How to Choose a Good Content Marketing Course

A good content marketing course will help you keep producing content which helps your brand to stand out. Over time, updating your skills regularly will help give both you and your clients an edge over the competition.

So, how do I choose a good content marketing course?

Content marketing is time consuming enough without adding courses to the equation. If you’ve decided to take a content marketing course, then it’s important to invest time in a course which will offer you value. After all, you don’t want to invest time in one course only to realize there was a better one out there all along.

A valuable course will meet the following conditions:

• It is updated frequently

Content marketing changes constantly because the digital world around us is always changing. Certain forms of content might become more popular within a specific segment of your target audience. A new social media platform might pop up and get everyone excited.

A worthwhile course should be updated regularly so that you can keep up with these changes. As a guideline, a good course should be updated at least once a year.

• It has a transparent syllabus

It’s important to know what you’re going to get out of the course right from the get-go. Make sure you look through the course outline before you commit to a course. The last thing you want to do is get halfway through a course only to find it doesn’t teach the skills you need.

Understanding what content the course covers is even more crucial if you’re paying for the course.

• It fills your knowledge gaps

Content marketing comes in so many different forms. If you’ve already perfected a particular type of content marketing, then there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Ideally, the course you choose should help you get better at using types of content you’re not very good at.

• It offers the necessary certification

As a content creator, it’s good to have evidence to show a prospective client that you’re great at what you do. For this reason, we would recommend you stick with courses which offer completion certificates.

• It is taught by an expert

When you’re a student in a course, you want to know that the person teaching you is qualified and knowledgeable. Keep this in mind when you’re looking for the perfect content marketing course. Here at Kontely, we recommend taking courses which provide information about the instructors.

Good content marketing courses for you to choose from

There are tons of content marketing courses out there, and they can get confusing. To make your work easier, we’ve taken time to check all of them out and develop a list of the best ones.

1) HubSpot Academy – Content Marketing (FREE)

HubSpot is a marketing and sales platform which helps businesses attract visitors and convert potential clients into paying clients. Given what they, do, the team at HubSpot knows how to develop engaging content. These are therefore some of the best people to learn content marketing from.

Image source: HubSpot Academy

This 8-hour certification course is broken into 14 lessons. The course aims to teach you to be an effective content marketer.

The 7 instructors who teach this course are all experts in content marketing. Justin Champion, a digital marketer at HubSpot, is the first instructor. He has more than 8 years’ experience in digital media. However, he is passionate about solving content marketing problems both online and offline.

What does this course cover?

• The power of storytelling
• Building a content creation framework
• Planning a long-term content strategy
• Generating content ideas
• Creating quality blog content your audience loves to read and share
• How HubSpot uses blogging to rank #1 on Google
• Extending the value of your content through repurposing
• Creating topic clusters and pillar pages
• How to create a successful video marketing strategy
• Building a guest blogging strategy powered by SEO
• How to effectively promote content
• Measuring and analyzing your content

Why should you take this course?

This course is a great choice because industry experts are responsible for teaching you the ins and outs of content marketing. Since it’s a free course, it’ll be easy on your wallet. Finally, you can earn a certificate to show off your skills at the end of the course.

2) Quick Sprout University – Content Creation and Content Marketing (FREE)

Quick Sprout University offers courses for content marketers, startups, small businesses and bloggers. They are a platform designed to help individuals and businesses drive traffic to their websites. For this reason, you can trust that they’ve got your content marketing needs covered.

The Content Creation and Content Marketing course falls under Quick Sprout University’s free MBA in Digital Marketing.

Image Source: Quick Sprout University

What does this course cover?

• How to Write 5 or More Articles a Week and Not Burn Out
• How to Create a Popular Infographic
• Does Infographic Marketing Still Work? A Data Driven Answer
• 8 Tactics to Increase Sales with Video Content
• The Ultimate Guide to Creating Visually Appealing Content
• 9 Tips to Create Highly Engaging Content
• 10 Tips To Help You Find Interesting Topics in Minutes
• 7 Ways to Find Better Content Ideas
• How to Do Curated Content RIGHT: A Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Create Content More Efficiently with Curation
• Writing a Compelling Article Introduction
• Producing a 3,000-Word Article on Any Topic
• How To Create a Guide That’ll Drive 360k Visitors
• Blogging, SEO and copywriting guides

Why should you take this course?

