9 Instagram Courses and Training to Boost Your Skills Fast (Free & Paid)
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.
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.
Instagram marketing courses for beginners
1. Instagram for Business by Facebook Blueprint
Cost: Free
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:
- 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
Notes:
- 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 by Canva
Cost: Free
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:
- 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
Notes:
- 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
Bonus tutorials from Canva: How to create an animated Instagram Story.
3. Social Marketing Certification by Hootsuite
Cost: $199
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:
- How to build a social media strategy
- Setting up + optimizing social media profiles
- Community building
- Content marketing basics
- Social media ads basics
Notes:
- 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 by Facebook Blueprint
Cost: Free
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:
- 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
Notes:
- Short, text-based lessons
- No quizzes, exam or certificate provided
5. iPhone Photography Essentials by Skillshare
Cost: Included with Skillshare membership
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.
Get the free guide right now!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
Notes:
- 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)
6. Canva 101 by Joelle Studio
Cost: $19
Length: 2 hours
Taught by: Cherise Vecchio, social media pro & founder of Joelle Studio
Take this course if: You want to learn how to plan and create eye-catching content for Instagram with Canva.
What you’ll learn:
- How to use Canva
- Sourcing free images
- Step-by-step walkthrough of how to recreate a graphic made in Photoshop in Canva
- Creating templates for IG posts, Stories, Facebook posts
- Ideas for 30 days of content (which you can plan and schedule using Hootsuite’s content calendar)
Notes:
- You’ll complete two practice tasks: recreating a graphic from Photoshop in Canva and creating content for an event launch
- Suitable for freelancers, content creators, and small business owners
- Bonus resources: social media calendar and guide (How to optimize content on Instagram for maximum reach)
Advanced Instagram courses
7. Instagram Content Planning by ilovecreatives
Cost: $499
Length: 10-15 hours
Taught by: ilovecreative’s founder (@punodestres)
Take this course if: You don’t want to learn just what to post, but how to strategically plan and create content for Instagram.
What you’ll learn:
- Latest updates about the Instagram algorithm
- Auditing your Instagram
- Analyzing your audience
- Setting up a content marketing plan and calendar
- Build your own Instagram brand book
- Content loops
Notes:
- Learning format: a mix of lectures, tutorials, and worksheets
- A self-paced course that you have access to forever
- Access is currently closed; you can sign up to their waitlist for the next enrollment (Apr 30)
- You’ll get access to the ilovecreatives Slack, where you can ask questions, learn from other experts, and find potential freelance work
- You can preview the first lesson by joining the waitlist
- Content is tailored for freelancers, content creators, small business owners, and social media marketers
8. How to Create a Cohesive Instagram Feed Using Adobe Lightroom by Skillshare
Cost: Included with Skillshare membership
Length: 31 mins
Taught by: Dale McManus, professional photographer
Take this course if: You want to create your own custom and professional-looking Instagram feed to attract more followers and grow your brand.
What you’ll learn:
- How to edit photos in Adobe Lightroom
- Choosing a beautiful & consistent color scheme
- Making creative layouts for your feed
- Creating custom presets for your photos
- How to preview and plan your grid
- Finding popular hashtags (which you can then track using Hootsuite’s social listening streams)
Notes:
- 9 short lessons in video format
- Access to Adobe Lightroom mobile app is required (free version available)
- Tailored for mobile phone users, no desktop computer required
9. Find Your Photography Style by Skillshare
Cost: Included with Skillshare membership
Length: 1.5 hours
Taught by: Tabitha Park, product & food photographer
Take this course if: You’re having trouble deciding on a consistent look and feel for your Instagram feed, and want some guidance in developing your personal style.
What you’ll learn:
- How to analyze photos and replicate their looks
- Editing tips in Lightroom
- Composing a cohesive grid
- Photography lighting and editing tips
Notes:
- You’ll complete a class project to help identify your desired photography aesthetic
- The course is best suited for personal brand-focused businesses (content creators, coaches, consultants, bloggers, creative entrepreneurs)
Conclusion
From platform features to algorithms to new channels, things are always changing in the world of Instagram. As a marketer, it can get overwhelming to keep up with it all, which is where taking Instagram courses and training can help.
If you’re looking to improve your skills on other social media platforms besides Instagram, here are 15 more social media courses and resources.
Manage your Instagram presence alongside your other social channels and save time using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts, engage the audience, and measure performance. Try it free today.
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