Looking for ways to boost your professional Instagram skills? Online courses are a great way to stay up-to-date on Instagram’s ever-changing updates and best practices.
Whether you’re a seasoned Instagram expert trying to understand the latest algorithm change or wondering whether to switch to an Instagram Creator account or Instagram Business account, taking Instagram courses is a great way to help you build the best Instagram marketing strategy possible.
We’ve put together a list of 9 online courses and training, covering everything from planning content calendars to learning the basics of photography and graphic design. These courses will teach content creators, small business owners, social media managers, and digital marketing professionals everything they need to know to run successful social media campaigns.
Length: 10 mins
Taught by: Facebook
Take this course if: You want a quick and easy introduction to the basics of using Instagram for your business.
What you’ll learn:
Length: 23 mins
Taught by: Professional artists, illustrators, creative directors, and graphic designers
Take this course if: You’ll be creating visuals for Instagram posts and Stories and want to learn the basics of graphic design (which apply whether you’ll be using Canva or another tool).
What you’ll learn:
Length: 6 hours
Taught by: Hootsuite’s internal social media marketing experts
Take this course if: You’re looking for a complete course to improve your skills as a social media marketer — on Instagram, as well as other social networks — and want to receive an industry-recognized certificate.
What you’ll learn:
Length: 15 mins
Taught by: Facebook
Take this course if: You want a short lesson about how to grow your followers on Instagram through both organic and paid.
What you’ll learn:
Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a lifestyle photographer used to grow from 0 to 600,000 followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.
Length: 1.5 hours
Taught by: Sean Dalton, travel & lifestyle photographer
Take this course if: You have an iPhone and want to learn how to take professional-looking photos for Instagram without spending lots of money on camera equipment or paying a professional photographer.
What you’ll learn:
Whether you’re a seasoned Instagram expert trying to understand the latest algorithm change or wondering whether to switch to an Instagram Creator account or Instagram Business account, taking Instagram courses is a great way to help you build the best Instagram marketing strategy possible.
We’ve put together a list of 9 online courses and training, covering everything from planning content calendars to learning the basics of photography and graphic design. These courses will teach content creators, small business owners, social media managers, and digital marketing professionals everything they need to know to run successful social media campaigns.
Instagram marketing courses for beginners
1. Instagram for Business 14 by Facebook Blueprint
Cost: FreeLength: 10 mins
Taught by: Facebook
Take this course if: You want a quick and easy introduction to the basics of using Instagram for your business.
What you’ll learn:
- How to set up an Instagram Business account
- Reaching people on Instagram
- Creating engaging visuals and text
- Using Instagram insights to analyze your audience
- Setting up promoted posts
- Short, easy-to-understand lessons
- Beginner-friendly with lots of visuals of the Instagram backend
- No quizzes, exam or certificate provided
2. Graphic Design Basics 10 by Canva
Cost: FreeLength: 23 mins
Taught by: Professional artists, illustrators, creative directors, and graphic designers
Take this course if: You’ll be creating visuals for Instagram posts and Stories and want to learn the basics of graphic design (which apply whether you’ll be using Canva or another tool).
What you’ll learn:
- Why design matters
- Creating mood boards
- Basics of alignment, composition, and negative space
- How to choose the right font
- Color wheels and complementary colors
- Using images to tell a story
- Choosing the right file format
- The course consists of 12 videos taught by various professional designers
- Most lessons include a practice activity to help you implement your learnings in Canva
3. Social Marketing Certification 5 by Hootsuite
Cost: $199Length: 6 hours
Taught by: Hootsuite’s internal social media marketing experts
Take this course if: You’re looking for a complete course to improve your skills as a social media marketer — on Instagram, as well as other social networks — and want to receive an industry-recognized certificate.
What you’ll learn:
- How to build a social media strategy
- Setting up + optimizing social media profiles
- Community building
- Content marketing basics
- Social media ads basics
- Free demo available
- Multiple formats: videos, quizzes, text, PDFs
- Optional exam at the end of the course
- Upon passing the exam, you’ll receive a certificate that can be added to your LinkedIn, CV, and website
- The certificate never expires
Intermediate Instagram marketing courses
4. Attract more followers on Instagram 10 by Facebook Blueprint
Cost: FreeLength: 15 mins
Taught by: Facebook
Take this course if: You want a short lesson about how to grow your followers on Instagram through both organic and paid.
What you’ll learn:
- How to attract more followers on Instagram
- Using DMs to build relationships (which you can do directly through the Hootsuite dashboard)
- How to use hashtags for reach and discovery
- Growing your audience with Instagram ads
- Short, text-based lessons
- No quizzes, exam or certificate provided
5. iPhone Photography Essentials 3 by Skillshare
Cost: Included with Skillshare membershipBonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a lifestyle photographer used to grow from 0 to 600,000 followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.
Length: 1.5 hours
Taught by: Sean Dalton, travel & lifestyle photographer
Take this course if: You have an iPhone and want to learn how to take professional-looking photos for Instagram without spending lots of money on camera equipment or paying a professional photographer.
What you’ll learn:
- Best models for iPhone photography
- iPhone settings to maximize its photo-taking capabilities
- Best apps for iPhone photography
- Finding the best light to take photos in
- How to capture perfect compositions
- Free iPhone apps for editing
- 19 lessons total, taught in video format
- Suitable for content creators, social media marketers, and small business owners
- The course comes with free bonus resources (PDF notes, Lightroom presets)
- Access to Adobe Lightroom is recommended (free trial available)