Introduction to Social Media Marketing
This course lays the foundation of social media marketing.
Introduction to Social Media Marketing is a beginner-level online course from Coursera in Social Media Marketing. It is structured in 5 modules with 4 stated learning outcomes, over 17h 38m. Learners rate it 4.8/5 from 15.9K ratings on Coursera.
Part of our Social Media Marketing courses collection, where we compare it against 3 other courses.
Course highlights
| Provider | Coursera |
| Duration | 17h 38m |
| Level | Beginner |
| Mode | Self-paced |
| Language | English |
| Certificate | Yes — shareable certificate |
| Rating | 4.8★ (15.9K reviews) |
| Price | Check price |
About this course
This course introduces the core concepts of social media marketing, built by Meta and hosted on Coursera. It is designed for beginners and takes roughly 17 hours to complete at your own pace. You will explore how traditional, digital and social media differ, and examine the major platforms — Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and others — and how each fits into a marketing strategy.
The syllabus walks through five key modules. You start with The Social Media Landscape, then move to Social Media Platforms Overview, where you learn how each platform functions and what role it plays. Next, Goals and Planning for Success teaches you to set SMART goals, identify KPIs and map out a target audience's customer journey. Understand Your Audience deepens this by covering persona development and customer analysis. The final module, Choose Your Social Media Channels, helps you select the right platforms for a given brand or campaign.
By the end, you will be able to create a basic social media marketing plan, define measurable goals, and choose platforms that match a brand's audience. The course also covers how to write simple social media policies and track performance using key metrics.
This course does not go deep into paid advertising tools, advanced analytics or video production. Learners who want hands-on ad management or detailed data analysis may prefer the full Social Media Marketing Specialization also on Coursera, or the Digital Marketing & SEO beginner-to-guru course on Udemy, which covers a broader range of channels and includes a certificate. If you are looking for a classroom-style program with live sessions, NIIT's Learn Digital Marketing Program in India is a 284-hour option with a certificate, though it costs ₹65,000.
Free options include enrolling in this course without paying for the certificate, or auditing the full Specialization track on Coursera at no cost.
What you’ll learn
Level and time commitment
Skills you’ll gain
What this course covers
5 modulesThe 5-part outline Coursera publishes for this course, across 17h 38m.
Module 1 · The Social Media Landscape
Module 2 · Social Media Platforms Overview
Module 3 · Goals and Planning for Success
Module 4 · Understand Your Audience
Module 5 · Choose Your Social Media Channels
What learners rate it
Rated 4.8/5 by 15.9K learners on Coursera (checked 10 Aug 2026).
This rating is collected by Coursera from its own enrolled learners. We reproduce it as reported and do not accept paid or incentivised reviews. See it on Coursera →
Compiled by the CoursesGlobal editorial desk. Fees, ratings, duration and certificate details for the 1 course shown are read directly from Coursera course pages — we never estimate a price or a rating. Last verified 10 August 2026.
How we compare and rank courses · Our review policy · Affiliate disclosure
Compare with alternatives
Same topic, different trade-offs — here's who runs each one and what it's best at.
| Course | Provider | Rating | Price | Duration | Why pick this one |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Social Media Marketing This |
 Coursera
|
4.8★ | Check price | 17h 38m | Highest rated (4.8★ from 15.9K reviews) |
| Social Media Marketing |
Coursera
|
4.6★ | Check price | 1 month | Beginner-friendly · 1 month |
| Digital Marketing & SEO (beginner to guru) |
 Udemy
|
3.6★ | Free | Free — and still gives a certificate | |
| Learn Digital Marketing Program | NIIT India | Niit | 0.0★ | ₹65,000 | 284h | Cheapest paid option (₹65,000) |
Where Social Media Marketing leads
Roles we map to Social Media Marketing on CoursesGlobal. This is our own mapping of subject to job, not a placement claim by Coursera.
Browse every course we track for one of these — courses for digital marketers.
Common questions
How much does Introduction to Social Media Marketing cost?
Coursera does not publish a price we can read on the course page, so we do not show one. Check the fee on the provider site — we would rather say nothing than quote a number we did not collect.
Does Introduction to Social Media Marketing come with a certificate?
Yes — Coursera lists a certificate on completion. It is a course certificate, not a formal qualification or university credit.
How long does Introduction to Social Media Marketing take?
Coursera lists it at 17h 38m. It is self-paced, so that is the volume of material rather than a deadline — how long it actually takes depends on the hours you put in each week.
Is Introduction to Social Media Marketing suitable for beginners?
Yes. Coursera lists it at Beginner level, so no prior experience in the subject is assumed.
What does Introduction to Social Media Marketing cover?
It is organised into 5 modules, starting with The Social Media Landscape and going on to Social Media Platforms Overview, Goals and Planning for Success, Understand Your Audience, Choose Your Social Media Channels. The full outline is on this page.