How to Get a HubSpot Certification: Guide + Benefits in 2024

HubSpot certifications are entirely free credentials you can pursue in several areas, including marketing, sales, and specific software use. HubSpot designed its courses and certifications for customer service, sales, and marketing professionals who want to highlight their skills and potentially advance their careers. Explore available options, ranging from the HubSpot inbound marketing certification to HubSpot search engine optimization (SEO) certification and beyond, to find the program that aligns with your interests. 

HubSpot certification overview 

A HubSpot certification is a globally recognized credential that professionals obtain for three main reasons: 

• Updating skills in digital marketing, sales, customer support, and more

• Demonstrating expertise in a particular HubSpot skill set 

• Enhancing a resume, portfolio, LinkedIn profile, or job application 

HubSpot Academy, HubSpot’s official resource for taking courses and getting certified, offers 30 certifications spanning different professional roles, software functions, and experience levels. Refer to the table below to explore the range of HubSpot Academy’s certifications.

*These certifications apply to more than one HubSpot content category. 

About HubSpot

HubSpot is a digital marketing industry leader that offers customer relationship management (CRM) software to help companies generate leads, align marketing and sales teams, improve sales enablement, and boost ROI. 

According to Statista, HubSpot was the marketing automation solution US industry professionals chose most as of July 2024, with a market share of nearly 35 percent, outperforming Adobe Experience Cloud, Oracle Marketing Cloud, Welcome, and others [1].

7 popular HubSpot certifications for beginners 

Delve deeper into your options with breakdowns of seven HubSpot certifications for beginners listed as popular on HubSpot Academy and that learners worldwide are searching for on Google. The most popular certifications are in sales and marketing strategy. 

Explore what you’ll learn and each certification's course format and length. Use these breakdowns as a model for your research process. 

1. HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification 

• What you’ll learn: How to create engaging content, nurture leads, optimize marketing processes, use automation and AI tools 

• Course format: 7 lessons, 24 videos, 7 quizzes 

• Length: 4:54 hours 

2. HubSpot Inbound Certification 

• What you’ll learn: The foundations of inbound marketing and the flywheel model, how to create a company purpose and set goals

• Course format: 7 lessons, 15 videos, 4 quizzes

• Length: 2:45 hours 

3. HubSpot Email Marketing Certification 

• What you’ll learn: The fundamentals of email marketing, how to use HubSpot’s free email marketing tool

• Course format: 12 lessons, 31 videos, 9 quizzes

• Length: 3:54 hours 

4. HubSpot Content Marketing Certification

• What you’ll learn: How to develop a content strategy, use a content creation framework for producing consistent and effective content, repurpose content, promote content, analyze content performance 

• Course format: 14 lessons, 54 videos, 11 quizzes 

• Length: 8:33 hours

5. HubSpot Social Media Marketing Certification 

• What you’ll learn: How to develop an inbound social media strategy, perform social media listening and monitoring, build relationships on social media 

• Course format: 10 lessons, 38 videos, 29 quizzes 

• Length: 5:19 hours 

Read more: What's a Social Media Manager? And How to Become One

6. HubSpot Inbound Sales Certification 

• What you’ll learn: how to identify which leads to contact, earn leads’ trust and attention, understand buyers, run sales calls and presentations  

• Course format: 7 lessons, 22 videos, 5 quizzes 

• Length: 3:11 hours

7. HubSpot SEO Certification 

• What you’ll learn: how to evaluate and improve your site’s SEO, build backlinks to increase your site’s visibility, use insights from keyword research 

• Course format: 8 lessons, 26 videos, 5 quizzes  

• Length: 3:50 hours

Read more: SEO Marketing: What It Is and How to Get Started

Reasons to get a HubSpot certification 

Increasing your competitiveness in the job market and building your skill set are two of many reasons to pursue these credentials. In addition to the fact that HubSpot skills and certifications are globally recognized, you can also enjoy several career benefits from getting certified, as explored below: 

1. Get the attention of employers. 

Having a HubSpot certification can make it easier to get employers’ attention. As of October 2024, companies continue posting job openings on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Indeed, listing HubSpot certifications (or experience) as a preferred or required qualification. 

