One of the first questions I get when talking about the exams is “Who should really take the Facebook Blueprint Certification exams?”
In other words, who are the exams geared towards.
As you already know, if you read my About Me page, we are in the online educational space and are focused on training in-house executives in the Latam market. Due to our type of work, it made sense for us to certify ourselves with Facebook.
We think it will give us credibility among new customers and also force us to have a better in-depth knowledge in the different tools, strategies and updates within Facebook.
However, I don’t think the exams are for everyone.
Who should take the exams?
After taking and passing two exams, I can definitely tell you that the content is highly specialized for people who work in digital agencies or have been working as freelancers for a couple of months -if not 1-2 years-. It’s on the Facebook FAQ page and I believe its true.
I defer you from taking the exam if you have not implemented ads for a couple of months for yourself or a client.
If you are more strategic and want to get certified, spend some time with the tools within Facebook and play around with them. It’s fundamental that you learn how launch ads, create audiences, use the Facebook pixel, Power Editor and more.
Many questions are technical. If you have never launched an ad, you probably won’t know the answer to a number of questions.
If you also haven’t launched ads with various industries, I would suggest you get some experience as well and talk with friends working or managing social media strategies in other industries.
We were lucky enough that we’d had been working and training with real estate developers, hair salons, e-commerce sites, hardware retail stores, photographers, mobile app developers and others. Because of the variety of busineses, it forced us to learn strategies and help them execute those strategies for launching new products, increasing conversions and improving retention.
You will need to know both execution and strategic techniques.
In order to pass the exams, you will need to know both execution and strategic techniques. Just make sure you get some experience behind you. It will make your life much easier and more intuitive for the exam.
So… who should take the exams. I believe there are three industries that can really benefit.
1, Freelance – Community and Social Media Managers
If you are a freelancer in the social media space, I highly recommend you taking the exam.
Here is why…
Having the certification today can give you credibility among new and existing customers. It will also force to you truly know and have a much in-depth understanding of how Facebook works. You will have to stay updated and truly understand new trends.
As more and more people pass the exams, I believe the benefits of being certified will dimish with time but, today, I think it can give you an edge.
I have no prior experience in the digital marketing industry in other countries, but here in Latam, more and more people offer digital marketing services without any prior experience.
And they do it for cheap.
So the service is bad, it gives bad credbility to the industry and makes it sooo much harder for customers to pay higher prices. By having the certification, I believe you can differentiate yourself, charge what’s right and offer better services.
2, Team members within large agencies or companies
It all comes down to specialization.
As Facebook evolves, there is more demand for the Facebook ads market, and there are more options within Facebook, it has become more and more difficult to implement the right strategy for the right industry.
I truly believe that digital agencies will be force to evolve in the next coming years -at least in Latam market.- You can’t just publish 2-3 posts a day and expect to get results in Facebook anymore. I still see many digital agencies following this strategy.
It all comes down to specialization.
Digital agencies will have to specialize in niche markets and industries. The tools you use within Facebook for a retailers are very different than someone trying to do social commerce (FB Messenger bots/chats).
Being certified, will allow you to build a team who is better prepared to launch, optimize and scale marketing strategies that are more specialized and can leverage more advance tools within Facebook.
If you work within the marketing department for a large enterprise or company, you should definitely consider taking the exams.
3, Teach or train people Facebook online courses
This is pretty obvious.
A quick Google search for “facebook training courses” results in 347,000,000 links:
With some many online options, users today don’t really know where to go and what courses to take. I’ve seen some of people saying the are so-called “Experts in Facebook Ads” and end up being a scam.
Again. As more and more people pass the exams, the benefits of being certified will be marginal. For now, I still think you can still have an edge over everyone else.
4, If you are trying to get a job within the digital marketing space
If you are trying to break into the digital marketing space and want to get a job, I highly recommend getting certified. It does not necesarily have to be with Facebook, but definitely consider getting yourself certified.
If you are trying to get a job within the digital marketing industry, get certified.
We’d help recruit a couple of companies who were trying to build their internal digital marketing teams. One of the aspects we saw in applicants were certifications. It really helps when people take the time to get certified.
It allows companies to ramp up implementation quicker and reduce the learning curve needed for you to get accustomed with tools.
Who should NOT take the exams?
1, Solopreneurs or entrepreneurs
I would definitely defer you from taking the exams if you are a solopreneur or entrepeneru. It will take too much of you time and getting certified should not be your focus.
If you are a solopreneur, getting certified should NOT be your focus.
If you are low on budget, spend some money on learning how to segment audiences, use different type of ads, integrate your website with Facebook pixel and A/B test your strategy.
Trust me. You will only loose your time and it will not be worth it!
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Leave your comments below and let me know what other topics, subject matter or questions that you might have.