Whether you’re a small business owner, digital marketer, social media manager, freelancer, content creator, or influencer, harnessing the power of Instagram marketing can significantly boost your brand’s visibility and reach.

To make a successful Instagram marketing strategy, it is crucial to understand your niche and their content preferences. Instagram’s reliance on visually appealing visuals means you need to invest in the right tools and professionals. Moreover, mastering the use of hashtags has become essential for optimizing your content’s discoverability and strategically placing ads to engage your target audience.

I participated in a couple of in-person digital marketing bootcamps a few years ago, and since then, the market has undergone significant changes. The emergence of TikTok as a major player has transformed the way businesses operate on social media platforms. Additionally, Instagram has evolved into a video-sharing platform, and YouTube introduced YT Shorts to compete with TikTok. Keeping up with the latest trends, I can assure you that the courses in this list will enable you to achieve outstanding results, all at a fraction of the cost of traditional workshops.

In light of these considerations, this guide presents a selection of the best courses curated from Class Central’s extensive catalog of over 200 Instagram Marketing courses. Each course has been chosen based on a well-defined methodology that you can check below.

Here are my top picks. Click on one to skip to the course details:

Instagram Marketing in Numbers

In 2023, there will be nearly 1.35 billion active Instagram users worldwide, and it’s estimated that it will reach 1.44 billion users by 2025. The distribution by age group shows that the majority of users are between 18-34 y.o. which accounts for over 60% of the total. So, you will definitely find your audience on the platform and/or a creator to advertise your business.

Class Central has been featured multiple times on social media by digital influencers and we know the power that one viral post might have. For example, there are nearly 100k likes on this Instagram Reels.

Instagram Reels: Embrace the Latest Video Sharing Feature

Research Methodology

I built this ranking following the now tried-and-tested methodology used in previous Best Courses Guides (you can find them all here). It involves a three-step process:

1. Research: I started by leveraging Class Central’s database with 100K online courses and 200K+ reviews. Then, I made a preliminary selection of Instagram Marketing courses by rating, reviews, and bookmarks.
2. Evaluate: I read through reviews on Class Central, Reddit, and course providers to understand what other learners thought about each course and combined it with my own experience as a learner.
3. Select: Well-made courses were picked if they presented valuable and engaging content and they have to fit in a set of criteria and be ranked accordingly: comprehensive curriculum, affordability, release date, ratings and enrollments.

Course Ranking Statistics

Here are some aggregate stats about the ranking:

• Together, they account for 354,910 enrollments.
• The single most popular course in the ranking has over 217k enrollments.
• The most featured providers are Domestika and Skillshare with 2 courses each.
• 1 course is free, 4 are paid.

Let’s go through the top picks.

Best Introduction to Instagram Marketing Strategy for Business by Hubspot

This free course teaches how to build and implement a successful Instagram marketing strategy covering the basics of how Instagram works and how to use it for your business. This course is aimed at social media marketers, marketing professionals, and content creators.

You will learn how to build and implement a successful organic Instagram marketing strategy, how to harness the power of this visual social network to grow your business, and how to Invest in yourself and your career by learning one of the most in-demand skills in digital and social media marketing.

This course is divided into 6 modules and 21 videos. It includes study guides, practical exercises, 6 quizzes to test your knowledge, and a lively community of learners. After completing all lessons, you can then take the final exam to test what you’ve learned. If you pass, you will receive a certification which can be added to your LinkedIn profile.

Additional Info

• The next course recommended by Hubspot to take after this one is How to Advertise on Instagram.

• Hubspot provides a variety of courses related to marketing and sales, here are five recommendations: 1. Facebook Ads Training: How to Build Great Ads & Audiences, 2. YouTube Marketing Course, 3. LinkedIn Marketing for Business, 4. Social Media Marketing, 5. Inbound Marketing.

If you’re interested in this course, you can find more information about the course and how to enroll here.

