Which HubSpot Certifications Should You Complete?

HubSpot Academy has always been a treasure trove of inbound knowledge. From product tutorials and certifications to marketing lessons and advice, the academy can help fledgling and seasoned professionals alike when it comes to keeping up with inbound marketing tricks and trends. Certification programs are some of the academy’s most comprehensive offerings, with courses ranging from web design to inbound sales. As the academy grows, you might find yourself wondering, “Do I need all these classes? Which HubSpot certifications would actually benefit me?”

Below, I’ll list all of the certifications and then break them down by role. While there may be some overlap—for example, you might be a marketing and sales assistant, or work at an agency that does inbound marketing and web design—this list will give you the basic parameters of which HubSpot certifications you should focus on. While it’s always great to get as many certifications as you can, or at least to watch the classes behind each certification, I understand that most people reading this article are probably too busy to devote an entire week to brushing up on their certifications.

The Certifications

Inbound: This gives a basic overview of the inbound marketing methodology.

HubSpot Software: You probably guessed it—this goes over the marketing software features and how to use them.

HubSpot Sales Software: This course is more specialized and dives specifically into HubSpot sales functions.

HubSpot Design: As its name implies, this course discusses the design features and functionality available within HubSpot.

Contextual Marketing: Learn how to personalize your inbound marketing efforts by taking this certification.

Inbound Sales: This course takes a more sales-driven approach than the Inbound certification.

Growth-Driven Design: In this certification, HubSpot discusses its approach to GDD for websites and how agencies can adopt the process.

Email Marketing: Think you know everything about email? Think again. This course will teach you best practices for email marketing.

Content Marketing: This course takes a deeper dive into Inbound principles and applies them to creating content.

Sales Enablement: Learn how marketing can better help sales by taking this course.

 That is quite a list of HubSpot certifications! Where do you start?

Certifications For the Marketing Folks

If you’re a marketer like me, chances are you’ll feel right at home in HubSpot Academy. While I’ve heard some of my peers say that a few of the certifications were too easy, or that they didn’t learn anything new, I’d still recommend keeping up with your certifications. Marketing is an ever-evolving discipline and HubSpot regularly makes product updates; keeping up with your certifications will help you keep your skills sharp and ensure that you stay abreast of all the latest inbound marketing updates. HubSpot certifications can even help you get a job.

Must-Have Certifications

• Inbound
• HubSpot Software
• Contextual Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Content Marketing

Nice-to-Have Certifications

• HubSpot Design
• Sales Enablement
• Inbound Sales
• HubSpot Sales Software

HubSpot Certifications for Salespeople

While HubSpot has long been lauded as a marketing platform, it has recently made strides to become more sales-friendly, especially with its focus on new sales tools. HubSpot Academy now offers several different sales-specific certifications, and with the release of its recent Sales Enablement course, HubSpot has been making the push for more marketers to become inbound-sales-savvy as well.

Must-Have Certifications

• HubSpot Software
• Inbound Sales
• HubSpot Sales Software
• Sales Enablement
• Email Marketing

Nice-to-Have Certifications

• Inbound
• Content Marketing
• Contextual Marketing

Certifications for Designers and Developers

While designers, developers, and other technical professionals probably won’t find themselves in HubSpot Academy as often, there are still a number of valuable certifications and courses available to them. Additionally, brushing up on inbound methodology and the HubSpot platform itself is a best practice I’d recommend for most people involved in the buyer’s journey. Having a solid understanding of inbound marketing can help improve the user experience when designing websites, landing pages, email templates, and everything else your team will use along the buyer’s journey.

Must-Have Certifications

• Inbound
• HubSpot Design

Nice-to-Have Certifications

• HubSpot Software
• Growth-Driven Design

Caveats and Special Circumstances

While this is a good list to start with, there are of course unique circumstances for each role and organization, and you might seek out different certifications depending on your needs. For example, if you work at a HubSpot partner agency, you’re probably better off investing in all of the certifications (as well as the partner certifications) rather than picking and choosing, regardless of your role. Executives who are too busy to do more than one certification—let alone a whole list of them—might just focus on Inbound or Inbound Sales so they can get a better understanding of what their teams are working on. Of course, I’d always recommend getting as many certifications as you can; however, it’s up to you to decide which one(s) you should complete.

Which certifications have you completed? Which ones would you recommend to others? Let me know in the comments!

Header photo Pj Accetturo