Job titles include: Inbound Marketing Manager, Vice President of Customer Success, Sales Support Specialist, HubSpot Admin, HubSpot Technologist, B2B Social Media Specialist, and Digital Account Manager.

Companies include: Robert Half, North Carolina State University, University of Tennessee, HubSpot, and Amazon Web Services. 

Industries include: Higher education, media, branding and marketing, software, educational services, green tech, and more. 

2. Learn in-demand skills from inbound marketing experts.

Completing the courses for a certification exam exposes you to the experience and perspectives of HubSpot expertise. Instructors for HubSpot Academy’s certification courses specialize in different content areas, such as conversions, automation, and developer content. 

3. Stay current on the latest marketing and sales trends. 

As HubSpot updates its software continually, certification courses and exams will change to reflect HubSpot’s latest features and functionality. The courses and exams are an opportunity to build and maintain cutting-edge CRM skills.  

4. Add credentials to your LinkedIn profile, website, and more. 

HubSpot Academy allows you to showcase your expertise with certificates and badges. After completing a certification, you can download the certificate and badge, embed them on a website, add them to your LinkedIn profile and email signature, and share them on your social media profiles. 

Displaying HubSpot certificates or badges can visually enhance your online presence and make your expertise easily recognizable to employers.

Explore: Enroll in Create a Professional Online Presence with the University of Leeds on Coursera.

5. Launch a variety of career paths.  

HubSpot certifications can open up a variety of career opportunities, including: 

• Getting a job that requires experience with HubSpot or a certification in a content area

• Becoming a HubSpot solutions provider or partner so that you can provide consulting, tech implementation, or hands-on services to companies and teams on how to get the most out of HubSpot

• Becoming a certified HubSpot trainer so that you can deliver training to companies and teams

• Applying your HubSpot skill set to growing your own business and improving experiences for your customers

Read more: What Is a Career Path? How to Create Your Own

How to get HubSpot certified 

Familiarize yourself with Hubspot and develop your knowledge base to join the more than 200,000 HubSpot-certified professionals community. To start your certification journey and join them, follow the steps below. 

1. Become familiar with HubSpot by signing up for a free HubSpot account and familiarizing yourself with the platform’s features and functionality. That way, you can choose the path that aligns with your passions and career goals.

2. Sign up for a HubSpot Academy account and explore the certifications in your content area, such as marketing, sales, or customer service. 

3. Select a course and enroll. Once inside your Academy account, you can view the course breakdown, download a study guide, and peruse other courses in your content area. 

Are Hubspot certifications free?

Yes. The cost for all HubSpot certification courses is free.

1. Complete all lessons and quizzes to learn core principles in your content area and tactics for success. 

2. Pass the certification exam. You’ll find an exam to test your knowledge at the end of each course. Each exam has a passing score (number of questions you need to answer correctly), a time limit to take the exam, and a policy for retaking the exam.  

3. Earn your certificate. After passing the certification exam, you can view, download, and embed your certificate to showcase your new credential. 

4. Keep your certification active by taking a recertifying exam before the expiration date.

It’s important to note how long your certifications remain active. For example, the Inbound Marketing certification remains active for 25 months, while the Sales Software certification remains active for 13 months. 

Alternative options from industry leaders

Hubspot is one of many options for earning marketing credentials and expanding your skill set. The list below outlines a few alternatives for learning more and enhancing your resume.

• Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate: You can use this self-paced online course to gain digital marketing campaign management skills. You'll also explore performance-measuring analytics and customer engagement and attraction. Upon completion, you'll earn a Google Career Certificate for your resume.

• Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate: This online course is self-paced and taught by an industry leader. You'll gain social media management and advertising skills while learning how to optimize marketing campaigns across major platforms. Upon completion, you'll earn a Professional Certificate from Meta.

Gain essential HubSpot skills with Coursera

Taking online courses can be a great way to build skills in HubSpot, get to know the platform, prepare for a certifying exam, and discover career opportunities. Explore these options:

Frequently asked questions