Google and Meta Certified Business

The team at To Exceed has been advertising on Facebook and Google for years, but we finally circled back to get Google and Meta certifications. Our first three certifications are for Google Search, Google Display, and the Digital Marketing Associate Certification on Meta. We asked Director of Operations Matt Haynes to explain the certification process.

In recognition of To Exceed becoming a Google and Meta Certified business , the following interview was conducted over Microsoft Teams. Copywriter Josh Shelton dialed in from his home in Fargo, North Dakota while Matt was visiting family in Coushatta, Louisiana:

image shows interview participants Josh Shelton and Director of Operations Matt Haynes — To Follow-Up with Director of Operations Matt Haynes, connect with him on LinkedIn

Congratulations Matt, on earning the Digital Marketing Associate Certification! Can you tell us about that process and what's involved?

“Thanks, Josh! Well, as you know, I’ve been running Facebook campaigns with To Exceed for about a year and a half, so the material was already pretty familiar. That said, the test costs a hundred dollars, and you can’t re-take it for 30 days, so I wanted to take the prep material seriously.

"First, I went through the study guide on Meta Blueprint and completed the visual, instructor-led material. Then I did the actual courses and took all the practice tests. Basically, I exhausted all the resources available, leading up to the test.

“Each course takes 15-20 minutes and there are about 15 courses. In theory, you could power straight through the material in five hours, but I’ve been busy lately, so I spread out the courses over a few weeks."

You were already experienced with running Facebook ad campaigns, even before starting this certification process. Did you learn anything new while preparing for the test?

“Nothing totally new. But I would say it clarified my understanding of a few things, like the relationship between Facebook and Instagram. It cleared up a few questions I had about how pixels work, the relationship between an ATS [applicant tracking system] and Facebook . . . or a third-party website and Facebook."

Say, hypothetically, another small business or solo marketer is thinking about getting a Digital Marketing Associate Certification for themselves. How could they benefit from going through this certification material?

“Someone who is still new to Facebook—or new to digital marketing—might find the training material more informative. One of the most helpful things they can learn is where to place ads, based on what you want to achieve. There are several types of ads, and boosting a post is different from actual advertising options like Creative Carousel.

“Videos perform differently, compared to still images. You have certain best practices with Videos and Reels. Whether you want to appear in Marketplace or elsewhere—that depends on what kind of message you’re trying to deliver.

“The material on Instagram and visuals seemed more relevant for advertising to consumers. Whereas To Exceed provides a lot of branding and recruiting services, several parts of the Digital Marketing Associate Certification seemed better suited to selling physical products.

“If you’re just marketing yourself or your own business, then the certification may not be useful. For digital marketers, of course, it’s a quick and easy way to demonstrate competence."

So, To Exceed is becoming Meta-certified as well as a member of Google’s Partner Program. Can you explain more about the Google certification and any other certifications in progress?

“Yes! So, while I focused on getting the Meta certification, we had [Product Manager] Marko Janusic get both his Google Ads and Google Display certifications. Next, I expect to be LinkedIn certified by the end of the year. Marko is already working on his Google Video certification, and Analytics will probably be next.

“Between the two of us, I’d like to get certifications in at least five of our products: Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and Email Marketing. None of these certifications are necessary to run ad campaigns, but they’re helpful in establishing a baseline of credibility with future clients.

“We've achieved some impressive results for clients in the trucking industry, but that reputation doesn’t necessarily transfer when jumping to a completely new industry like healthcare."

We’ve talked a little bit about the Credly badges. It's cool how it’s not just a graphic that anybody can copy and paste. Can you explain how that works?

“Yeah, it’s interesting for sure. I really like how it keeps all the certifications together, keeps the designs uniform, and packages them in a way that makes it easy to share them on websites or on social media. Like you said, it’s not just a PNG or JPG image. Instead, the Credly badge links to metadata that verifies the credentials of the person or business posting the badge.

“I also like the list of skills that it collects in the summary below. I can see Credly or Accredible being a regular companion on resumes. I was trying to find a list of companies that integrated with Credly... but I know some of the biggest companies seem to use it, including CompTIA, Meta, and Adobe. We plan to at least display our Credly badges on the website and LinkedIn, but we’re still getting familiar with the capabilities."