How to become Inbound certified

Do you want to attract, engage or delight more customers? Learning the fundamentals of the Inbound methodology and getting Inbound certified is a good start. Below you will learn more about HubSpot certifications, how you can acquire them and how they can help you hone your skills.

It is no secret that we, here at Zooma, believe in the Inbound methodology. For this reason, we require that all employees acquire at least three HubSpot certifications, that are most relevant to their expertise. 

HubSpot offers an array of different certificates so that you, as an inbound marketer, can learn, test and prove your proficiency in using all the tools provided by the software.

Since I have successfully acquired some of the certificates offered, I thought I would share some tips and thoughts around the process and hopefully help others in their journey to going Inbound.

When you’re starting on your Inbound journey, the most important certification, to begin with, is the basic Inbound certification. From there you can decide to go into the direction that is most relevant for you. Some of the options that you have are Inbound Marketing, Inbound Sales, Growth-Driven Design and HubSpot CMS for Developers. All of these and more are free certifications, and personally I am amazed by the quality of the courses.

As a HubSpot partner, you also get access to exclusive partner certifications like Delivering Client Success, and HubSpot Solutions Partner Certification.

All available certifications have a validity of between 1 and 2 years.

The natural first step to take is to get Inbound certified. Therefore the rest of this article will focus on this certificate.

HubSpot’s free Inbound Certification includes seven lessons, for a total of 2 hours of video material, that span the three stages of the Inbound Methodology. From understanding the basics like setting business goals, to creating buyer personas and customer journeys.

All classes are provided through video, so be patient and watch through all the videos and take notes during the process, since it is a lot of new information and terms. I think that writing on a paper while watching the videos makes it easier to memorize all the information. Besides that, you can also print out a study guide available on the certificate’s page.

The Inbound Certification is purely theoretical. It works as a foundation to take further certificates down the road. The whole Inbound methodology is covered, explaining marketing, sales and services and how they fit together to create an Inbound experience. Once you have watched the video classes, you have to take a test comprised of 60 questions and have 3 hours to do so. Please note that you can’t pause the test, so make sure you have the required time available before you start the test. Some of the questions are pretty tricky, especially regarding the terminology so those notes you take when watching the videos will come in handy here! To pass it, you need to answer 45 questions correctly.

If you don’t pass the certification in the first try, you can try again after 12 hours.

The rule of thumb to successfully complete the certifications is to have patience. Take your time, make your notes and re-watch the videos if you don’t understand something at first. Also, have in mind that since they are time demanding, it should take you a few days to get through a single certification and will take weeks to complete all of them. Once you complete those certifications, you will be able to proficiently apply the Inbound marketing principles and methodology in practice and receive a beautiful certification.

If you want to grow your business, I recommend learning the fundamentals of the Inbound Methodology and get Inbound certified.

If you’d like a quick overview, check out our comprehensive Inbound guide covering the why, what and how of Inbound.