Scary as it is to say, the New Year is just around the corner. It’s time to start thinking about your career goals and the steps you have to take to achieve them, which most likely includes ongoing education.
To help you, we have put together a list of certifications (or classes) marketers should have (or take) to help advance their careers.
MARKETING
The term “marketing” encompasses a wide array of specialties… that’s what makes it so exciting. From inbound to email and everything in between, there are several certifications within this area you can look into:
Analytics
Google Analytics – Any member of Google Partners can earn a Google Analytics individual qualification. Once you've passed the Google Analytics IQ exam, you can demonstrate your achievement with a personalized certificate issued by Google. Agencies get badged.
Google Adwords – The Google AdWords certification is a professional accreditation that Google offers to individuals who demonstrate proficiency in basic and advanced aspects of AdWords. An AdWords certification allows individuals to demonstrate that Google recognizes them as an expert in online advertising.
Inbound Marketing/Social Media Marketing
HubSpot Inbound – HubSpot Academy's free Inbound Certification course consists of twelve class lectures that span the four stages of the inbound methodology. From optimizing your website, to landing page anatomy, to honing your inbound sales skills, this free certification course covers the basics of what inbound is all about.
MarketingProfs Social Media Marketing: The Full Monty – Designed for marketers who are seeking more from their social media efforts, this course will give you hands-on strategies (and tactics) to make the most of your search marketing efforts. You’ll learn to integrate social media with other key areas of business, such as PR, customer service, and advertising, using the most effective techniques from today's top social media experts.
Content Marketing
Hubspot Content Marketing – HubSpot’s Content Marketing Certification will teach you how to build scalable, repeatable processes for creating and promoting content that converts into leads and new customers. If you're creating content or managing content creators - this course will give you expert tactics for efficiently building your content library, and extracting more value from every content asset you create.
Content Marketing Institute – CMI University is your hub for all things related to content marketing education and training – your one-stop shop to help you do your job better and more effectively. They offer a new class every quarter, so sign up to be notified when the next enrollment opens.
Email Marketing/Marketing Automation
HubSpot Email Marketing – With HubSpot’s Email Marketing course, you’ll learn how lifecycle marketing, segmentation, email design, deliverability, analytics and optimization come together to create an email marketing strategy that grows your business, and your career.
Marketing Automation – It’s important if you use a marketing automation software that you have at least one certified person in-house. We have a team of Marketo-certified experts at Hileman Group.
MarketingProfs Email Marketing Master – In this course, you’ll get an overview on how to create a blueprint for email marketing success. You'll learn how to convert more customers using behavior-based trigger emails, test your emails to get maximum effectiveness, nurture new leads with impressive onboarding messaging, build robust email lists through segmented targeting, and gain subscribers who actually want to be on your list.
MarketingProfs B2B Roundup – Through nine classes, you'll learn how to create a high-powered lead-gen program, you'll know which information is relevant to capture for a lead (and which isn't), how to quickly and effectively qualify a lead, how to corral leads through your sales funnel, how to automate your lead processes to make them even easier and faster, and more.
CREATIVITY
Obviously, when it comes to creative positions, you more than likely have the degree to back it up. Of course, there are a few certifications available to help sharpen your skills. And, as newer, shinier things come up practically every day, it helps to keep those skills fresh by reading up on the latest trends as well.
Visual Design
Google Mobile Sites – The Mobile Sites certification is a professional accreditation that Google offers to individuals who demonstrate proficiency in basic and advanced aspects of mobile website design and development. A Mobile Sites certification allows individuals to demonstrate that Google recognizes them as an expert in mobile sites.
How They Design – How They Design is a newsletter for people who are more interested in defining real problems and answering questions based on research and analysis. You can expect a defined problem and a whole process behind solving that particular issue.
Smashing Magazine – Smashing Magazine offers delivers useful and innovative information for web developers and web designers.
Designmodo – Designmodo is a great resource of informative material for designers and web developers. There are several categories you could browse through, depending on your interests like Web Design and Web Development, Tips and Tutorials, WordPress, Inspiration and others.
Fastcodesign.com – Brought to you by Fast Company, this website inspires stories about innovation and business, seen through the lens of design.
Usability/UX
Nielsen Norman Group’s UX Certification – NN/g's training and UX Certification program offers in-depth, targeted learning about the most important UX topics and effective UX techniques. Maximize the value of your training budget by selecting courses that cover exactly what you need to know in an intensive, focused environment.
Boagworld – Paul Boag, a User Experience Designer and expert in digital transformation, offers up expert advice on user experience design.
UX Planet – UX Planet is a one-stop resource for everything related to user experience.
UX Stack Exchange – User Experience Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for user experience researchers and experts.
Copywriting
MarketingProfs Marketing Writing Bootcamp – Whether you're crafting emails, writing blog posts, drafting press releases, putting together presentations, editing videos, or telling stories, writing is the most important component of your marketing efforts. This bootcamp contains 13 classes tailor-made for anyone tasked with varied writing duties, from messaging strategy and business writing essentials to writing for conversion and B2B communication to video scripts and storytelling.
TECHNOLOGY
This is another field where a healthy background in coding and web development is necessary, but, continuous advancements in the industry means there’s always something new to learn. So, why not get another certification added to your resume? Here are a few we like:
If you use a content management system (CMS) in your organization, you should have at least one employee certified in that CMS. At Hileman Group, we have a team of Kentico-certified and Sitecore-certified developers.
