Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world.
It offers a plethora of features through its web and mobile platforms to over 2.3 billion users globally.
Thanks to the massive user-base, millions of brands explore opportunities to identify and target potential customers. This Is where Facebook Ads shine.
With the Ads Manager you can create, publish and track the performance of Ads.
The social media giant understands how modern businesses work and hence whether you need to target the most niche personas, or re-target certain user segments, they have got you covered.
You get to use many advanced settings and filters to narrow down a large audience pool, learn from their behavior and create custom audiences.
The Ads manager gives you all the tools you need to derive results from your advertising campaigns.
But it’s easier said than done.
This is because you must know all the features, and understand how the Ads work with unique strategies to avoid burning through the budget.
Imagine putting hours into designing a strategy only to lose all your money for little results.
So, how can you learn Facebook Ads?
Well, there are many organizations that offer Facebook Ads courses, but nothing is as good as Facebook’s native Blueprint certifications.
In this article, we’ll discuss everything about the Facebook Blueprint Advertising Certifications.
Let’s get started…
What are Facebook’s Blueprint Certifications?
Facebook’s Blueprint Certifications are a set of certified courses/training resources that help you learn the basic and advanced concepts of digital selling and Facebook Ads.
Consider the blueprint certification a professional tag that tells people you have an excellent understanding of Facebook products and services.
You can display this certificate on LinkedIn, your resume, website and use it to apply for jobs, and freelance on many platforms.
Well, getting blueprint certified isn’t simple. It comes at a cost.
You need to pay to take high stake proctored exams at your home or at a facility and secure a good score to get certified.
The social media giant also provides 100 mini-courses which you can attend for free.
Facebook offers many blueprint certifications spread across unique roles. Some unique roles in which you can get certified are:
1. Facebook Certified Digital Marketing Associate
2. Facebook Certified Marketing Science Professional
3. Facebook Certified Creative Strategy Professional
4. Facebook Certified Media Buying Professional
5. Facebook Certified Media Planning Professional
6. Facebook Certified Marketing Developer
7. Facebook Certified Community Manager
Facebook categorizes these certifications into two categories: Associate and Professional.
The Associate certifications have a validity of 24 months, while the Professional certifications are valid for 12 months.
Note: You only pay to take the certification exams, not for the study materials. The professional exams cost $150 and $99 for associate exams.
Facebook Certified Digital Marketing Associate
The Digital Marketing Associate Certification helps you learn the basics of digital marketing by introducing concepts like brand awareness, business pages, Facebook products, and responsive designs.
You also learn the fundamentals of Facebook Ads like how Facebook charges for ads, how to manage campaigns, Ad formats, scheduling options, performance report analysis and more.
With this course, you get comprehensive study materials which help you prepare for the exam.
This certification has a validity of 24 months and is available in Traditional Chinese, English, German, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian) and Spanish (LATAM).
If you are a beginner, this’s the perfect certification to kick-start your Facebook Ads journey.
Facebook Certified Marketing Science Professional
The Marketing Science Professional Certificate introduces you to the world of data.
In simple words, it helps you understand the core techniques to use metrics and measurements to make better marketing decisions.
By the end of this course you can successfully define business goals, set KPIs for your goals, run test campaigns and act on customer insights.
Facebook suggests ideal candidates have an experience of 3 years in research, data manipulation, statistics & standard deviations and consulting on measurement strategies.
This certification has a validity of 12 months and is available in English, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (LATAM), German and Japanese.
Facebook Certified Creative Strategy Professional
The Creative Strategy Professional Certificate teaches you the mobile fundamentals of digital marketing.
You learn to create data-driven briefs, apply insights and measure the effectiveness of unique creatives to enhance your business strategies.
Facebook recommends ideal candidates for this certification have prior experience in creating advertising strategies on Facebook and its partnered platforms.
This certification has a validity of 12 months and is available in English, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (LATAM), German, French, and Japanese.
Facebook Certified Media Buying Professional
The Media Buying Professional Certificate is for users with experience in activating and optimizing Facebook campaigns.
In simple words, if you are a media buyer, digital marketing consultant or associate, you can benefit a lot.
By the end of this course you can understand the best practices to optimize, and report on various Facebook campaigns.
With a validity of 12 months, this certification is available in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian) and Spanish (LATAM).
Facebook Certified Media Planning Professional
The Media Planning Professional Certificate helps you learn effective techniques to safely access goals within media briefs.
You get introduced to unique marketing strategies addressing budgeting, Ad settings, campaign complaints and interpreting reports.