We recommend this course to content creators because it’s part of a bigger course. For a content creator, earning an MBA in Digital Marketing can really take your skills to the next level. What makes it even better is that this entire course is free. This one is definitely among our top choices.

3) Coursera – The Strategy of Content Marketing (FREE)

Coursera is an online learning platform which offers learners access to massive open online courses (MOOCs), specializations and degrees. The Strategy of Content Marketing is offered by UCDavis and taught by Sonia Simone, Chief Content Officer at Rainmaker Digital, LLC.

This course takes an average of 19 hours to complete. Moreover, learners earn a certificate at the end of the course.

Image source: Coursera

What does this course cover?

• The content marketing ecosystem
• The strategic context (The 7A framework)
• Mapping the journey: crafting a content marketing strategy
• The strategic types of content
• Managing your content

Why should you take this course?

Our team at Kontely recommends this course because the instructor is an expert in the industry. We also like the fact that they offer a certificate – proof of your skills as a content marketer.

4) Google Digital Garage – Get Started with Content Marketing (FREE)

Google Digital Garage offers content marketing as a module in their Fundamentals of Digital Marketing certification course. The course is accredited by Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe and The Open University. It includes 26 modules, all designed by Google trainers. Typically, the entire course lasts 40 hours.

The content marketing module is 6 lessons and 36 minutes long.

Image source: Google Digital Garage

What does this course cover?

5) Udemy – Content Marketing Masterclass: Create Content that Sells ($129.99)

This course is designed to help you master your content marketing so that you can grow your business. You can learn about content creation, promotion, copywriting, SEO, email marketing and more.

The Content Marketing Masterclass has been developed by Brad Merrill – an entrepreneur and journalist who enjoys creating things on the web. The course includes 3.5 hours of on-demand video and 12 articles. Upon completion, learners earn a certificate.

Image source: Udemy

What does this course cover?

• Classic marketing fundamentals
• Content marketing essentials
• Web design
• Generating content ideas
• Copywriting
• Types of content
• Content formats & repurposing
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Content promotion
• Email marketing
• External marketing channels
• Measuring your results

Why should you take this course?

Not only is the Brad Merrill an industry expert, but this course also offers a certificate of completion. While this course normally costs $129 on Udemy, the platform usually offers discounts for new students. As you can see in the image above, at the time of writing this article new students only need to pay $12.99 for the entire course.

5) Skillshare – Content Marketing Masterclass ($8/month)

Skillshare is another popular online platform that offers classes in different fields taught by industry experts. Coincidentally, this course is the same one Brad Merrill teaches on Udemy. It’s 3 hours and 36 minutes long on Skillshare.

Image source: Skillshare

In comparison to Udemy, however, Brad Merrill’s course is more detailed on Skillshare. In fact, on Skillshare he covers 82 topics – too many for us to list for you here.

Why should you take this course?

Skillshare’s masterclass is a great alternative to the one on Udemy because it covers more topics and it’s cheaper. However, before you sign up for Skillshare, it’s important to note that they don’t offer certificates at this time. So, if you want proof of the skills you’ve learnt, you might want to go to Udemy for this course.

6) Lynda – Content Marketing courses ($30/month)

Lynda is an online learning platform that allows anyone to pick up business and creative skills to give their career a boost.

Furthermore, Lynda offers a variety of content marketing courses, including:

• Introduction to content marketing
• Content marketing for social media
• Content marketing foundations
• Advanced content marketing

Image source: Lynda

Why should you take these courses?

The instructors in Lynda are all experts in their fields. In addition, Lynda offers course certificates. While $30 a month might seem like a lot to pay, Lynda does offer a one-month free trial period. This is helpful if you simply want to explore what the platform has to offer before you commit to taking a course.

As you can see, for someone looking to brush up on their content marketing skills, there are many options out there. Hopefully, with this list you can learn something new to give your creative work a boost.