PCM Certifications to Help You Achieve Success in Marketing

Key takeaways

Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) certification can enhance your credibility, validating your skills and showing initiative. 

• PCM certifications include the Content Marketing, Digital Marketing Pro, Digital Marketing Expert, and Marketing Management certifications.

• Obtaining a PCM certification involves understanding time and financial investments, signing up on the AMA website, working through online modules, taking a final assessment, and maintaining your certification through continuing education.

• You can earn a PCM certification to advance your career, negotiate higher salaries, connect with other professionals in the industry, and pursue more digital marketing jobs.

Explore the PCM certifications available and how they can benefit your career. If you’re ready to start building your marketing expertise, enroll in the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate. You’ll have the opportunity to learn key online marketing skills like search engine optimization, online advertising, social media management, and more in as little as six months. Upon completion, you’ll have earned a career certificate for your resume.

What is PCM certification?

PCM certification refers to a title earned by completing a certification program offered by the American Marketing Association (AMA), one of the country’s prominent professional marketing organizations.

The program covers marketing skills used in the field. It aims to improve your skill set, help you learn up-to-date marketing tactics, and build your confidence within four specific marketing sectors: digital marketing, advanced digital marketing, marketing management, and content marketing.

Each certification is valid for three years, and you must complete continuing education courses to renew it after that period.

Take a closer look at the specific tracks the AMA offers to help you choose the path that aligns with your goals.

Read more: 8 Industry-Recognized Digital Marketing Certificates + How to Get One

Content Marketing

Total online time investment: 15 hours (self-paced)

Cost: $1,295 (AMA members), $1,395 (non-members) [1]

Requirements: AMA has no set prerequisites, but recommends having a combination of education and experience in the field

When you choose this track, you'll learn how to modernize your content marketing strategies, build your audience, leverage storytelling, and track success through industry-standard KPIs. The AMA partners with the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) to help provide in-depth knowledge about building a team, product development, standards, and story mapping.

Digital Marketing Pro

Total online time investment: 30 hours (self-paced)

Cost: $2,060, occasional discounts available [2]

Requirements: Neither AMA nor DMI identifies prerequisites

As you prepare for this PCM certification, you'll learn the newest digital marketing techniques and best practices. The program covers relevant skills like leveraging pay-per-click (PPC) ads and social media marketing while adding a dose of timely instruction that covers GA4, Google's most up-to-date analytics dashboard, and the use of AI. The AMA partners with the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI) to offer this dual certification. You’ll earn both PCM Digital Marketing and Certified Digital Marketing Professional credentials upon completion.

Digital Marketing Expert

Total online time investment: 110 hours (self-paced)

Cost: $5,310, occasional discounts available [3]

Requirements: Neither AMA nor DMI identifies prerequisites

In this extensive program, you become dually certified with the AMA and Digital Marketing Institute with two credentials: PCM Digital Marketing and DMI Certified Digital Marketing Expert. You'll explore tactics that help you lead, like building digital strategies, optimizing conversions, improving the customer experience, and project management.

Marketing Management

Total online time investment: 16 hours (self-paced)

Cost: $749 (AMA members), $849 (non-members) [4]

Requirements: AMA has no set prerequisites, but recommends having a combination of education and experience in the field

The PCM certification in marketing management can help you build leadership skills. Whether you're part of a small team or work for a large company with a robust marketing department, the certification covers topics like marketing strategy, marketing research and data, pricing strategy, customer behavior and segmentation, and positioning products and services.

The benefits of AMA PCM certification: Is PCM certification worth it?

Certifications can help you stand out in the job market and show potential employers that you're willing to improve and validate your skills. In the current professional landscape, improving skills is mission-critical for many organizations. Research shows employers face several skill deficiencies within their workforce, particularly in the marketing sector. To help close the gaps, 78 percent of marketing leaders are willing to pay higher salaries for candidates with specialized skills in areas like digital marketing strategy and marketing research and analytics [5], which the PCM certifications validate. In addition to a competitive advantage, PCM certification can:

Aid in career advancement

Marketers willing to upskill their abilities may qualify for promotions faster than other coworkers. Having verifiable proof of your skill set can help further your career journey.

Help you advocate for a bump in pay

Additional skills are valuable to companies, and many are willing to show their appreciation to employees through bonuses or salary increases. 

Network with other professionals

Once you earn a PCM certification, you become part of an industry-focused group. Your peers and mentors can help guide you in your career.

Expose more job opportunities.

Certifications increase employability. Recruiters and hiring managers use certifications to validate skills and identify employees willing to grow in their careers.

How to prepare for PCM certification

Before applying, choosing the credential that aligns with your goals and experience is essential. Additionally, it’s helpful to grasp the investment in terms of both time and money that you’ll be making. To apply for a PCM Certification, follow these steps: 

1. Understand the cost and time investment.

Each certification course has a cost. You will likely be eligible for a discount if you belong to the AMA. Renewing your certification also poses added costs, so be aware of an ongoing fee to maintain this certification. 

Certification courses are online and self-paced, but the description of each track tells you how many hours you'll invest. Be sure to explore each before committing to any program. 

2. Sign up for the certification.

If you're ready to move forward, you'll sign up for the certification on the American Marketing Association website. In some cases, the AMA partners with other industry leaders to bolster your skills. For example, the AMA partners with the Content Marketing Institute for the Content Marketing certification, and registration is completed with them. 

3. Work through online modules.

All PCM certifications, no matter the track, are offered online and provide self-paced modules for you to complete. Each course description explains the number of hours you can expect to invest. The PCM certification in content marketing, for example, is a 15-hour time investment. 

4. Take an exam.

You'll take an exam or complete a final assessment to prove your proficiency. The assessments are a bit different depending on the track you choose. For example, consider the following outline of the final assessment that you'll take and must pass to earn each certification:

• Digital Marketing Expert: Practice quizzes, a computer-based exam, and a digital marketing strategy proposal

• Digital Marketing Pro: Schedule an exam at an approved testing facility

• Marketing Management: Online exam on AMA's website

• Content Marketing: Online exam

5. Display your credential.

After earning your credential, make sure you show it off. Add the details to your portfolio, professional profile, resume, and email signature. 

6. Maintain your certification

The AMA requires you to renew your PCM certification every three years. After that, you must complete training, which has the added benefit of supporting your marketing skills and keeping you updated on all the latest in the industry. The AMA will remind you when your certification is about to expire, giving you time to complete continuing education units (CEUs). Depending on the certification you want to renew, you'll need 30 to 40 CEUs to maintain your credential.

PCM certification is valuable to both veteran marketers and new industry professionals. With so many marketing teams relying on digital marketing efforts, staying updated with new and emerging techniques and strategies is vital.

Which certification is best for marketing?

The best marketing certification for you will depend on your interests, career objectives, and current skills, but some popular certifications among marketers include:

• Google Ads Certifications

• Meta Certified Digital Marketing Associate

• AMA Digital Marketing Pro

• HubSpot Academy Digital Marketing Certification Course

• Hootsuite Social Media Marketing Certification

Uncover practical guides for your career journey

Keep up with the latest trends and technologies shaping your industry by subscribing to our LinkedIn newsletter, Career Chat. Then, explore free, digital marketing resources to optimize your professional growth: 

• Take the quiz: Digital Marketing Career Quiz: Is It Right for You? 

• Watch on YouTube: Why Every Digital Marketer Must Learn AI

• Bookmark for later: Digital Marketing Terms Every Marketer Should Know

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