I was recently hired at WordWrite Communications as the new summer intern. On my first day, I began to take HubSpot’s inbound marketing certification courses and the subsequent test. For those of you who don’t know, HubSpot provides the tools and technologies for businesses to market the right content to the right customers at the right time through a process they coined: inbound marketing. Content + Context = Inbound.
However, there is so much more that goes into inbound marketing. That is why the folks over at HubSpot offer twelve courses on exactly what inbound marketing is and how you can use it to market to your customers. If you are considering getting inbound marketing certified, here are five things you should know before beginning the certification.
- Take copious notes
I began watching the video courses on my own time, thinking I would be so interested that I would just soak up the information without having to take notes. I learned mere minutes into the first video that while I was incredibly interested, there was far too much information to try and remember without writing it down. The courses may be relatively short (the entire course list is only a little under five hours), but they are chock-full of valuable information.
My advice is to write down everything that you can. Even if you do not think a piece of information is that important, write it down anyway. Odds are that you will need to know the information later on.
- Make use of quizzes
HubSpot’s Academy team recently revamped the certification and with that update came a new addition: quizzes. When you are watching one of the videos, on the right side of the page there are two buttons: one to watch the next class and another to quiz yourself on the topic.
After you finish all of the videos in a course, I strongly recommend that you explore the quizzes. There are five questions in each quiz pertaining to what was just learned in the video. The benefit is twofold: find out what you know and what you need to study more of, while also seeing what the questions on the test will be like. The quiz will open up in a new tab in your browser, so if you get a question wrong, simply close the new tab and click on the quiz button again. The questions do not change so you can take the quiz until you get all of the answers right.
- Take your time
The entire course load is just under five hours, but it took me over seven to complete. It may take longer or shorter depending on the viewer’s own pace. It may be necessary to pause the video to ensure enough time to get all the information down. The important thing is to learn as much as you can. There is nothing to be gained by rushing through the lessons and everything to gain by taking your time.
- Don’t take the test until you are ready
The test itself is made up of 60 multiple choice and true or false questions which you have 75 minutes to complete. I cannot stress this enough. DO NOT attempt the test until you are fully confident in your ability to pass it. You need a 75 percent or higher in order to pass the test. If you fail it, you will be unable to take the test again for 48 hours. If you fail three times in a row, you will be unable to re-take it for 30 days. HubSpot offers a downloadable study guide so make use of that as well to help you succeed.
- It’s FREE!
The courses, including all videos as well as quizzes and study guide, are all free. Inbound marketing strategies have revolutionized the way that businesses market to their customers and you can learn how to implement these strategies with your business for no cost whatsoever.