Classes, certificate programs, and bootcamps offer students of all ages the chance to learn digital marketing techniques and how to improve their company’s online engagement and sales through social media.
Key Takeaways
- Social media marketing is one aspect of digital marketing that has become essential for maintaining a company’s online presence.
- Classes for social media marketing are available for all age groups. Classes help students understand the ins and outs of social media platforms, how to develop a strategy for those platforms, and how to create trendy content.
- Noble Desktop offers a Social Media Marketing Certificate program that teaches students how to develop a campaign for Instagram, TikTok, and other popular social media platforms.
- Other institutions like Ledet Training, Certstaffix Training, and General Assembly offer social media marketing courses that cover social media platforms and the principles of social media marketing.
- NextGen Bootcamp and USC offer high school students the chance to begin their social media marketing training early with pre-college social media marketing programs.
- The average salary of a Social Media Strategist in the United States is $73,000 annually.
Social media marketing is a digital marketing strategy that uses social media platforms like X (formerly known as Twitter), TikTok, and Instagram to develop and improve a company’s digital presence. Through social media, companies engage with, advertise to, and help customers. The general aim of social media marketing is to develop a strong online brand identity and a positive image of the company and its products or services. With social media, customers can learn about new brands and purchase their products.
A career in social media marketing requires a working knowledge of social media platforms. Social media marketing professionals focus on content creation, branding, and customer care. Social Media Content Creators develop content appropriate for the platforms that their company uses. This may include images, blog posts, short-form or long-form videos, and captions. Content helps convey a company’s brand as does the way the company engages with customers and others on social media. Not all companies exercise customer care via social media, but those who do ensure that they respond to customer inquiries and complaints in a timely and professional manner. In a social media marketing class, students will learn how to create content, engage with followers, and communicate across platforms.
For Adults & College Students
Summer courses provide adults and college students the perfect opportunity to start learning social media marketing. Schools and training centers often provide in-person, online, and on-demand courses. Scheduled classes may take place on weekdays, in the evenings, or on weekends. By enrolling in a social media marketing class, adults and college students can work on gaining new skills to aid them in beginning a career or transitioning within their current company.
Noble Desktop
Social Media Marketing Certificate: July 22-August 16 (Weekdays)
Noble Desktop’s Social Media Marketing Certificate course is a 72-hour program that will teach you how to develop effective strategies for social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. In this program, you’ll work on gaining professional marketing skills to help you understand the landscape of social media and the necessary strategies to grow a following, learn how to use a wide variety of popular platforms that will expand your company’s audience and improve sales, and craft a professional portfolio to show off your work to employers and clients. The program consists of eight modules that you’ll cover in the live online class. In addition to hands-on, project-based learning, Noble Desktop offers students supplemental materials, a 1-year free retake policy, and a certificate of completion.
Social Media Content Marketing—Blogs & X: August 27 & 29 (Evenings)
Noble Desktop offers a social media content marketing class focused on blogs and X. This beginner-level live online course teaches students the foundations of developing a social media strategy for text-based platforms like X. Over the six-hour course, you’ll gain hands-on experience creating written content that conveys a personality for your brand. Lessons will explore different types of social media platforms and cross-platform blogging. An expert instructor will guide you and your classmates through real-world projects to help strengthen your newly developed skills. Tuition is $425 and includes a free retake within one year. Students in the NYC area can enroll in the in-person course held at Noble’s downtown Manhattan location.
TikTok Marketing: July 22
Looking to master TikTok this summer? Then sign up for Noble Desktop’s TikTok Marketing class. The six-hour course covers TikTok for video-based marketing campaigns. In the class, you’ll learn how to create trendy content that grabs attention and helps drive sales and build a following for your company’s account. Unfamiliar with TikTok but interested in utilizing it to help your business? No worries; this course will introduce you to the app as well as the current trends on the platform. Lessons are designed to help you understand how to analyze trends on TikTok and develop an appropriate social media strategy. Real-world projects will help you gain practical experience using the app and creating content.
Ledet Training
Social Media Marketing with Facebook & X: July 5
Ledet Training offers its one-day Social Media Marketing with Facebook & X classes at a variety of in-person locations and live online. During the seven-hour class, students will find out the many ways to promote their company’s brand, increase sales, engage customers, and drive site traffic using Facebook and X. The course begins with lessons on the principles of social media marketing before diving into the basics of establishing a successful online presence. Students will gain hands-on experience as they learn how to create Facebook pages, author SEO-friendly bios, and learn how to maximize their social media marketing with third-party add-ons. No prerequisites are required to enroll in the course, but Ledet suggests that students have basic social media website familiarity.
