Update on January 14, 2021 to include current information and insights.
If you’re an aspiring Facebook advertiser, you’ve almost certainly spent time stumbling around the Facebook Ads Manager platform, trying to understand how to replicate these creative ads that you see when scrolling through your news feed.
As always, the quickest way to mimic this approach is to start creating your own ads. You can spend endless hours teaching yourself the ins and outs of the platform, or you can take advantage of Facebook’s free Blueprint step-by-step tutorials to understand how it works.
What Is Facebook Blueprint Certification?
Blueprint is Facebook’s resource guide to provide modular learning for individuals who want to develop a strong foundation around its advertising platform and its user base. They’ve carefully curated an instructional curriculum for aspiring Facebook advertisers designed to teach you Facebook advertising from beginner to advanced level.
There is tailored information for every conceivable approach you might take when advertising your brand or business on the platform, from building awareness, to generating leads, to increasing in-store sales, you name it; there’s a module on how to build it out.
Facebook Blueprint certification showcases your proficiency level within the platform. If you want to be Blueprint certified, Facebook has curated advanced-level exams. At the time of this post, the exams cost up to $150 USD per exam.
Facebook expanded the Blueprint certifications into nine Pearson VUE moderated exams:
- Facebook Certified Digital Marketing Associate (valid for two years)
- Facebook Certified Community Manager
- Facebook Certified Marketing Science Professional
- Facebook Certified Creative Strategy Professional
- Facebook Certified Media Planning Professional (valid for one year)
- Facebook Certified Media Buying Professional (valid for one year)
- Facebook Certified Marketing Developer (consists of 2 required exams)
- Facebook Certified Advanced Marketing Developer (consists of 2 required exams)
- Facebook Certified Advertising API Developer (consists of 2 required exams)
The score for each exam ranges from 300-1000. To be certified, you will need to pass with a minimum score of 700.
Facebook will allow you to renew your certification for the Media Planning or Media Buying exams for free before your certificate expires. However, every other year, you can opt to take a free two-hour refresher course and a 20-question exam instead of retaking the full 105-minute exam.
For the Developer Certification, if you have an active certificate, you’re eligible to recertify. If your certification has expired, you must retake the exam.
How to Prepare and Study for Your Facebook Blueprint Certification Exam
If you’re ready to become Facebook Blueprint certified, the steps to prepare for the exam are pretty straightforward.
- Review the recommended Blueprint Courses for the exam you are going to take. For example, I took the Media Buying Professional exam, so I completed the recommended courses for that track.
- Download the study guide for the exam you are taking. Here is the Media Buying Professional guide.
- Go through the Facebook platform to understand how the campaign setup works, audience targeting, metrics, events, and the different types of available features on the platform.
- Lastly, take the practice exam. Here’s the practice exam for Media Buying Professional certification.
Is Facebook Blueprint Certification Worth It?
Facebook is always changing or improving features within the platform. If you’re not using it on a monthly basis, it may be challenging to stay on top of the new features and avoid making inefficient campaign strategies in your account. Blueprint courses are a helpful tool to learn the latest changes Facebook has made within its platform. Many of the granular specifics around building ads or measuring efficacy left to anecdotal observation in past years are now carefully laid out within the curriculum.
However, if you are looking to become certified, you’ll need to weigh the time and cost to get certified against how useful it is for you in the long term.
Here are a few reasons why Facebook Blueprint certification is worth the investment:
- You want to upsell your competency at an agency.
- You want to get hired at an agency.
- You want to expand your skillset within your current role.
- You are looking to enter into a new role within digital marketing (e.g., Media Analyst, Social Media Manager, Account Executive, Facebook Developer).
Bottom line: if you’re not working at an agency or looking to develop social media marketing skills right now, I’d recommend steering clear of full certification and stick with taking the free online blueprint courses.
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