9 Social Media Courses to Grow a UK Solo Business in 2026

January is when most UK solopreneurs do the same two things: promise they’ll “post more”, then immediately get swallowed by client work.

Most companies get this wrong. They treat social media as a creativity problem, when it’s usually a systems problem. Skills matter, sure—but the bigger win is turning those skills into repeatable workflows you can run every week, even when you’re busy.

That’s why choosing the right social media marketing courses in 2026 isn’t about collecting certificates. It’s about learning the parts of social that feed marketing automation: content planning, writing frameworks, performance analysis, and ad basics—so your tools can do the boring bits while you stay focused on the work only you can do.

Below are nine stand-out courses (largely drawn from Rochi Zalani’s Buffer roundup) plus my take on which course fits which UK SME/solo scenario, and how to connect the learning to a practical automation setup.

Choose courses that reduce your weekly workload

The fastest route to consistent results is learning the skills that create reusable assets: a strategy you can template, caption formulas you can recycle, a measurement habit you can automate, and basic creative production that doesn’t derail your week.

Here’s the simple filter I use for solopreneurs:

• If the course teaches a repeatable framework, it’s worth your time.
• If it teaches a platform UI tour only, it’s useful—but don’t expect it to change your business.
• If it ends with an asset you can reuse (content calendar, messaging guide, hook library, ad creative checklist), it will pay you back.

Cohort vs self-paced (what actually works when you’re solo)

• Cohort-based courses are best when you struggle with follow-through. The fixed timeline forces output.
• Self-paced courses are best when you’re juggling client deadlines and need flexible learning blocks.

My opinion: if you’re a one-person business, self-paced wins 80% of the time—but only if you pair it with a simple accountability mechanism (a weekly “publish day” in your calendar, or a monthly content sprint).

The 5 platform courses that make automation easier

Platform courses won’t build your whole strategy—but they do teach the rules of the road. That matters because automation tools (schedulers, content libraries, reporting dashboards) work better when your content already fits the platform.

1) TikTok Academy

Best for: solopreneurs selling services or products that benefit from demos, before/after, or “day in the life” content.

Why it helps automation: TikTok rewards volume and consistency. Once you understand formats that perform (hooks, cuts, captions), you can batch-produce short videos and schedule supporting posts across other channels.

Automation move: create a weekly batch (e.g., 5–10 clips), then schedule repurposed versions for Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

2) LinkedIn Learning: Growing your business with LinkedIn Pages

Best for: UK consultants, B2B agencies, recruiters, and local service businesses targeting decision-makers.

Why it helps automation: LinkedIn is a compounding channel when you build a repeatable posting cadence—especially if you turn client FAQs into posts.

Automation move: build a “content bank” of 30 FAQs and objections, then rotate them through a scheduler and reuse top performers quarterly.

3) Instagram Creator Best Practices

Best for: visual brands (fitness, beauty, food, home services) and anyone who benefits from community.

Why it helps automation: once you understand what Instagram wants (Reels, consistency, saves/shares), you can plan content in series: “3 tips”, “mistakes”, “behind the scenes”. Series are easy to batch.

Automation move: template 3–5 recurring series, then batch-create on one day per month.

4) Meta Blueprint

Best for: anyone planning to run paid social on Facebook/Instagram.

Why it helps automation: paid social is where process discipline pays off—naming conventions, testing routines, and performance reporting. Blueprint gives you the fundamentals that stop you wasting money.

Automation move: standardise ad testing (2 hooks × 2 creatives × 2 audiences). Use automated rules to pause obvious losers.

5) Pinterest Academy

Best for: eCommerce, creators, home/interiors, food, weddings, and evergreen content.

Why it helps automation: Pinterest behaves like a search engine. That means scheduled pins and content refreshes can drive steady traffic without daily posting.

Automation move: schedule pins weeks ahead, and build a quarterly refresh routine for top URLs.

The 3 best strategy courses (where UK SMEs should start)

If you’re a UK solo business trying to grow, strategy courses are the highest ROI because they help you pick what not to do. That’s the real time-saver.

1) Meta Social Media Marketing (Coursera)

Best for: beginners who want structured, professional training.

From the source: it’s free, runs over several months, and covers building presence, analysing performance, and using Meta Ads Manager.

My take: this is ideal if you’re moving from “posting when you remember” to a measurable system. The certificate can also help if you’re pitching as a freelance marketer.

How to connect it to automation:

• Turn the course learnings into a simple monthly dashboard: reach, clicks, leads, cost per lead.
• Set a calendar reminder for a 30-minute monthly review. Consistency beats deep analysis.

2) HubSpot Academy: Social Media Marketing

Best for: small business owners who need the fundamentals fast.

From the source: it’s free, about five hours, and covers strategy basics, inbound traffic, and advertising.

My take: HubSpot is the no-drama starting point. If you’re a solopreneur who wants one clear approach you can apply across platforms, this is the course.

