Marketing Certifications

By Olivia Mooring

Whether you’re trying to land your first marketing job or you’re a current marketing professional looking to take on new responsibilities, specialized training can help you develop the skills you need to be successful. In my senior year of college at the University of Nevada, Reno, I began writing my professional resume to use for applying for jobs when I graduated.

While working on it, I began to get nervous that my resume wouldn’t stand out since a lot of other students had done multiple internships already and they had already acquired skills for future employment, that I did not have. I began to research on Google ways to make your marketing resume stand out better and I found a great article about marketing certifications and how adding them to your resume could help you in your career.

What are marketing certifications?

Marketing certifications refer to industry-specific qualifications in various marketing tools, systems, and programs. Certifications are available in specific tools used for analytics, social media targeting, design, and more. These certification trains you in marketing skills and allows you to market yourself as an expert in the field. They are usually online courses that can include training videos, quizzes, activities, tests, and more that related to the marketing skills the certification teaches you about. They are important because the marketing world is always changing and there are always new things to learn, so these certifications can keep you up to date and teach you the latest skills.

How have Marketing Certifications helped me in my career?

Marketing certifications have greatly helped me in my career as they have demonstrated to potential employers that I am committed to continuing my education in the field, growing my skills, and develop professionally. They have also shown potential employers and current employers that I have done additional work beyond earning my degree, which I believe shows that I have a strong work ethic and that I am always looking for ways to improve my skills as a marketer. Other benefits of earning a digital marketing certification include:

  • Appearing more credible to recruiters and hiring managers
  • Keep you up-to-date on the latest in marketing
  • Qualifying for higher-paying positions
  • Improving your quality of work

What marketing certifications can help marketers improve their skills?

  • Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce
    • This certification has seven courses, developed by Google, that include hands-on, practice-based assessments that are designed to teach skills in digital marketing and e-commerce. This took me 4 months to complete but it taught me some great things like the Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-commerce, attracting and engaging, Email Marketing, Marketing Analytics, and more.
  • Google Analytics
    • This certification is a longer one that covers basic and advanced Google Analytics concepts. This includes Planning and Principles implementation, data collection, conversion, attribution, metrics, and more.
  • Google Search Ads 360
    • This certification teaches you about Search Ads 360, which is a search management platform that helps marketers manage some of the largest search marketing campaigns in the world. The course covers things like setting up search campaigns across multiple search engines, assigning goals, targeting, measuring the impact, and optimizing campaigns for improved performance.
  • HubSpot Email Marketing
    • This free course helps you master the fundamentals of email marketing and can help you learn how to build an email marketing strategy that is human and builds trust with your contacts. This course teaches things like creating a contact management and segmentation strategy, creating high-performing emails, analyzing, and testing your marketing emails, and developing relationships with lead nurturing.
  • HubSpot Contextual Marketing
    • In this course, you learn how to create a website experience tailored to your visitors’ needs and preferences. It includes information on the fundamentals of contextual marketing, designing user experience, using personalization in contextual marketing, creating Smart Content in HubSpot, and more.

Final thoughts for people looking to get marketing certifications

Do it! They have one for every area of marketing and free ones if you are on a budget. The ones I have earned taught me a wealth of knowledge and have helped me learn new skills that I use in my current position. One thing that I truly appreciate about working for IPSM is that they want you to expand your learning and knowledge in marketing. This is such an incredible quality for a job to have and I would say for anyone applying for jobs, look for ones that support continued learning.

Download the Marketing Certifications transcript here!