How to Decide if You Should Get a Facebook Blueprint Certification

Facebook Blueprint is an e-learning platform that offers free, self-paced courses on Facebook and Instagram advertising.

Since its launch in 2015, more than two million people have enrolled in at least one of the 75 online courses available. In the United States, more than 160,000 small businesses have trained with Facebook Blueprint. And by 2020, the Facebook advertising certification platform is expected to train 250,000 more.

If you’re looking to upgrade your Facebook advertising skills, Facebook Blueprint may be a good choice—depending on where you are in your marketing journey.

We’ll go over the Blueprint basics you should know before you decide to enrol.

What is Facebook Blueprint?

Facebook Blueprint is a free online training program for advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

It includes over 90 courses. Most of them can be taken in 15-50 minutes. All you need is a Facebook log-in to start learning.

Facebook Blueprint is a handy way for digital marketers to stay on top of Facebook’s evolving portfolio of tools and ad formats. Courses can be particularly helpful if you’re looking to master a specific skill or achieve an objective, from generating leads to promoting an app.

Courses are updated regularly, especially when new features are rolled out. The Blueprint catalog offers a range of beginner and intermediate courses across the following categories:

Get started with Facebook

For newbies to Facebook marketing there are 13 beginner classes to help you get started. Course topics in this category include:

• Creating a Facebook Page
• Promoting Your Business From Your Facebook Page
• Ad Policies for Content, Creative, and Targeting

Get started with advertising

This beginner and intermediate range category covers everything from Billing, Payments and Tax Information to an Ad Auction and Delivery Overview.

Learn advanced buying options

The three advanced buying courses focus on Facebook and TV, and reach and frequency campaigns.

Target the right audience

Facebook is all about targeting, which is why Blueprint offers 11 courses on how to hone in on your target market with Facebook tools.

Build awareness

Learn techniques to build brand and campaign awareness with nine beginner to intermediate level courses.

Drive consideration

Discover a variety of ways you can increase brand awareness on Facebook, from in-stream video ads, to Facebook events, or special offers.

Generate leads

How to capture leads across devices, and across online and offline environments, is covered in this section.

Promote my app

There are more than a few ways to market apps on Facebook. Facebook Blueprint has five courses to introduce you to them.

Increase online sales

Learn how to boost sales online with courses like Closing the Deal with Conversions and Enhance Your Direct Response Campaigns with Audience Network.

Increase in-store sales

Yes, Facebook Blueprint even offers training to help businesses drive more in-store purchases.

Choose ad formats

Facebook offers a myriad of ad formats, and new types are added often. Understand the difference between Story ads, Collection Ads, Carousel Ads, and more.

Get creative inspiration

Courses in this category are designed to inspire advertisers, but also to get them onboard with mobile marketing. Intermediate and advanced courses show you how to optimize creative for mobile, go over best practices, and share cost-saving techniques.

Manage ads

If you’re running multiple campaigns, these courses may be for you. Choose from Business Manager, Edit and Manage Facebook Ads, and Understanding Campaign Performance with Ads Manager.

Measure ad performance

Delve into Partner Measurement, Multi-Touch Attribution, Split Testing, and Facebook Pixel so you’re better equipped to track the performance of your ads.

Learn about Messenger

Beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses show you how to get your business started on Messenger, build out the Messenger experience, and more.

Learn about Instagram

Everything Instagram is covered in this section of Facebook Blueprint, from How to Buy Instagram Ads to Instagram Ad Formats.

Distribute and monetize content

This category may be the most diverse. Some courses teach you how to earn money on Facebook, while others explore how journalists can use the platform and how to protect content rights.

Beyond Facebook Blueprint e-Learning

In addition to Facebook Blueprint e-Learning, there are two additional tiers to official Facebook ads certification and participation:

Blueprint e-learning: A free series of courses that cover the different facets of advertising on Facebook and Instagram. When finished, participants receive a PDF certificate of completion.

Next steps:

• Blueprint Certification: Basically a Facebook ads certification. It’s an examination process that tests your Facebook advertising IQ and offers certifications and badges. These advanced exams must be scheduled, and are graded on a scoring system that requires a score of 700 to pass.
• Blueprint Live: A full-day, in-person workshop for those looking for a more hands-on approach to developing Facebook advertising strategies. These sessions are currently invitation-only.

Who should take Facebook Blueprint?

Facebook Blueprint courses are designed to be helpful to anyone interested in marketing on the platform. Those specializing in social media and digital marketing at advertising and communication agencies are good candidates for courses.

Because it’s free and remote, Facebook Blueprint may also be helpful to small businesses and not-for-profits. Aspiring experts in the job market may also find Facebook advertising certification helpful in the job hunt.

When is Facebook Blueprint Certification worth it?

If Facebook advertising is your primary focus, then Blueprint certification is a good idea.

That’s especially true for those who aspire to make Facebook expertise their own professional brand.

For a bigger picture understanding of where Facebook fits into the digital marketing ecosphere, consider Hootsuite Academy’s Social Ads course. Hootsuite Academy is ideal for general practitioners and all-round social media experts looking to master multitasking with multichannel strategies.

Prove (and improve) your social media advertising skills by taking Hootsuite Academy’s industry-recognized Advanced Social Advertising course.

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About the Author

Katie is a writer and photographer based in Toronto. She used to be indecisive, but now she's not sure.

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