Design Kitchen

As a part of my launch of Design Kitchen, I wanted to be sure I am up to date on the latest in marketing, so I took a couple of Hubspot certifications and thought I’d take the opportunity to share my thoughts on the courses, now that I’ve had time for them to marinade.

First, lets chat about what they covered, and some of the highlights, and then I’ll share my opinions at the end.

Two Is Better Than One?

I’d like to start out by sharing that I had initially planned to only take the digital marketing course, but the content was so interesting that I decided to go ahead and take the second one, so that should say something to their quality in itself. The actual courses I found to be a bit slow (probably just me!), so I watched everything on 1.25x-1.5x depending on the speaker, and without that feature I don’t think I would have taken the second one. They did a good job of adding a bit of humour and offering some opportunities to engage with their social platform as well, which was nice.

Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing was the first course I took and much of it was fairly straightforward to me. I do have some experience coding as well as fairly in depth marketing experience. I really enjoyed the SEO course as it offers practical advice for the diverse needs of business. The video section was particular inspiring as well. Additionally, the intro to Google ads section was a nice overview, although people should not count it as a really in depth Google Ads course, nor does it claim to be.

Here is the current course list as of March 2024:

• Digital Marketing Fundamentals
• Building a Content Creation Framework
• How to Find the SEO Strategy that Fits Your Business
• Improving Website Performance
• Creating Quality Blog Content Your Audience Loves to Read and Share
• How to Create a Successful Video Marketing Strategy
• Developing a Social Media Strategy
• Introduction to Paid Search Advertising

Content Marketing

The content marketing was not that different from the digital marketing and there was even some overlap in the courses, which I was given credits for and didn’t need to repeat. The main difference was in the organizational aspect of the content in that it showed how to plan content schedules, as well as how to integrate software to make those schedules easier to manage. Additionally, they did a great job of explaining how they incorporate content into their business seamlessly.

Here is the current course list as of March 2024:

• The Power of Storytelling
• Building a Content Creation Framework
• Planning a Long-Term Content Strategy
• Generating Content Ideas
• Creating Quality Blog Content Your Audience Loves to Read and Share
• How HubSpot Uses Blogging to Rank #1 on Google
• Extending the Value of Your Content Through Repurposing
• Creating Topic Clusters and Pillar Pages
• How to Create a Successful Video Marketing Strategy
• Building a Guest Blogging Strategy Powered by SEO
• How to Effectively Promote Content
• Measuring and Analyzing Your Content

I really enjoyed the first course, the power of storytelling, as that is something I would like to get better at, especially in video. I also really enjoyed the case study they covered in how they use blogging to rank #1 on Google. This is really important information in todays world.

Are These Hubspot Certifications Appropriate For Web Developers?

One of the things I wanted to touch on is that I was impressed by the amount of information that could be helpful to web developers. There was a significant section on minification of code to speed up load times, as well as talks on semantic HTML, and other topics that can really boost your SEO. Perhaps some of this would already be known by web developers, but I certainly learned a few things that will help me in building more SEO friendly websites.

Final Thoughts

As I wrap up my exploration of HubSpot’s marketing courses, it’s clear to me that their offerings are about empowering marketers with the tools they need to thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape.

From mastering the art of storytelling to understanding the intricacies of SEO, I found their courses offered a holistic and value driven approach to modern marketing. In my eyes, it doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out, investing in continuous learning, remains key to success in the ever-changing world of marketing.

Overall, I would recommend the courses to people interested in digital or content marketing and feel they were well worth their time investment (they are free!) Especially considering I have recently launched design kitchen. Setting aside time to ensure that I remain up to date will continue to be my top priority.

Thanks for reading! 👋🏼