6 Marketing Automation Courses for B2B Marketers

Upskilling in marketing automation is fundamental to the success of lead generation and nurture activity. Technology, trends, and best practices evolve constantly. Even for those marketers who are hands-on every day, it can be hard to keep up! This is why marketing automation courses are invaluable.

Previously on this blog, I’ve shared our top online resources for marketing automation. While these blogs and publications are extremely helpful, they don’t give you the focus and motivation that an actual course can.

Keen to build your confidence in Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (formerly Pardot)? Enrol in the Marketing Cloud Academy today and access on-demand courses ideal for upskilling and onboarding new team members.

Why complete a marketing automation course?

No matter how advanced your understanding of marketing automation software, completing the right online course allows you to:

• Validate and develop what you already know about automation theory.
• Ensure you are implementing your chosen automation software correctly.
• Feel confident that you’re creating campaigns in line with best practices.
• Provide accessible training for members of your team, especially beginners.
• Self-serve your basic marketing automation needs without recruiting an external consultant (at least until you really need one!).

Needless to say, there are a plethora of courses available online and offline. Some are provided by specific marketing automation providers and are, naturally, relevant only to their own automation tool. Others are produced by industry leaders, consultants, and educational organisations and these can be platform-specific or broad, encompassing inbound marketing theory, automation theory and trends, or general best practices for lead nurture.

The right course for you is dependent on your knowledge gaps, how well you know both the theory and the software, and what your goal outcomes are.

You might feel that reading blogs and news articles daily is enough to keep you on top of general trends and emerging martech. However, you could be implementing a specific platform such as Pardot (renamed Account Engagement’ in 2022)and really need to understand the right way to do so, to avoid making mistakes that cost time and money later.

On the other hand, you might feel like you know the software you use well, but the planning of marketing strategy or lead nurture campaigns are areas you could improve.

Either way, below I have listed six marketing automation courses I think are well worth considering for a B2B marketing professional. They include a range of providers, platforms, and topics, and range from beginner courses to advanced.

Spoiler - one of these recommendations is our very own Pardot and Marketing Cloud training academy: ideal for users wanting to better understand and use these specific platforms.

The courses are:

• Trailhead by Salesforce
• HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification
• Marketing Cloud Specialist
• Pardot Specialist: Pardot On-Demand
• B2B Marketing Automation training
• Pardot Email for Reluctant Coders

6 marketing automation courses we rate

Trailhead by Salesforce

In Salesforce terminology courses are known as trails’ and there are plenty to choose from over at Trailhead by Salesforce. From Privacy and Data Protection Law, Admin, and Analytics, to Salesforce-specific modules, you’ll find helpful courses for beginner, intermediate, and advanced marketers. Plus, they’re all completely free.

HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification

The HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification is a really handy course to complete for developing your understanding of the general theory that underpins marketing automation. After all, the tool is only as good as the marketer managing it.

Marketing Cloud Specialist (Marketing Cloud specific)

Have you recently implemented Salesforce Marketing Cloud or do you use this platform as part of your everyday role? Take advantage of the Marketing Cloud Specialist certification so you can fully understand the nuances and capabilities that come with Marketing Cloud.

Pardot Specialist: Pardot On-Demand (Pardot specific)

From beginner essentials like navigating Pardot, to marketing operations, scoring and grading, and getting to grips with Sales Cloud features, this on-demand Pardot Specialist course is designed for a variety of roles and skill levels. It’s ideal for beginners and onboarding new team members, yet it’s suitable for experienced users too, as we cover a range of features and best practices often overlooked.

B2B Marketing training

A highly regarded resource in the industry, B2B Marketing is always at the crux of modern marketing problems, providing education in the form of online blogs, downloadable content, offline events, and their online training arm. They have plenty of online courses covering the topics of data marketing essentials, account-based marketing, and storytelling, all of which play a role in successful automated marketing.

Pardot Email for Reluctant Coders (Pardot specific)

One of the biggest hurdles for marketers using automation software is building email templates that render beautifully across a variety of devices and email clients. WYSIWYG editors help alleviate some of this challenge, but ultimately the more marketers can understand and use code where possible, the better result you’ll get overall. This is why we created the Pardot Email for Reluctant Coders online mini-course. It’s designed to help non-coding students produce stunning email templates within Pardot and teach you how to get the most out of the Pardot editor in as little time as possible.

If you’ve taken a marketing automation course that isn’t listed above but which you’d recommend, feel free to send us a message and we’ll consider adding to the list! 

As always, if you have a specific Pardot (Account Engagement), Marketing Cloud, or Salesforce-related question, we’re here to help. Get in touch at any time.