In 2012, HubSpot opened HubSpot Academy and created something that is equal parts clever and helpful. Through HubSpot Academy, marketers, web designers, sales teams, and anyone else interested in inbound marketing, can receive free training on the ins and outs of inbound marketing with fancy, printable (and LinkedIn-verifiable) certifications to go along with it. The clever part is HubSpot’s use of their Academy as an essential part of their own inbound marketing strategy. As they educate others on inbound marketing, the hope is that eventually their students will become customers of the CRM platform. Not only are they cleverly using inbound marketing to their advantage, HubSpot knows exactly what they are talking about which is what makes these certifications worth their salt.
To date, there are 12 courses (and consequently 12 certifications) that you can take through the Academy, and you can divide them into three categories: marketing, sales, and web design. The thing with HubSpot Academy is that the courses they offer change and are continually updated as their own research and best practices are updated. So, certifications that you get one year might not be the same certifications that you get another year.
As inbound marketing continues to shift and change, these certifications help keep you in the loop. Not only that, but HubSpot has it set up so these certifications only last a year, acting as a kind of marketing inspection sticker that keeps you savvy on the latest inbound marketing trends.
Which Certifications Should I Get?
While each course excels at teaching its subject matter, you probably don’t need to be certified in everything HubSpot offers. Unless you’re a one-man marketing operation who is your business’ primary marketing strategist, copywriter, salesman, software specialist, and web designer, it would probably be just as worthwhile to stick with what applies most to your role. Another thing to note, not every certification is available to everyone. While they are all technically free, there are currently three certifications that are only offered to those who are customers of specific HubSpot services, but the rest are actually free! With all of that in mind, here’s a breakdown of the most useful HubSpot certifications and who on your team would benefit from them the most:
- Inbound Marketing Certification
- What does it teach? In this course, you’ll get an overview of the entire inbound process from marketing, sales, to customer service. You’ll also be introduced to HubSpot’s Free CRM and Lead Flows tools and get a feel for how to use them in context.
- Who is it for? Everyone on your team! This is one your whole team should have in the bag as it covers the basics and essentials of the inbound marketing approach, even if they’re seasoned pros. This course could also be great for new clients who might not be too familiar with what inbound marketing is or how it differs from traditional marketing.
- Email Marketing Certification
- What does it teach? This course is an in-depth look at how to nurture leads through effective email marketing. It covers topics such as lifecycle marketing, segmentation, email design, deliverability, analytics, and optimization so you can create more sustainable leads through your email campaigns.
- Who is it for? Your marketing consultants would benefit the most from this certification but it would also be useful for your sales team so they could better understand how email leads are coming to them and how to best close those leads.
- Content Marketing Certification
- What does it teach? The Content Marketing course provides a solid foundation for creating reproducible processes for both reliable content creation and content promotion. If you’re looking for ways to produce consistent, quality content, this course is for you.
- Who is it for? Content creators, as well as those who manage content creators, would greatly benefit from this course. Even if your content creators are pros, this training will help you evaluate your current processes and find better ways to build out future content.
- Inbound Sales Certification
- What does it teach? This course teaches the sales strategy behind inbound marketing and how to identify potential customers based on where they are in the funnel. Also covered in this course is developing appropriate outreach strategies and creating sales presentations built for reaching potential customers.
- Who is it for? This one’s for your sales team so they can have a clear idea about how to interact with potential customers based on the customers level of interaction with your brand.
The Beef
Ready to make the next steps to take your understanding of inbound marketing even further? Give our experts a call today at (855) 390-8570 to see how we can help get you there.
