In 2015, Facebook launched its very own e-learning platform that includes Facebook Blueprint courses, and later the Blueprint Certification. The goal is to get knowledge about Facebook ads straight from the source.

Today, we’re going to break down what Blueprint is, what you can learn, what Facebook Blueprint Certification is, and what the alternatives are.

Facebook Blueprint Courses: What They Are and Should You Certify?

What are Facebook Blueprint courses?

Facebook Blueprint courses are put out by Facebook and teach you a variety of digital marketing skills. There are currently over 90 self-paced Facebook Blueprint courses where you can learn everything from beginner to advanced level digital marketing skills.

Some of the more basic content can be accessed without signing up for Blueprint, but you’ll have to do that for more advanced courses. You don’t need an ads manager account – signing up just requires your email address.

The courses are all organized by topic, and Facebook is adding new courses and content regularly. Here are a few courses available on Facebook Blueprint:

• The Complete Guide to Advertising with Facebook Ads Manager
• The Complete Guide to Controlling Your Campaigns in Ads Manager
• How to Earn Money With Fan Subscriptions
• How to Grow Your Business Using Facebook and Instagram

Each of those topics includes a list of Facebook Blueprint courses that you can take as a series or individually. For example, the topic “How to Create and Manage a Facebook Page for Your Business” includes a series of courses:

• Get Started With Marketing on Facebook
• Top Reasons Why a Facebook Page Matters for Your Business
• How to Create a Facebook Page to Grow Your Business
• The Essential Guide to Facebook Page Posts
• How to Use Facebook Tools to Communicate with Your Customers
• How to Evaluate Your Page’s Performance

Each of those courses includes a series of smaller lessons. Here’s what the page looks like for the first lesson in the Get Started With Marketing on Facebook course:

Many of these courses and lessons are cross-listed under other topics. Facebook keeps track of your progress as you move through each of the Blueprint courses, so you’ll be able to see if you’ve already completed a course or not.

There are a lot of beginner level courses (like the ones listed above), but there is a growing list of advanced courses on topics like driving consideration, building awareness, measuring ad performance, and more.

Some of the intermediate to advanced level courses include:

• The Role of Creative in Ad Auction
• Measurement Opportunities
• Facebook Experiment Methodology
• Build Out Your Messenger Experience
• Storytelling With the Carousel Format

Read more at 5 of The Best Facebook Marketing Courses to Blow Your Mind.

How long are Facebook Blueprint courses?

The courses can run anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, but most are in the 15 to 20 minute range. Remember, each course is made up of a collection of lessons, and those are mostly five minutes or less.

Some courses are text-based and others are video-based. They also include a series of questions to work through, which could take more or less time depending on your digital marketing knowledge.

How much do Facebook Blueprint courses cost?

One of the major appeals of Facebook Blueprint courses is that they’re all free. Yep, 100% free for anyone to take. This makes them super accessible if you’re on the fence about paying for a course. You can dip your toe in the digital marketing water without making a major financial commitment.

What about Facebook Blueprint certification?

Facebook Blueprint courses lead to Facebook’s certification exams. Facebook says these certifications will “help you stand out in your field.”

The exams are around 90 minutes each and cost $150 for each certification. Blueprint certifications are only good for one year, so you’ll have to recertify each year if keeping that status is important to you and your business.

Here are the Facebook Blueprint certifications you can receive:

• Facebook Certified Digital Marketing Associate
• Facebook Certified Marketing Science Professional
• Facebook Certified Creative Strategy Professional
• Facebook Certified Media Planning Professional
• Facebook Certified Media Buying Professional
• Facebook Certified Ads Product Developer I
• Facebook Certified Ads Product Developer II
• Facebook Certified Ads Product Developer III

Each exam recommends a selection of Facebook Blueprint Courses that you should take to prepare. You can also take a practice test.

Once you pass an exam, you’ll receive a digital badge that you can download or add to platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook (obviously!).

Read more at Blow Up Your Business With 19 of The Best Online Entrepreneur Courses.

Are Facebook Blueprint certifications worth it?