How to connect it to automation:

• Use one “pillar content” per week (a blog, case study, or FAQ page) and automate social posts that point back to it.
• Build an email capture habit: social → landing page → email list. Social alone is fragile.

3) Impactful Social Writing (Maven)

Best for: becoming a recognised voice in your niche.

From the source: taught by Erica Schneider and Kasey Jones, focused on personal brand, consistency, and post ideas with real examples.

My take: if your UK solo business relies on trust (consulting, coaching, fractional roles), writing is the unfair advantage. This course earns its place because it helps you develop a voice—and a voice scales.

How to connect it to automation:

• Build a library of “repeatable post types” (story, opinion, lesson, checklist).
• Use a content queue: write 10 posts in a sprint, schedule 2–3 weeks ahead.

Snippet-worthy truth: Automation doesn’t fix unclear messaging. Courses that sharpen your message make automation actually work.

The 2 writing courses that pay back the quickest

If you only buy one capability as a solopreneur, buy writing. Better writing reduces ad spend, improves conversion rates, and makes every post easier.

1) Hooked on Writing Hooks

Best for: improving the first line of your posts.

From the source: it’s a text-based resource focused on writing authentic hooks (not clickbait) and includes guidance on using AI to generate hooks.

My take: most solopreneurs don’t have a “content” problem—they have a stopping power problem. If people don’t stop scrolling, the rest of your post doesn’t matter.

Practical automation workflow:

1. Write 20 hooks for one topic (e.g., “pricing”, “mistakes”, “results”).
2. Save them in a hook library.
3. When you create posts, pick a hook, then fill in the body.

2) High Impact Writing (Kieran Drew)

Best for: persuasive short-form and long-form writing.

From the source: $397, short lessons, and an option to learn via written material.

My take: this suits the solopreneur who wants to publish consistently without sounding generic. Short, frequent lessons also fit busy schedules.

Practical automation workflow:

• Turn one client win into a 5-post series (problem → process → mistake → result → lesson).
• Schedule the series across two weeks.
• Repost the best-performing post with a new hook 60–90 days later.

The 2 production courses that stop content bottlenecks

Your marketing automation setup is only as strong as your ability to produce content without it taking over your calendar.

Premiere Pro (Udemy)

Best for: anyone ready to move beyond mobile editing.

From the source: low cost, ~4.5 hours, covers beginner to advanced editing.

My take: you don’t need cinema-grade edits. You need speed, clarity, and consistency. Learning basic editing removes friction when you’re batching content.

Automation move: create 3 reusable templates (intro, captions style, outro) and reuse them for every batch.

Bonus: Canva content creation (Skillshare alternative mentioned)

If you’re a Canva-first business (many UK solopreneurs are), treat Canva templates as automation. Your future self will thank you.

Automation move: build a template pack for:

• quotes/testimonials
• tips carousel
• “3 mistakes” carousel
• case study slides

A 30-day upskilling plan for a UK solopreneur (with automation)

Courses only pay off when they change what you do on a Tuesday morning.

Here’s a realistic 30-day plan that I’ve found works when you’re running a one-person business.

Week 1: Pick your channel and your goal

Decide one primary channel for 90 days (LinkedIn or Instagram or TikTok). Then set one goal:

• leads booked
• email subscribers
• product sales

Write it down. Everything else is noise.

Week 2: Build a simple content system

Create:

• 3 content pillars (e.g., expertise, proof, personality)
• 4 repeatable post types (e.g., checklist, story, myth-bust, tutorial)
• a weekly cadence you can maintain (e.g., 3 posts/week)

Week 3: Batch, schedule, and measure

• Batch-create two weeks of posts.
• Schedule them.
• Track 3 metrics only: impressions, clicks, leads.

Week 4: Improve one thing, not everything

Pick the highest-leverage improvement:

• better hooks
• clearer offer
• stronger call to action
• improved creative

Then repeat the cycle.

One-liner you can keep: Consistency comes from systems; systems come from skills; skills come from focused learning.

People also ask: free vs paid social media marketing courses?

Start with free courses until you hit a clear ceiling. That’s when paid courses make sense.

A good “ceiling” looks like:

• you’re posting consistently but growth has plateaued
• you can’t articulate your positioning
• you’re spending on ads without confidence
• you’re creating content, but it’s not converting

Paid courses are worth it when they shorten your learning curve on a specific bottleneck (writing, ads, positioning, production).

Courses aren’t the point—repeatable execution is

The reality? It’s simpler than you think. The right social media marketing course in 2026 gives you a framework you can run with, then your automation tools keep it moving when client work gets busy.

If you’re following the UK Solopreneur Business Growth series, you’ll see this theme come up again and again: growth isn’t about heroic effort. It’s about boring consistency, made easier with templates, scheduling, and light-touch reporting.

Pick one course, one channel, and one outcome for the next 30 days. Then build a small system you can keep.

What would change in your business if, by the end of February, you had two weeks of content scheduled and a predictable way to turn posts into leads?