Perfect for managers, media planners and digital marketing consultants who focus on achieving business goals through effective Facebook marketing strategies.
This certification has a validity of 12 months and is available in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian) and Spanish (LATAM).
Facebook Certified Marketing Developer
The Marketing Developer Certification is for software developers and technical account managers who want to learn the concepts of Facebook’s technical solutions.
With this course, you can understand Facebook Pixel, product catalogs, advanced matching and more. This certification has a validity of 18 months and is available only in English.
You must pass a coding assessment along with a multiple-choice exam to get certified.
Facebook Certified Community Manager
The Community Manager Certification helps you learn the best practices of building, scaling and sustaining online communities to drive your business goals.
Perfect for community leaders and managers who understand how communities function, and their rules and regulations.
This certification has a validity of 24 months and is available in English, French, German, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (LATAM), Thai, Bahasa, and Arabic.
How difficult are the Blueprint Certification Exams?
Facebook’s Blueprint Certification exams are tough.
The exams last between 90 and 150 minutes depending on the certification and ask you to solve multiple-choice questions which include many scenario-based questions.
Each question challenges your knowledge to make sure you’ve the required skills to get certified.
You can appear for the exams at your home or at an exam facility.
Well, Facebook follows a strict set of rules to stop you from using malicious techniques to cheat.
To appear at your home, you need a quiet room with clean walls. You can only have your computer, keyboard, and mouse on the desk.
Facebook will ask you to install a computer program that will restrict any background apps or helper programs.
All the exams get proctored through a running webcam during the tests.
You’ll also be asked to show your surroundings, including the walls, up and under the desk, and all four corners of the ceiling.
Note: Have a constant high-speed internet connection because if you lose connection, you fail the test immediately. But don’t worry, as you can reschedule the text for free.
How to get a recertification?
Each Blueprint Certification provided by Facebook has a validity. This means after a certain period they expire.
But you can retake the exams to renew your certifications.
The process of recertification is unique for different roles:
- Digital Marketing Certificate: It’s valid for 24 months, and you need to schedule and pass the exam six months before your expiration date.
- Community Manager Certificate: It’s valid for 24 months, and you can either retake the full exam before six months of expiration date or take a free online course and assessment as early as six months before the expiration date.
- Media Buying, Media Planning and the Creative Strategy Certificate: All valid for 12 months and you have similar options as the Community Manager Certificate.
- Marketing Science Certificate: It’s valid for 12 months, and you need to schedule and pass the exam six months before your expiration date.
- Marketing Developer Certificate: It’s valid for 18 months, and you need to take your recertification exam as early as six months before your expiration date. Here, you won’t have to give the coding test.
Note: If you fail to renew your certification before the date of expiration, you’ll have to follow the original process of completing the course and appear for the exams.
How to prepare for the Blueprint Certification Exams?
Facebook provides comprehensive study resources to prepare for each certification that gets scored from 300 to 1000 marks, and you need at least 700 to pass.
Start by exploring the free online courses offered with their Learn with Facebook Blueprint Platform where unique courses follow a certain organization by subject and are labeled Beginner, intermediate or advanced.
After studying the materials, you can leverage the free 30-question practice tests to understand the structure of each exam.
Facebook shows you the questions you answer incorrectly along with the correct answers in these tests to help you identify which areas of the subject you should focus more on.
As long as you are clear on the concepts and study the guides thoroughly, you can pass.
Facebook also offers a program called: Blueprint Live.
This program gives you in-person training conducted by trainers on the Facebook Blueprint team.
Unfortunately, it’s an invitation-only program at Facebook offices.
This means if you are in an agency working closely with Facebook, you might get an invitation.
Are the Blueprint Certifications worth it?
Let’s be honest.
Getting Blueprint Certified in a particular role involves many parameters.
Not only do you need to study thoroughly for the exams, take practice tests, but also score at least 700 in a strictly proctored examination.
For most people this is a tough target but if you really want to learn the core concepts of Digital selling, Facebook Ads and its products, the trouble is worth it.
This is because each certification has an industry-level recognition in the market and establishes you as someone who has the skills to get things done.
A Blueprint Certified tag also brings a plethora of opportunities for your resume, business and freelancing projects.
Conclusion
There you have it. Now, you know everything about Facebook’s Advertising Certifications. Although the road to get certified is difficult, it’s fully worth it. The social media giant provides certifications for many roles and you only pay the exam fee. You can prepare by studying the free resources and taking the practice tests.
