Social Media Marketing Classes Portland

Explore the creative side of social media marketing by combining design, strategy, and analytics to develop authentic and engaging content.

Social media marketing is a type of marketing that uses social media platforms to connect with audiences, promote many different types of products and services, build brands, and drive website traffic. It is relatively new and has developed along with social media. In recent years it has become extremely popular. According to a Forbes Advisor article titled, “Top Social Media Statistics And Trends Of 2024, ” more than three-quarters of social media users have purchased something they saw on social media, and more than three-quarters of businesses use social media platforms to connect with customers.

A unique part of social media marketing is the fact that marketers can gather and analyze large amounts of data about their audience and use that data to create marketing strategies that are more effective. In an article titled, “How Do You Leverage Social Media Data to Improve Your Customer Journey and Loyalty?” LinkedIn explains, “Social media analytics can also help monitor your brand reputation, track your competitors, and discover new trends and influencers in your industry.”

What Can You Do with Social Media Marketing Training?

If you want to work in any type of marketing, social media marketing training is likely to be an asset. In its 2023 list of Most In-Demand Skills for Marketing Professionals, LinkedIn put social media skills in the number-one position. In a LinkedIn article titled “The Most In-Demand Skills for Marketers in 2023, ” the author explains, “Employers… [are] looking for social media strategists: marketers who understand how to use social media presence in conjunction with the rest of their organization’s tools to forward business goals in meaningful, concrete, and measurable ways.”

Getting training in social media marketing can also help you if you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, because it will allow you to use this type of marketing to connect with your audience, increase website traffic, and boost sales. In an Entrepreneur article titled, “5 Reasons Why Your Brand Needs a Strong Social Media Presence, ” the author says, “Social media provides free advertising for your brand. Even if you pay for boosted posts on Facebook or Instagram, it still typically costs less than a full-fledged digital marketing campaign.”

What Will I Learn in a Social Media Marketing Class?

About Social Media Platforms

When you take a social media marketing class, you’ll learn about all the major platforms and how they work. This might include a bit of history, information about each platform’s audience, and the best strategies for reaching users on that platform. Covered platforms are likely to include Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.

Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy is a critical part of social media marketing and is likely to be covered in a class. It is a plan about what your marketing goals are and how you plan to achieve them. As you analyze the effectiveness of your campaign, your strategy may change.

Data Analytics

Most social media marketers also utilize data analytics, so you're likely to learn about it in a class. Marketers can tap into the large amounts of data that are collected by social media sites, and use it to get a better understanding of their customers and how to connect with them. They can also use data analytics to understand how their marketing campaigns are working.

Creating a Portfolio

A strong portfolio can help you find a social media marketing job. It showcases your skills to potential employers. When you take a class, you’re likely to work on several real-world projects that can be included in your portfolio.

Communication

Communication is a key part of social media marketing, and you’ll learn to improve your communication skills when you take a class. As a marketing professional, you may need to communicate with co-workers, clients, and your audience, and by improving your skills, you can enhance all of these interactions.

How Hard is It to Learn Social Media Marketing?

With time and practice, most people can master social media marketing. While there are a lot of new concepts and skills to learn, social media marketing is less difficult than some other fields. A common piece of expert advice for beginners is to start by focusing on the basics, and then slowly advance to more complex topics after mastering those basic skills. One thing that can make the learning process challenging is that social media marketing technology and trends change often, meaning that you’ll never be finished learning. Taking a live class is a great way to make learning easier since you will receive guidance, feedback, and information about current trends from an expert.

How Long Does It Take to Learn Social Media Marketing?

Compared to some other skills, many people find that social media marketing is relatively quick to learn. However, the learning process depends on many factors such as your related experience, the type of class you take, and how much time you dedicate to study. Most people say that you can master many of the techniques and tools used in this field in a matter of months. Mastering social media marketing will take longer; maybe a year or more.

Should I Learn Social Media Marketing in Person or Online?

When it comes to social media marketing classes, there is more than one way to learn. One popular option is in-person learning. In-person classes take place in a classroom space that is dedicated to learning and free from other distractions. Many people find that in-person learning is the most engaging format too. Another benefit of this type of class is that it can be easier to interact with classmates, which can help you make valuable networking connections. A downside to in-person classes is that you’re limited to class options that you can commute to.

Another popular option is online learning, where you can learn from the comfort of your home, or any location of your choosing. Live online classes are online classes that run in real-time, just like in-person ones. When you take a live online class you can ask questions and get instructor feedback too, just as with an in-person class. Since you don’t have to commute, you typically have more class options than with an in-person class. A downside to live online learning is that you must provide your own equipment and software. Another online option is an on-demand class. With this option, you don’t attend a live lecture. Instead, the course material is pre-recorded and you learn at your own pace. On-demand learning gives you a lot of flexibility, however, to be successful, you need to be motivated to learn on your own.

Can I Learn Social Media Marketing Free Online?

If you’ve started researching social media marketing, you may have found that there are many different free online resources related to this topic. Some people wonder whether it’s possible to learn it for free, rather than enrolling in a formal class. Free resources are definitely helpful. You can use them to get a better understanding of what’s involved in social media marketing, or to learn a new skill or two. Many different websites offer free resources, including Noble Desktop, which posts free seminars on a variety of marketing-related topics. These include Intro to Social Media Marketing with Video and Intro to Facebook Marketing. However, free online resources are unlikely to be enough to help you master social media marketing. Instead, if you’re serious about learning this topic, you’ll probably end up enrolling in a paid class. With a class, you’ll be guided through a comprehensive and up-to-date curriculum and can get regular feedback and answers to your questions.