Best Instagram Strategy Course for Business Growth with Dot Lung

From the best seller instructor Dot Lung, you will learn a proven method to generate brand awareness, build a relationship with your audience, and communicate with purpose. This course is aimed for freelancers, coaches, consultants, and small business owners. If you have fewer than 10k followers, this course is for you. It can also be applied to personal branding.

In this course you will learn to use the Dragon’s Formula which consists of a method developed by the instructor to create engagement. This unique framework is based on: dialog, relatability, authenticity, giving value, sharing your opinion, and having niche clarity.

This is a self paced course with 21 lessons and 17 additional resources. By the end of this course you will deliver a project on “creating a month-long calendar full of engaging social media posts for your business”. Upon completion of the course, you can download your certificate.

You can check on other students’ projects on the course main page. Once you finish your projects, you can receive comments and feedback from other students as well.

This course was also featured on the Best Social Media Marketing Courses.

Best Course for Instagram Influencers with Jun Wu

This class is designed for individuals who want to become influencers on Instagram, build a community, and generate income from their profiles. Throughout the course, you will gain step-by-step guidance on crafting a unique voice and identity that gets respect and likability.

You will learn how to create a polished and stylish profile that attracts followers, as well as produce entertaining and valuable content to retain and convert your audience into fans. The course will provide proven business strategies for turning fans into paying customers and securing sponsorship deals and other opportunities.

Moreover, you will explore engagement boosts, algorithm strategies, and analytics to grow your followers organically, without resorting to paid ads or automation software that could potentially result in Instagram account bans.

You will progress through the lessons with a real-time demonstration provided by the instructor: you can examine the instructor’s own Instagram account, observing firsthand how to apply the techniques effectively. This hands-on approach sets this course apart from others, ensuring that you receive practical and up-to-date knowledge.

Another popular and worthy-taking course from Jun Wu is: Instagram Business – Sell On Instagram – Customer Psychology.

Best Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads Course with Maggie Stara

This course will provide you with a realistic approach to Facebook and Instagram Ads with one of the most down-to-earth instructors you will ever find. You also have access to a well presented workbook to guide you through creating your ads.

The class includes an exclusive downloadable worksheet, 11-pages long, to help you put every lesson into action that can be downloaded before you start the course. This useful PDF will help you identify what sets you apart, how to be strategic about what you share, and how to set goals for your work. They’re designed to use and reuse, giving you tools to rely on again and again.

By the end of this course, you can submit your own project to receive feedback from your peers and instructor.

Additional Information

• Maggie Stara’s related courses:
  • Digital Marketing Strategy: Profitable Sales Funnel Fundamentals;
  • Powerful Social Media Marketing for Beginners;
  • Social Media Content Creation: From Beginner to Advanced;
  • Social Media Marketing: How to Create an Impactful Strategy for Any Business;
  • Digital Marketing Strategy: Profitable Sales Funnel Mastery.

Stunning Instagram Stories Tips From a Professional Photographer, Mina Barrio

This course is focused on content creation for Instagram. As a photography/video sharing platform, it makes sense you need to understand how to work with great visuals for your content. From Mina Barrio, professional photographer, this course is for designers, illustrators, small business owners, or anyone who wants to learn to use Instagram in a strategic way to gain more visibility with their Stories.

In this course, you will learn the difference between Instagram feed posts and Instagram Stories and why it’s important to use this tool to get more and better reach with your followers. Next, you will improve your workflow by using guidelines to create a content strategy focused on your goals. You will also learn how to use text resources, images, gifs, emojis, etc. Then, you will get to see how to highlight Stories for a duration of more than 24 hours and organize them properly. Finally, the instructor will talk about her favorite apps and how to use them

This is a self-paced course divided into 22 lessons, 15 additional resources, and bilingual audio (EN, ES). By the end of this course you will deliver a project on “publishing strategy for Instagram Stories and create a campaign with photos, videos and design just using your mobile device.” Upon completion of the course, you can download your certificate.

You can check on other students’ projects on the course main page. Once you finish your projects, you can receive comments and feedback from other students as well.

Fun Facts

• Mina Barrio, who is a best selling instructor on Domestika, is also a photographer for Melon Blanc.