing

Creator: Amy Porterfield
Cost: $197.00
Topics Include: 

• Boost Your Online Presence
• Apply the “Perfect Facebook Post” formula
• Use the Facebook Guide
• Implement the Simple System
• Develop a Promotional Calendar
• Gain Momentum and Supercharge Your Results

Twitter Marketing Help

Crack the Twitter Code

Creator: Keith Keller
Cost: Free
Topics Include:

• Get More Followers
• Extend Your Reach Using Hashtags
• Track the Progress of Your Tweets
• Automate Your Tweets to Save You Time
• Drive Traffic Back to Your Website
• Increase Your Database and Sales

Twitter for Business

Creator: Brad Batesole, Lynda.com
Cost: $24.99 a month for access to all trainings
Topics Include:

• Creating your user name and Twitter bio
• Following other accounts
• Crafting great tweets
• Embedding photos and video
• Using Twitter Cards to create “rich” tweets
• Searching for potential clients
• Advertising on Twitter
• Using third-party Twitter-management tools
• Tracking Twitter via Google Analytics

LinkedIn Marketing Help

LinkedIn for Business

Creator: Viveka Von Rosen, Lynda.com
Cost: $24.99 a month for access to all trainings
Topics Covered: 

• Understanding company pages and profiles
• Knowing and finding your audience
• Using the Who’s Viewed Your Profile and You Recently Visited tools
• Tagging and sharing content
• Creating a message campaign
• Building a dynamic company page
• Creating engaging updates
• Marketing your LinkedIn page
• Recruiting with LinkedIn

Linked University

Creator: Josh Turner
Cost: $897.00
Topics Include: 

• How to prospect on LinkedIn to find new, qualified business opportunities
• How to position your profile at the top of LinkedIn’s people search
• How to grow your database of first degree LinkedIn connections exponentially
• How to drive a ton of traffic from LinkedIn to your website
• How to establish a marketing campaign to stay “top of mind” 
• How to establish yourself as THE expert in your space

Pinterest Marketing Help

Power of Pinning

Creator: Melanie Duncan
Cost: $297.00
Topics Include:

• Setting Up An Official Business Account
• Fueling Your Creativity & Inspiration
• Branding & Optimizing Your Pinterest Page
• Using Pinterest for R&D
• Becoming the “Art Director” of Your Pinterest Page
• Content Curation Code Cracked
• The Perfect Pin
• Build Your List
• Building Your Boards

Pinterest for Business

Creator: Cynthia Sanchez, Lynda.com
Cost: $24.99 a month for access to all trainings
Topics Include:

• How to pin
• Researching customers on Pinterest
• Creating a Pinterest plan
• Creating a pinnable website
• Opening a business Pinterest account
• Linking to other social networks
• Following other pinners
• Crafting good pin descriptions
• Creating article- and product-rich pins
• Measuring Pinterest success with analytics

Periscope Marketing Help

Periscope Profit Machine

Creator: Kim Garst
Cost: $97.00
Topics Include:

• 17 training modules
• Getting your first 1000 followers
• Writing catchy titles
• Drive more hearts, shares and comments
• Building your brand on Periscope

How to Grow Your Business with Periscope

Creator: Chalene Johnson
Cost: Free
Topics Include:

• How to Get Started
• How to Grow Your Business
• How to Re-Use Your Content

Snapchat Marketing Help

The Ultimate Snapchat Tutorial

Creator: Leslie Samuel
Cost: Free
Topics Include:

• Why You Should Take it Seriously
• A Tour of Snapchat
• How to Find Friends on Snapchat
• Text and Video Chat
• How to Create and Send Snaps
• How to Use Filters and Geofilters
• 10 Ways to Get More Views and Friends
• What Do the Numbers Mean?

Up and Running with Snapchat

Creator: Anson Alexander, Lynda.com
Cost: $24.99 a month for access to all trainings
Topics Include:

• Creating a Snapchat account
• Adding friends in Snapchat
• Sending and receiving videos
• Chatting
• Deleting a Snapchat account

Instagram Marketing Help

Learn Instagram: The Basics

Creator: Garrick Chow, Lynda.com
Cost: $24.99 a month for access to all trainings
Topics Include: 

• What is Instagram?
• Creating an Instagram account
• Following other users
• Shooting photos and videos
• Processing photos
• Posting photos to Instagram
• Liking and commenting on photos
• Tagging photos
• Regrammming photos

Instagram With Intention

Creator: Hilary Rushford
Cost: $97.00
Topics Covered:

• Why and how to use Instagram
• Photography and Visual Voice
• What to Share
• When and How to Share
• The Dual Profile Debate
• How to Nurture and Grow Your Audience
• Your Endgame

Instagram Impact

Creator: Chalene Johnson
Cost: $99.00
Topics Covered: 

• Creating an Effective Instagram Bio
• How to Use Videos on Instagram to Connect with Customers
• Connecting with Instagram Direct Message
• Best Practices for Linking Your Instagram Account to Other Social Sites
• Using the Explore Page to Connect with More Potential Customers
• The 5, 3, 1 Technique

Ready to Get started?

Social media training is essential to knowing where to focus in your digital marketing.

What social media training courses have you taken? How were they? Share with us on Twitter!