Top 10 Content Marketing Courses
Content marketing courses can help you or your team on top of the latest strategies and frameworks for bringing your content to life. But not all courses are worth your time or money. So we’ve brought together a list of the ten best content marketing programs in 2021. The list runs the gamut from well-known universities to free online courses.
The purpose of content marketing courses is to help marketing professionals stay up-to-date with rapid changes in the industry. As marketing becomes more digital, marketers need to continuously update their skill set.
All of these courses can be completed 100% online and can fit into your already busy professional schedule. Content marketing courses can help you or your team on top of the latest strategies and frameworks for bringing your content to life. But not all courses are worth your time or money. So we’ve brought together a list of the ten best content marketing programs in 2021. The list runs the gamut from well-known universities to free online courses.
The purpose of content marketing courses is to help marketing professionals stay up-to-date with rapid changes in the industry. As marketing becomes more digital, marketers need to continuously update their skill set.
All of these courses can be completed 100% online and can fit into your already busy professional schedule.
When selecting the best course for you, there are a few points to consider:
- Skill gap: Do you have any specific skills that are missing in your toolkit? After all, the main purpose of taking the course is to learn a new skill. I would start by identifying what the gaps are in your skill set, and then go from there.
- Resume building: Are you looking to build out your resume to make a career change? Will you be looking for an industry change? Depending on your individual circumstances and your next career goal, you can select the right course for your needs.
- Budget: Will you be funding the course from your own funding, or will your company contribute? What is the return expected on the new skill you will acquire?
- Time investment: Are you working full-time with a young family at home. What is the realistic number of hours that you can dedicate to learning? Have a hard look at your calendar, and see where you can fit in 1-2 hours per day to make up the time required.
- Duration: Do you have the stamina and time to devote to a 2 year course? Or do you want something that may be shorter and give you an immediate hit of knowledge.
- Reputation: How important is the brand and reputation of the organization delivering the course? If you are up-skilling for your own pleasure, this is less important. If you are looking to make a career change and want to use the course as a springboard, the brand and reputation may be very important to meet your goal.
Finally, here are the top 10 content marketing courses offered fully online in 2021:
1. Content Marketing Institute
The Content Marketing Institute is a great resource for all content marketers looking to learn from the best. Their course includes 10 modules on strategy, story & narrative, SEO, email marketing and podcasting. There are more than 500 students per class and over 30 hours of curriculum.
Speakers: Robert Rose, Chief Content Officer for the Content Marketing Institute plus other industry leaders who deep dive into their expertise like:
- Andrew Davis, Author of Brandscaping and Town, INC
- Jacquie Chakirelis, Founder, Online Platform Institute
- April Henderson, VP, Practice Director, Forrester Research
- Sydni Craig-Hart, CEO & Wil Hart, COO, Smart Simple Marketing
Cost: 995 USD
Length: You get access for 12 months, and complete the 10 modules at your own pace.
What do you get: Once completed, you will receive a Certificate
2. Digital Marketing Institute
5 interactive modules including SEO, storytelling, channel performance and measuring performance. With over 500 5- star customer reviews, this course has the proof to back up it’s promises. As part of the course fee, you also get access to the DMI community of over 130,000 members for life.
Cost: 395 Euro
Length: 10 Hours of self-paced learning, you’ll have 12 weeks to complete it
What do you get: Associate Certification
Visit the Digital Marketing Institute to sign up
3. HubSpot Academy
The Hubspot Content Marketing course is a free course, which we recommend as an introduction to get an overview on what content marketing is all about.
The course includes 12 lessons and 56 videos including storytelling, promotion and performance evaluation. They also walk you through a framework to use for your content marketing strategy.
Speakers:
Cost: Free
Length: 6:20 hours of self-paced learning, you’ll have 12 weeks to complete it
What do you get: Certification
Use this link to sign up for this free course.
4. University of California – Davis
This course is a partnership between Copyblogger and UC Davis and is offered via Coursera. It has a 96% score on Coursera from almost 18,000 reviewers. You also get the brand recognition with US Davis behind this course.
Cost: Free or 49 USD for the Certificate
Length: 19 hours to complete
What do you get: Certificate
Visit the course website to learn more.
5. Northwestern University
This is a Content Strategy for Professionals Specialization course via Coursera. It has 4.6 stars from 582 reviewers – so well rated and attended. Northwestern is a top tier US University, so brand recognition as well.
There are 5 courses in the specialization including a Capstone project, and they suggest 4 months to complete it.
Cost: 49 USD/month
Length: Recommended 4 months to complete
What do you get: Certificate of Specialization
Visit Coursera to sign up for this course.
6. Copyblogger Pro
Copyblogger pro membership gives you access to their four masterclasses: content writing, e-mail marketing, SEO and online business. By signing up for a one year membership, you have access to take these courses and more as part of your membership.
Cost: 495 USD per year
Length: Recommended 1 year membership to complete all the available courses
What do you get: Certificate of Specialization
Learn more about Copyblogger Pro and sign up here.
7. University of Washington
The University of Washington offers a Certificate in Storytelling and Content Strategy. The certificate program is split into three courses: Content Strategy, Content creation and content science.
Cost: 3597 USD
Length: 8 months
What do you get: Certificate in Storytelling & Content Strategy
Get more information and sign up here.
8. Udemy Content Marketing Masterclass by Brad Merrill
The Udemy Content Marketing Masterclass: Create content that sells has a 4.5 rating by 2816 reviewers. It includes 3.5 hours of video, 12 articles and full lifetime access to the content of the course. The course includes 14 sections and 94 lectures including everything from the fundamentals, to copywriting, SEO, all the way to how to measure your results.
Cost: Normally 119.99 USD, however, at the time of writing this, it was on sale for 16.99 USD.
Length: 3 hours and 45minutes of videos
What do you get: Certificate of completion
Access this course on the Udemy website
9. SEMRush
The SEMRush Content Marketing Toolkit Course includes 4 modules: Content Analysis and Optimization, Content Research & Ideation, Content Distribution, and Content Performance and Management. The course includes 9 lessons, which take approximately 3 hours to complete.
Cost: Free
Length: 3 hours
What do you get: Certification (After passing the exam)
Sign up for SEMRush Content Marketing Toolkit Course here
10. DePaul University
DePaul University’s Content Marketing Strategy Certificate Program consists of 6 weeks of content, broken down as follows:
Week1: Foundational overview of content marketing
Week 2: Building a content marketing strategy
Week 3: Developing content for marketing campaigns
Week 4: Promoting and syndicating content marketing
Week 5: Measuring impact and optimizing content marketing campaigns
Week 6: Hands-on project to build a content marketing plan
Cost: 1,295 USD
Length: 6 weeks
What do you get: Certificate
11. The School of The New York Times
Certificate in Content Marketing was created as a partnership between the School of the New York Times and T Brand Studio. T Brand Studio is the brand marketing unit of The New York Times.
The program includes the following five courses:
- Story Mining & Strategy: Creating Great Branded Content
- How to Tell Brand Stories With Video
- The Designer’s Guide to Building a Brand Story
- Thinking About the Other Side?
- Attracting, Engaging and Measuring Digital Audiences for Branded Content
Cost: 1,450 USD
Length: At your own pace
What do you get: Certificate