The certifications are still pretty new – they were released in 2019 – so it’s yet to be seen how much weight they’ll carry with companies and clients. And the reality is that many digital ad managers have been successfully finding clients and running ads before Blueprint.

It’s worth pointing out that Facebook Blueprint Certifications are the only certifications recognized by Facebook.

You can learn more about Facebook Blueprint Certification at Facebook Ad Certification: Worth It or Worthless?

Are Facebook Blueprint courses worth your time?

Well… they’re free, and that’s always cool. Again, it’s a great way to test the waters without investing any money.

But there are a few things that are missing from the courses:

• They lack personality. Even the video lessons lack any aspect of a real human presence.
• You get an idea of what to do, but you don’t get the over-the-shoulder working knowledge that paid courses offer.
• Here the big one: There isn’t any kind of personalized attention or support. There’s not even a chatbot at the bottom of the page to answer your questions. This is a major bummer.

This is a case of getting what you pay for.

Are there Facebook Blueprint alternatives?

There are several alternatives to the collection of Facebook Blueprint courses, but our favorite is the Facebook Side Hustle Course!

The Facebook Side Hustle Course is a comprehensive Facebook ads course for anyone who wants to make money as a Facebook ads manager. It focuses on three main principles:

1. How to set up a Facebook ad system for local businesses
2. How to find clients that need this service
3. Getting those potential clients to say “yes”

The majority of the course focuses on running ads, but those last two points are imperative if you want to grow your own digital marketing agency.

Note: Want to learn how to drive traffic to your own website, blog, or online business, check out Facebook Ads for Bloggers.

The Facebook Side Hustle Course is made up of 9 video-based modules that give you an over-the-shoulder look at running ads.

• Module 1 – The Basics: The first module covers how Facebook ads can be used to generate leads for local businesses, and provides a walkthrough of their ad platform, ad placement options, the three levels of an ad campaign, and more.
• Module 2 – The Funnel: Learn what a funnel is and how to create them. This also covers how to use funnels to generate leads, create a landing page, set up a lead form, and more.
• Module 3 – The Ad: Go over how to choose the correct campaign objective, the basics of targeting, how to choose the best images, and all about direct response copywriting.
• Module 4 – Facebook Assets: Learn what the Facebook pixel is and how to install it, as well as standard events and custom conversions.
• Module 5 – Walkthroughs: These are A-Z walkthroughs that will help you create your first conversion and lead form campaigns.
• Module 6 – Best Practices: You’ll learn the Golden Rule of testing ads, and how to scale your clients’ ads the right way.
• Module 7 – Troubleshooting Your Ads: Just what it sounds like: find any problems and solve them!
• Module 8 – Setting Yourself Up: Walk-through how to set up your client’s Facebook Page, as well as Business Manager for yourself. You’ll also learn all about the tools that will make running your business easier.
• Module 9 – Landing Your First Client: Learn what niches to target, how to use your “inner circle”, landing clients via email, the sale conversion, getting paid, and onboarding clients.

What really makes the course stand out – besides its focus on starting and growing your business – are the bonuses.

The most exciting one is one free month of personal coaching and support inside the private Laptop Empires community. You get access to the course creators and other Facebook ad managers, from newbies to seasoned veterans. You can ask questions, and get a look at what does and doesn’t work for others. This is the kind of personalized support you will not find on Blueprint.

Each week in the group you get bonus content in the group, including coaching calls, hot seats, and live trainings. Here’s an example of a recent live training:

The Facebook Side Hustle Course has three more bonuses: an 8-step client call script, a lead follow up system, and a client lead tracking automation system. These bonuses add a tremendous amount of value to help you grow your knowledge, skills, and business.

This Facebook ads course isn’t free, though. It’s currently $497, which comes with lifetime access. There’s no need to recertify each year, and updates are added when Facebook does make changes.

Grab the Facebook Side Hustle Course today!

The bottom line on Facebook Blueprint courses

Again, Facebook Blueprint courses are a good introduction to Facebook ads. You can get started with some necessary basics, and see if you like the content before digging in further.

If you find that you want more personalized learning, a supportive community, or more content geared towards running a digital ad agency, then check out the Facebook Side Hustle Course.