Industries That Use Social Media Marketing

Companies of all kinds rely on marketing to promote their goods and services, making social media marketing an important part of a wide variety of different industries. In Portland, there are numerous opportunities in this field. Greater Portland reports that the area’s major industries include apparel and outdoor goods, clean tech, food and beverage, design and media, computers and electronics, and software. All of these industries utilize social media marketing. For instance, the apparel and outdoor industries, which frequently utilize this type of marketing, employ more than 21,000 people, according to Greater Portland. 33,000 people are employed in the design and media industry.

Social Media Marketing Job Titles and Salaries

Several different jobs require social media marketing skills. With expertise in this field, you could work as a Social Media Specialist. This job involves marketing goods and services through social media platforms. It requires both social media and marketing expertise, in addition to strong design and communication skills, and experience with data analytics. A Social Media Specialist earns about $58,000 per year in Portland, according to Indeed.

Another job option is to work as a Social Media Strategist. This job is similar to that of a Social Media Specialist, however, rather than focusing on day-to-day marketing tasks, Social Media Strategists are more focused on long-term strategies and goals. Indeed, the average salary for this job in Portland is $57,000. Another role that frequently involves social media marketing is that of a Digital Marketer. Professionals with this job title create and manage digital marketing campaigns. They earn about $65,000 per year in Portland, according to Indeed.

Social Media Marketing Classes Near Me

Oregon State University offers a Digital Marketing Certificate. This course includes instruction in social media marketing. Students also learn about search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, content marketing, email marketing, and analytics. It is designed to give students the practical skills needed to work in this field.

Portland Community College offers a Marketing Certificate that includes instruction in social media marketing. This is a one-year course that also covers data analytics, business technology, business communication, and marketing principles.

Noble Desktop, a New York City-based coding and design school, offers social media marketing classes. The New York State Education Department licenses this school, and all classes come with a certificate of completion and the option of a free retake within one year. The Social Media Marketing Certificate is a multi-week course that covers trends and skills in social media marketing and prepares you to use this tool effectively. There are eight different units in the course: LinkedIn Marketing Bootcamp, YouTube Marketing, TikTok Marketing, Social Media Content Marketing: Blogs and X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram Marketing Bootcamp, Facebook Marketing Bootcamp, Streaming for Social Media, and Social Media Industry and Portfolio. Overall, the course covers social media marketing skills for the major platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Students also get four one-on-one mentoring sessions.

Noble Desktop also offers shorter courses that cover social media marketing. For instance, Streaming for Social Media will teach you how to use streaming effectively in your social media strategy. You’ll learn about Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok. In Social Media Content Marketing: Blogs and X, you’ll learn to create written content for blogs and other writing-based social media platforms. You’ll develop marketing strategies and learn about cross-platform blogging. Another Noble Desktop option is the AI for Marketing course, where you can learn to incorporate AI into your marketing strategy. In this class, you’ll learn about AI, machine learning, and deep learning, including applications and benefits. You’ll also get hands-on experience with popular AI platforms like ChatGPT, IBM Watson, Salesforce Einstein, and Google. In addition, you’ll work on a capstone project.

General Assembly offers a Social Media Bootcamp, which is designed to improve the social media skills of both beginners and students with more experience. Students should have a basic understanding of marketing. In this bootcamp, students learn about a variety of social media platforms, and how to create a strategy to build their brand. Instructors also cover the basics of paid social advertising and how to measure success. Some of the specific skills covered are: Google Analytics social integrations, social advertising, Facebook Insights, paid and unpaid social acquisition, Facebook ad types and ad tracking, building campaign objectives, social media goal setting, how to build and test a Facebook ad, content strategy, and curation and distribution strategies.

Another option is the Digital Marketing Certificate Bootcamp offered by the Digital Workshop Center. Students who enroll in this certificate program learn a wide range of digital marketing skills such as creating content to target customers, using market analytics, and best practices in digital marketing. Students also learn about conversion rates and benchmarks, Search Engine Optimization, testing, and exploring different social media channels. The course concludes with a capstone project that takes students from concept to delivery. In addition, they receive career coaching, which includes job search help and mock interviews.

If you’re interested in an on-demand course, eCornell—Cornell University’s external education unit—offers a Social Media Marketing Certificate. All of eCornell’s courses are developed by Cornell University staff. The Social Media Marketing Certificate multi-week course has six units: Social Media Strategy, Social Media Marketing Across the Purchase Funnel, Creating Effective Content Marketing, Building the Brand Through Influencer Marketing, Social Listening and Community Management, and Measuring Social Media Marketing Success. Students design a marketing strategy and create a marketing campaign. They also learn about social media marketing best practices and create a cross-platform social listening and community management system to measure their success.

Social Media Marketing Corporate Training

Social media marketing skills can be beneficial to companies in many different industries. If you’re interested in training a group of employees in this field, you’ll find a variety of onsite and virtual corporate social media marketing training programs at Noble Desktop. You can pick from one of our many existing courses, or work with our expert instructors to design a class that fits your unique needs. All participants will also receive post-training support materials such as handouts and access to premium videos.

Another employee training option is to buy your employees vouchers for the regular group classes offered by Noble Desktop and let them enroll individually. This provides more flexibility for employees with busy schedules. A discount is offered with bulk voucher purchases. If you’d like more information about corporate training programs, or if you’re interested in setting up a free consultation, contact Noble Desktop.

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