BrainStation
Social Media Marketing Course: June 27-August 15 (Evenings)
BrainStation offers its Social Media Marketing Course in-person and live online. This program will help students upskill as they learn how to build a social media strategy tailored to their company’s customers. To do so, students will choose their social media platforms, define their content strategy, and learn about social media advertising that can help them build brand awareness and a social community. BrainStation has divided the class into three units: Social Media Strategy, Social Media Platforms, and Social Media Engagement. By the end of the course, students will have completed a Social Media Manager portfolio project that showcases their ability to create a successful social media marketing strategy and includes sample social media content ideas. Upon finishing the class, BrainStation will provide students with a social media marketing certificate.
General Assembly
Social Media Bootcamp
For a comprehensive exploration of social media marketing, students can enroll in General Assembly’s online Social Media Bootcamp. The six-hour program introduces students to the social media landscape, including how brands and agencies use various platforms. An instructor will cover the many tools available to a social media professional and how to leverage tools that will work best for their company’s social media strategy. The class is hands-on, with case studies and social media tactics covered throughout the class. No prior experience is necessary to enroll; students should simply show up with an open mind and an eagerness to learn. After completing the course, students can turn to General Assembly’s online Digital Market Circuit or on-campus Digital Marketing course for a dive into the fundamentals of digital marketing and the many strategies used by digital marketing professionals.
Digital Marketing Short Course: June 18-August 29 (Evenings)
Students looking for a quick level-up of their digital marketing skills can enroll in General Assembly’s Digital Marketing Short Course. General Assembly offers the 10-week class in a part-time evening format or a one-week full-time accelerated format. Over the course, students will receive in-depth lessons in the many tools that digital marketing teams use to drive growth with multichannel campaigns. Lessons focus on helping students develop skills they’ll need to begin a career in the field of digital marketing, including how to use data and customer insight to develop a successful digital marketing strategy. After passing the courses, students will receive a signed certificate of completion. Tuition is $4,500, with financing plans available.
Certstaffix Training
Social Media for Business: July 5
Certstaffix Training hosts a one-day live online Social Media for Business class. This intensive course will walk students through developing a successful social media strategy that will get the results they’re looking for. The class will cover a variety of social media platforms like X, Facebook, and YouTube to help students understand their unique features and best practices for using them. To properly develop a social media strategy, professionals consider their target audience, and students will learn how to do just that in this class. Students will learn how to identify their target audience, how to tailor a strategy for that audience, and how to create content that their audience will engage with. Students can expect a well-rounded curriculum that covers measuring the impact of social media efforts to help make data-driven decisions.
X for Business: June 26
Companies rely on X to advertise, perform customer care, and engage with wide audiences. Certstaffix Training’s X for Business course will help students develop a successful strategy for running their company’s X account, from crafting tweets to posting content to using hashtags. The class begins with general knowledge of X, including what a tweet is and how to draft one, before diving into more advanced topics like X lists and programs to make tweeting easier. Certstaffix offers this course live online, with group training quotes available upon request. Students interested in self-paced classes can enroll in their Self-Paced Social Media Marketing e-learning program. After completing the class, students will receive a digital badge, a certificate of completion, and a free six-month online retake.
headTrix, Inc.
Social Media Marketing Level 1
headTrix, Inc.’s Social Media Marketing Level 1 is a two-day beginner-level class. The course covers the fundamentals of social media marketing and is welcoming to aspiring social media professionals, business owners, and anyone else interested in leveraging social media marketing to advertise their products or services and grow a bigger audience, from filmmakers to non-profit directors. Lessons cover an introduction to social media, creating a digital presence through a website, creating a blog, and using platforms such as Facebook, X, and Google+. headTrix offers the class in-person and online, in a group format or 1-on-1. After completing Social Media Marketing Level 1, students can sign up for Social Media Marketing Level 2, which will help them develop a long-term marketing strategy. No prior experience is required, although students should have basic computer skills and knowledge of file management on Windows or Mac.
Media Training
Creating Social Media Graphics: August 21
Content creation plays a significant part in social media marketing. Media Training’s Creating Social Media Graphics class will help students develop the skills required to create eye-catching images for a variety of social media platforms. This one-day class will cover the basics of Adobe Photoshop, creating reusable templates, manipulating images, creating gifs, and other essentials for making visual content that will convey a message and draw in audiences. Media Training offers the course in-person at their London location and online.
Video Editing for Social Media: August 23
After completing Media Training’s Creating Social Media Graphics class, it’s recommended that students enroll in their Video Editing for Social Media class. Lessons will help students understand video editing essentials, including importing and organizing, basic rough cut edits, and creating simple animations. Media Training offers the small-group class at their London location and online, with free post-course help desk support available. Tuition varies depending on the session enrolled in, with costs ranging from £279 + VAT to £399 + VAT.
For High School Students & Teenagers
High school students can start their plans to begin a career in social media marketing early by enrolling in a pre-college program. Here, they’ll learn the principles of marketing, with a focus on digital marketing and social media campaigns. As companies transition from traditional marketing efforts to digital marketing, young students familiar with using social media have excellent base knowledge that they will build on in a summer course. From YouTube to TikTok to strategic planning, summer courses available to high school students will cover the essentials to prepare them for a degree program or entering the field.
