Digital Marketing MSc
2 Years | Distance Learning | Upcoming Intakes: July 2025, October 2025, January 2026

Digital marketing is a forward-looking and expanding field. The marketing executives and brand managers of the future will come from a variety of backgrounds, but they’ll need to know their business. An online, accredited Digital Marketing course is perfect for anyone who wants to gain advanced knowledge of the area and give themselves a competitive career advantage.  

Whether you have no digital marketing experience and want to climb the ladder in the industry, or work in digital marketing and are looking to take your career or consultancy forward, this course may be right for you. 

The recommended study time is 15 hours a week, so it is ideal for busy working professionals. Our distance learning model gives you the freedom to balance your studies alongside any current commitments – without having to disrupt your personal life. 

Choose to start at four entry points throughout the academic year (January, April, July and October) and earn your MSc in around two years to complete a full Masters level qualification. 

Plus, you can graduate with a PGCert after the completion of three modules, or a PGDip after finishing six modules. These level 7 postgraduate qualifications can be used as a gateway to complete the full Masters programme, earning a Digital Marketing MSc. The PGCert/PGDip provides a strong foundation of core digital marketing skills to stand out to employers.

There are few online digital marketing courses in the UK which can offer an experience as good as their on-campus versions. But if you’re taking a Masters degree in Digital Marketing a good online user experience and well-designed distance learning platform should be the bare minimum for delivering your study tools and resources.  

We’ve designed this Masters in partnership with online experts to make sure you get the most flexible and engaging experience possible. We understand all our students are different and lead busy lives. That’s why our focus is on self-paced, interactive learning that will allow you the freedom to study whenever and wherever it suits you. The recommended study time for the course is 15 hours a week. 

You will access all your learning materials through our eLearning portal (elp) Blackboard Ultra. You will study one module at a time. The form of your assessments will vary between modules – they could take the form of an essay or a multiple-choice exam – but all of them will be submitted online. There will be no need to come to campus throughout the duration of your course. 

Each of our modules has been carefully designed to ensure you gain the knowledge you need about that topic in the most effective, most engaging way. However, all of them will be split into multiple sessions and follow a three-stage structure: Learn, Explore and Apply. In each teaching week, you’ll have the chance to engage with interactive tools and media, ranging from text-based to video/audio (“Learn”), as well as complete online readings (“Explore”) in your own time. There will also be the chance to test yourself and receive formative feedback. 

You’ll join a supportive, lively online community. Throughout the course, you will participate in virtual discussion boards with your academics and fellow students, sharing your thoughts, knowledge and experience with them as you learn (“Apply”). In addition, you will be able to attend live webinars on key aspects of the module and its delivery/structure, such as assessments. These sessions will offer you the chance to engage with your tutors in real time and ask any questions you have about the course. If you are unable to attend these scheduled sessions, they will also be recorded so you can watch them at a time that works for you.   

As well as the support of your module tutors and fellow students, you’ll have access to our Student Success Team from day one through to graduation. Whether you need pastoral guidance, help with assessments or advice about fees, they will be with you at every step. Blackboard Ultra also offers 24/7 access to a range of advice and support services, such as Ask4Help, too. 

You will also be able to access over half a million books and e-books through our online University Library Services.

If you’re thinking of studying an online Digital Marketing Masters, you probably want to gain a real insight in the subject. It’s therefore reasonable to expect that the teaching staff on the digital marketing course of your choice are industry experts with exceptional knowledge and experience.  

On this course, you’ll be taught by key figures and recognised names within the digital marketing industry. Our course sits within the Newcastle Business School - a faculty which has distinguished itself with its outstanding research and history of delivering quality digital business education. Our academics have backgrounds spanning across international marketing, as well as advertising agency and ‘client side’ work. 

Throughout the course, you will be supported by dedicated academic tutors and staff, who are recognised thought leaders in digital marketing and include a writer of a leading text on direct and digital marketing, PhD qualified academics and respected marketing practitioners.  

Our department have longstanding partnerships with the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) and Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), and our courses are designed around the pillars of these professional bodies and their frameworks. 

Plus, over the past four years, our on-campus Digital Marketing MSc has produced two national winners of the DMA National Student Competition. 

Digital marketing is an ever-changing and growing area. As soon as you think you’ve mastered the Google algorithm or a new social media platform, something new takes its place. That’s why it’s essential that a Masters in Digital Marketing is taught by a faculty who are industry-aware and involved heavily in research, to keep track of the latest trends and updates.  

Northumbria prides itself on its outstanding reputation for research work in the digital marketing industry. 

Our Masters sits within Newcastle Business School, a research-rich school with a strong history of applied research. We were the first Business School in Europe to secure double accreditation in both Business and Accounting from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) – a mark of excellence that puts us in an elite group of schools worldwide. 

NBS also has relationships with 16 professional business associations and institutions, including the ACCA, CIM, CIPD, CMI and more. 

The curriculum will be based on a blend of research-oriented and research-led content. Plus, you’ll be empowered to conduct your own independent research work, particularly through your dissertation where you’ll learn about the process of knowledge construction.  

Social media executives, marketing consultants, communications managers, market researchers – today, all these jobs require a high level of digital marketing know-how to succeed. Our Digital Marketing MSc is designed to equip you with the skills needed to thrive in the digital landscape and build your future. 

Strong marketers are in demand in the top careers you can do with a Digital Marketing Masters. 72% of large companies and nearly half of SMEs feel that proven skills are missing from the workforce (Digital Skills for the UK Economy report, Department for Business Innovation & Skills). 

In this fast moving and competitive industry, our course will develop your understanding of the core principles of digital marketing, enabling you to build a career in marketing or digital marketing management. 

The Masters will empower you with the skills needed to build a cutting-edge CV, become an ‘industry ready’ graduate and maximise your career opportunities. For example, on our Strategic Marketing in the Digital Era module, you’ll learn the relationship between marketing strategy and other essential business functions; such as financial planning, operations and supply chain management, and others. Plus, on our Digital Customer Journey: Data, Profiling and CRM module, you’ll develop an in-depth understanding of customer behaviour and how to build profiles of customers based on data. 

Our graduates can go onto several rewarding career paths in roles related to digital marketing, both agency and client side. For example, our graduates can enter the following careers after completing the course:  

• Marketing manager  
• Digital marketing manager 
• Social media manager 
• Content marketing manager 
• Marketing consultant 
• Market researcher 
• Product development manager 
• Media relations manager 
• Communications manager 
• Director of marketing 

Our Careers and Employment Service offers a range of resources and support, available online and on a one-to-one basis, for you to tap into. 

Successful completion of this course could also lead you to a Postgraduate Research Degree such as an MPhil, PhD and Professional Doctorate.