It’s important to keep up-to-date with all current digital marketing trends and getting certified on the most used programs can help do that. There are dozens of online digital courses you can get certified in, both free and paid, that will be beneficial for your company and your employees. But you may be asking yourself, “What digital certifications do I need to take?” Your time is valuable and you don’t want to spend it on certifications that may not be as beneficial as another certification.
Start building up your team, company, and yourself with these digital marketing certifications. In honor of Walker360 becoming a Google Partner, here are the digital certifications we recommend you start right away.
Google Certifications
Being certified on Google means that Google recognizes you as an expert in online advertising. You can work on several different personal certifications or you can work on having your company become a Google Partner.
As a Google Partner, you will get more consumer insight reports so you can access the information you need to make business decisions, get promotional offers and credits, receive a Partner badge that shows clients your company is an expert in Google, and you will be put in a directory so you can be discovered by people looking up advertising services through Google.
To become a Google Partner, you will need to complete and pass the Google Ads Search Certification, Shopping Ads Certification, and Google Ads Display Certification. Then you need to make sure that all your campaigns have an optimization score of at least 70% to ensure you are properly running your accounts and checking notifications. Finally, you must spend at least $10,000 in ad spend in the past 90 days to show you are growing and sustaining your business.
Using Google Skillshop, you can earn free certifications by reviewing courses and taking exams. We recommend getting 3 certifications with Skillshop in Search, Display, and Shopping. Each course offers multiple lessons to go through and a practice test (all optional) before the actual exam. Even if you don’t pass an exam with 80% the first time around, you can always wait a day and take it again.
Search Certification
The search certification is designed to show you know how to build and optimize search campaigns in Google Ads. This includes covering topics like Smart Bidding, Audience Solutions, and exploring how to utilize Performance Planner. It will help you better understand how to utilize search campaigns, develop a marketing strategy to increase sales or web traffic, and how to customize your marketing budget to fit your needs. The Google Ads Search Assessment is 50 questions and you have 75 minutes to complete it with an 80% or higher grade.
Display Certification
The display certification helps you learn how to develop strong Display strategies and campaigns. You’ll be able to create a marketing strategy for display ads and increase your campaign’s awareness, consideration, and ROI. The Google Ads Display Assessment is 49 questions and you have 75 minutes to complete it with an 80% or higher grade.
Shopping Certification
The shopping certification ensures you can create and optimize shopping ads to maximize reach and conversions. You will know how to promote your products and local inventory through Google Shopping Ads, use local catalog ads, drive in-store traffic, and start reaching people at the beginning of their shopping journey. The Google Ads Shopping Assessment is 46 questions and you have 75 minutes to complete it with an 80% or higher grade.
Pros: Google Skillshop is 100% free and allows you to retake course exams as many times as you need until you are an expert. The exam process is simple and can be done at any point, with breaks, online.
Cons: There isn’t a lot of coverage on the specific features of the program or how it looks, you will need to dive into each application while exploring the courses if you want to get a true feel of the program.
Facebook (Meta) Certifications
Staying on top of Facebook updates and algorithm changes can be rough. Luckily, Facebook certification courses help you determine what you need to do to be successful on the platform. Now called Meta Certification, these courses will help you stand out and learn advanced techniques on how to run Facebook ads and take full advantage of Facebook.
Facebook gets a little more advanced with their training and it will cost you money to get certified, but doing so can help you improve your skills and your company’s credentials. Just like Google, you will be able to display your certification for marketing purposes. If some of the courses are too advanced for you, don’t worry. Facebook covers all grounds so some certifications may not be beneficial if you don’t have coding knowledge.
Exams on Facebook can be taken online or in-person at a professional testing center and require a government-issued photo ID. Unfortunately, each certification costs $150 dollars. If you choose to do the exam online, you will need a microphone and webcam. You won’t be allowed to leave the room and will be watched by a test monitor. If you fail the exam, you can retake it in 5 days but will still need to pay the full entrance exam fee.
There are 8 different Facebook Certifications you can take.
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Meta Certified Digital Marketing Associate
- Learn the value of Facebook Ads, advertising fundamentals, how to boost your presence, how to create and manage ads, and how to report on your ads. The test duration is 90 minutes.
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Meta Certified Marketing Science Professional
- You will learn how to assess data, hypothesize, recommend marketing solutions, perform an analysis, generate insights, and create data-driven solutions. This test duration is 105 minutes.
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Meta Certified Creative Strategy Professional
- Discover the fundamentals of mobile Facebook, dive into search and insights, how campaign objectives work, and how to evaluate and measure your campaigns. This test duration is 90 minutes.
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Meta Certified Media Planning Professional
- This course goes into depth about how to set up campaigns based on your needs, how to learn from insights on Facebook, different media recommendations/strategies, and how to monitor your campaigns. This test duration is 105 minutes.
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Meta Certified Media Buying Professional
- In these courses, you will learn all the specifics about planning and setting up campaigns to make it easier for you to optimize, measure, and report your ads in the future. This test duration is 105 minutes.
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Meta Certified Marketing Developer
- Dive deep into advanced marketing techniques and how to use your product catalog to build your audience. You will also learn how to troubleshoot product feed, pixel integration, or any other issues you may come across on Facebook. This test duration is 90 minutes.
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Meta Certified Community Manager
- Here you will learn how to define and establish a community within your audience, how to develop community strategies and processes, and how to make strategic content decisions to generate the best results possible. This test duration is 105 minutes.
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Meta Certified Spark AR Creator
- For more advanced Facebook advertisers, you can learn how to design different ads, assemble products with AR, and add interactive to your ads for maximum engagement. This test duration is 90 minutes.
Pros: Facebook offers live training if the online course just isn’t cutting it for you. They get a lot more advanced with their topics and even offer test help while you are taking the certification.
Cons: Facebook will charge you for each test you take, regardless of if you are retaking the test or not. The tests are also harder to take since you have to either travel to a testing center or have a microphone, camera, and have the time not to be bothered regardless of what comes up.
Now that you have some different options to explore, it’s time to jump in and start getting certified so you can grow personally and grow your company or team.
If you need help with these certifications or just don’t have the time to do them, Walker360 is here to help. Walker360 offers digital marketing and printing solutions for any business, big or small. We are located in Montgomery, Alabama, and strive to help your business succeed. Reach out to us today to create a custom marketing plan for your company so you can always stay ahead of the competition and on top of the latest marketing trends.