NextGen Bootcamp
Social Media Marketing Summer Program
Is your high school student looking to learn the basics of social media marketing before starting an internship or going off to college? Or are they interested in creating content for social media? Consider enrolling them in NextGen Bootcamp’s Social Media Marketing Summer Program to get a head start. This 25-hour live online program will teach students strategies for creating a personal brand, sharing original content, and building a following on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. In addition to the basics of social media marketing, students will learn how to use social media analytics to improve their results and reach their target audiences.
Social Media Marketing Summer Program NYC
NextGen Bootcamp aso offers its Social Media Marketing Summer Program to high schoolers live, in-person in NYC. This course teaches students how to effectively build a following on today’s most popular social media platforms– Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. The curriculum includes strategies to create exciting written, visual, and video content to grow your audience and keep your followers engaged. This beginner-friendly course only requires that students have basic computer skills before enrolling.
University of Southern California
Digital Marketing—From Content Creation to Strategic Planning: June 3
The University of Southern California offers several pre-college summer programs, including Digital Marketing: From Content Creation to Strategic Planning. This program covers the foundations of digital marketing to help students gain a better understanding of the field, outside of just social media. This includes the latest tools and techniques used in digital marketing, how to develop a digital marketing strategic plan, developing a brand voice, creating content, using social media platforms, and making decisions based on analytics and data. The course consists of recorded lectures and analysis of digital marketing campaigns. Students will work on activities, make industry connections, and complete assigned readings. The class is self-paced, with approximately 20-25 hours of work total.
Students interested in USC’s program must submit an application that includes basic contact information, a short-answer essay explaining who they are and why they want to take the course, and an optional piece of writing, video, or social media content. The application fee is $25 and USC releases decisions on a rolling basis. USC encourages international students to apply. Upon completing the program, international students will receive a Certificate of completion by request and a USC Pre-College Program transcript.
Why Summer is the Perfect Time to Learn Social Media Marketing
Summer is a great time for people of all ages to begin learning a new skill. High school students looking to fill their time this summer before returning to school or starting college can explore their interest in social media marketing in a social media marketing class. This training will prepare them for a degree program or to start working on building a social media following if they have an interest in content creation.
Summer is often a good time for college students and adults to begin learning a new skill too. Although they don’t have as much free time as high school students, the summer months provide more training options and flexible scheduling of classes. The change in weather and overall atmosphere during the summer can also provide adults with the extra motivation needed to begin learning.
How to Choose the Right Summer Social Media Marketing Course
There is a wide range of summer social media marketing classes available, from short-term classes to bootcamps to certificate programs, and narrowing down the choices can be hard. Students need to choose the right course modality, whether it’s in-person, live online, or on-demand. Students who prefer traditional-style classes will benefit from taking an in-person social media marketing class that allows them to learn face-to-face. Students who cannot commute to a class but would still like the structure that a traditional class offers can enroll in a live online class. Individuals who have busy schedules and would like to learn at their own pace should enroll in an on-demand class that will allow them to learn on their own time.
In addition to the course modality, interested learners should consider other aspects of learning social media marketing during the summer to help choose the right course for them.
Prerequisites
One of the most important things to consider when deciding between courses is if there are any prerequisites. Beginners can find many social media marketing classes tailored to their skill level; however, some schools offer intermediate and advanced-level courses. These courses may challenge students with content creation or social media strategy. Before enrolling in a course, make sure that it is designed for beginners. You may also come across classes that require students to have a certain level of experience with social media platforms before enrolling. In these cases, it’s important to assess your skill level before committing to a class.
High School Students: Future Goals
Before enrolling your high school student in a social media marketing program, discuss with them their goals and interests. Students interested in studying marketing or working for a marketing agency in the future might find that a course focused primarily on marketing principles and digital strategy best suits their future goals. Conversely, students who want to make content might find that classes focused on specific social media platforms or ones that teach programs commonly used for content creation such as Photoshop, Canva, Final Cut Pro, or Adobe Premiere Pro, interest them most. Additionally, if a college or university your high school student would like to attend is hosting a pre-college social media marketing program, consider enrolling them in it so that they can familiarize themselves with the school, department, and faculty.
Adult and College Students: Future Goals
Adults and college students should carefully consider what they want to get out of a social media marketing program in the long term. College students often need to build up their existing skills and learn new skills before looking for employment in the field. They can enroll in a bootcamp or a certificate program to help do so.
Working professionals will want to make their decision based on whether they’re looking to learn new skills or upskill. A long-term bootcamp or degree program can help someone looking to make a career change learn the principles of digital marketing and develop the skills necessary to work in social media. Someone looking to upskill and learn more advanced methods of running social media marketing campaigns can enroll in short-term classes focused on advanced programs and technology that can help them advance their skills and work toward a promotion.