W3Schools CSS Certification – CSS is used to control the style and layout of multiple webpages all at once, enabling you to change the appearance and layout of all the pages in a website. The W3Schools CSS Developer Certificate proves fundamental knowledge of web development using advanced CSS.
W3Schools HTML Developer Certificate – HTML is the foundation of web development, used to format text, create hyperlinks, tables, lists, forms, display images and more. By mastering HTML, you will be able to develop and maintain web pages unlimited to a particular software program's features. The HTML Developer Certificate proves fundamental knowledge of web development using HTML5.
W3Schools JavaScript Certificate – JavaScript is the scripting language of the web, used in millions of webages to improve the design, validate forms, detect browsers, create cookies, and much more. By mastering JavaScript and the HTML DOM, you will be able to develop and maintain more dynamic and interactive web pages.
MTA: Developer – This certification is for those intending to build a career as a software developer. This track helps prepare you for hands-on product training and MCSD certification. Start with MTA Software Development Fundamentals and then select the additional topics in this track to help you meet your career development goals.
For those looking to really enhance their developer skills (like, in a crazy way), we’ve got the inside track. These recommendations will help you on the path to getting your 1) Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA), 2) Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD), 3) Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA), and finally, the pièce de résistance, the 4) Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MSCE) with a Data Management and Analytics proficiency certifications:
Programming in C#
This training course teaches developers the programming skills that are required for developers to create Windows applications using the C# language. During their five days in the classroom students review the basics of C# program structure, language syntax, and implementation details, and then consolidate their knowledge throughout the week as they build an application that incorporates several features of the .NET Framework 4.5.
Developing ASP.NET MVC 4 Web Applications
In this course, students will learn to develop advanced ASP.NET MVC applications using .NET Framework 4.5 tools and technologies. The focus will be on coding activities that enhance the performance and scalability of a web application. ASP.NET MVC will be introduced and compared with Web Forms so that students know when each should/could be used.
MOC Workshop: Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions
This workshop is a chance for developers and IT Pros to come together and learn the architecture skills necessary to design solutions for Microsoft Azure. The classroom experience for this workshop is high-level review of the pre-requisite materials students are expected to have completed in advance. Then, students will assemble into groups to work on several real-world design case studies to design solutions for the Microsoft Azure platform.
Querying Data with Transact-SQL
This course is designed to introduce students to Transact-SQL. It is designed in such a way that the first three days can be taught as a course to students requiring the knowledge for other courses in the SQL Server curriculum. Days 4 & 5 teach the remaining skills required to take exam 70-761.
Developing SQL Databases
This five-day instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge and skills to develop a Microsoft SQL Server 2016 database. The course focuses on teaching individuals how to use SQL Server 2016 product features and tools related to developing a database.
Developing Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Databases
This 5-day instructor-led course introduces SQL Server 2014 and describes logical table design, indexing and query plans. It also focusses on the creation of database objects including views, stored procedures, along with parameters, and functions. Other common aspects of procedure coding, such as indexes, concurrency, error handling, and triggers are also covered in this course.
EXTRA CREDIT
Sometimes, your performance review has nothing to do with an area of expertise, but everything to do with general, everyday business skills. We’ve provided a handful of general certifications you can get to help you get ahead in your career.
Project Management Institute Certification – A project management certification from PMI ensures that you’re ready to meet the demands of projects and employers across the globe. With a PMI certification behind your name, you can work in virtually any industry, anywhere in the world, and with any project management methodology.
Digital Event Strategist – Earning this certification shows you are the authority on live stream and digital events. The DES certification is designed to help you effectively plan, produce and measure the results of your live stream and digital engagement events.
AMA Certified Professional Marketer – With the American Marketing Association Professional Certified Marketer (PCM®) program, you’ll not only gain the knowledge you need to advance your career, but you’ll also prove to employers you’re equipped to take on modern marketing challenges.
Google Partners Digital – The Digital Sales exam is designed to test your knowledge of online advertising basic concepts and sales skills. It assess how effective you are in selling Google's digital solutions to clients.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – Every organization has a way to keep track of their customers and prospects, even if it’s just an Excel spreadsheet. If you are an organization that uses a more robust tool, like Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics, you should consider getting certified to demonstrate your proficiency in the software.
BONUS!
Speaking of the upcoming year, need more help planning your marketing programs? Learn some marketing tactics that will die in the next year!
The world of marketing has changed drastically in the last decade. With the window to the world at their fingertips, buyers are empowered to proactively find products and services to meet their needs before ever talking to you. Do you know if your marketing programs are working? Are your prospects finding the content they need to make informed decisions? In the following article, we identify 5 signs your company is ready for marketing automation.
The world of marketing has changed drastically in the last decade. With the window to the world at their fingertips, buyers are empowered to proactively find products and services to meet their needs before ever talking to you. Do you know if your marketing programs are working? Are your prospects finding the content they need to make informed decisions? In the following article, we identify 5 signs your company is ready for marketing automation.
The world of marketing has changed drastically in the last decade. With the window to the world at their fingertips, buyers are empowered to proactively find products and services to meet their needs before ever talking to you. Do you know if your marketing programs are working? Are your prospects finding the content they need to make informed decisions? In the following article, we identify 5 signs your company is ready for marketing automation.