For years, the HubSpot Certification and the Inbound Certification served as core training for those new to HubSpot, teaching the principles and practices of inbound marketing as well as how to use its marketing automation and CRM platform. Now, there are even more resources available.
HubSpot has expanded its offerings on marketing certifications, meaning there’s plenty of additional content to train digital marketers on their inbound methodology. The popular provider of CRM software and leader in inbound methodology is now at eight certification courses as of June 2016.
The courses feature video content, course notes and more to help you learn the material. Once you’re sufficiently knowledgeable, take the test to prove that you know the material. Pass it, and you can display your certification on your LinkedIn profile, or print out the proof.
The newest certification is email marketing, which is 3.5 hours’ worth of content centered on mastering the art and science of emailing your customers to improve your marketing outcomes. But perhaps the most significant of the recently added courses is the Inbound Sales Certification, active in bridging the gap between sales and marketing teams.
Though deciding which classes to take is contingent on your professional role and the skills you want to add to your arsenal, we’d encourage you to take as many relevant certification courses as you can. After all, digital marketing is about always innovating, and it’s essential to equip yourself with versatile tools that make you better at getting the results your agency or organization desires.
Free/Open to Everyone
Inbound Certification
A comprehensive 12-class course that covers all of the core tenets of inbound marketing, this is the best place for beginners to start. Many of the subsequent courses are great follow-ups once you get the inbound certification under your belt.
For more fundamental training, check out our 5 Fundamental Pillars of Smarketing.
Email Marketing Certification
Many business marketers see email marketing as the most effective way to reach prospective buyers, so this course delivers the basics on setting up a successful email — what to send, how to lay it out and who to send it to.
Inbound Sales Certification
Sometimes, trying to convince legacy salespeople to embrace the inbound sales methodology is difficult. Once they recognize that legacy sales is dead, get them up to speed with this five-class course that’ll help both sales beginners and experienced professionals develop the essential tools for inbound selling.
Hubspot Design Certification (Requires free account registration)
This training covers the essentials to content presentation that include responsive websites; templates for landing pages, blogs, and emails; and the tools available in HubSpot’s Content Optimization System. The design certification process includes both a 70-question test and a practicum, where HubSpot reviews your work before granting the certification.
Growth-Driven Design Agency Certification
Project-based websites take a long time to make, and they’re soon obsolete. Agencies interested in improving the website design and optimization process should learn more about growth-driven design, which allows you to build your website quickly and make regular improvements to stay ahead of the game.
For HubSpot Customers or Agency Partners
HubSpot Certification
Becoming a HubSpot customer takes a sizable investment, so it’s important that businesses get the most out of the powerful tools at their disposals within the CRM platform. Going over the practical tenets of how to make your process work properly, this may be the most important course for customers (along with the Inbound Certification).
Agency Partner Certification
This training is intended for marketing agencies on how best to deliver value to clients and retain them as long-term customers. It looks at expectation setting, lead generation and quantifying the return on investment, among other topics.
Contextual Marketing Certification
One of the more advanced courses available, this delves into using smart content to convert more leads based on their lifecycle changes. For example, it could make sense to show a first-time visitor different information than a visitor who has spent hours reading your content over the past few months. It’s a somewhat limited-access course, only available to HubSpot customers with Professional or Enterprise accounts.
If you need HubSpot consulting or a resource for the strategy and implementation of an inbound marketing plan, SmarkLabs is a HubSpot Certified Gold Partner. Drop us a line and we’ll talk to you about whether we might have a good fit.
