Digital Marketing MSc
2 Years | Distance Learning | Upcoming Intakes: January 2025, April 2025

In this module you will engage with preparatory materials that will enable you to design a substantive research-based investigation in your discipline area. This student-led, independent study allows you to synthesize and apply previous learning and experience, and build upon existing academic, research and personal skills.


Aspects will include:

* Engagement with the purpose and process of research.

* Searching for, managing and evaluating potential sources for inclusion in a literature review.

* Identification and refining of appropriate research questions, leading to the development of a research question and creation of a

research study proposal.

* Critical appreciation of research theory, approaches, methods and ethics, to inform effective research design.

* Development of knowledge and skills in quantitative and qualitative research methods.

* Practical application of ethics in research.


You will develop your skills as autonomous, reflective learners in support of the process of completing the dissertation.

In this module you will design and implement a substantive research-based investigation in order to address a self-selected, authentic work

based or professional/practice related problem within your discipline area. This student-led, independent study allows you to synthesize and

apply previous learning and experience, and build upon existing academic, research and personal skills.


You will learn how to effectively engage with the research process in an applied context. Aspects will include:

* Application of appropriate research questions.

* Critical evaluation of existing literature and other sources to develop conceptual and theoretical frameworks for analysis.

* Application of research theory and methods in implementing a piece of research in practice, including critical awareness of research

theory, approaches, methods and ethics.

* Application of frameworks to provide an integrated critical analysis of theory and data to identify evidence-based conclusions and

recommendations where appropriate.

* Project management.


You will develop your skills as autonomous, reflective learners in the process of completing the research-based study.


An in-depth and complex understanding of the chosen area of your professional discipline, and the skills developed in this module, will be

demonstrated in a scholarly, academically rigorous research-based study. The advanced knowledge gained through original data collection

and analysis, and theoretically informed critical evaluation, will have the potential to contribute to the relevant disciplinary community of

practice.

In this module you will learn to appreciate the role of a strategic manager of a modern-day manufacturing and sales business in the context of an increasingly digitalised consumer-environment. You will be introduced to Marketing at a strategic level of a business, and also learn how marketing decisions are made in the context of other essential business functions; i.e. financial planning, operations and supply chain management, and human resource management. You will learn to appreciate the digital nature of modern-day business operations and marketing strategy. The module is delivered using interactive workshops, supported by an interactive discussion board, tutor supported, but permitting interaction with fellow students.

The module will cover the following themes:
• Marketing planning and implementation – Includes market research, identifying good business opportunities, 4Ps of marketing management, and the basics of creating and delivering value to customers.
• Competitive market strategies – Covers different approaches to competing in a marketplace, how to be better than your competitors, developing sustainable competitive advantage.
• Product development – basics of new product development.
• Routes to market and multichannel marketing – Retailing and sales channel selection and management.
• Operations Management, including distribution networks and stock management.
• Financial Planning, including pricing decisions and cost management.
• Managing employees for competitive advantage – How employees can be the source of sustainable competitive advantage, employee development and empowerment to foster creativity and breakthrough ideas, rewards & recognition.
• Introduction to promotional strategy – Introduction to marketing communications, and different promotional methods /tools.
• Introduction to digital and social-media marketing – Covers the digital consumer-space, and how to engage customers and build brands online.
• Marketing-related legislation – Deals with legal aspects of marketing, and basics of marketing ethics.

In this module you will learn the critical marketing function of campaign management, understanding the various stages of customer analysis, objective setting, campaign design and metrics. In addition, you will be introduced to a wide range of digital marketing communication tools that can be used by marketers, ranging from email marketing through to search engine optimisation and affiliate campaigns. You will utilise this knowledge to develop a live campaign proposal.

The following topics will be covered in the module:
• Campaign Management: understanding the fundamentals of campaign management from a digital perspective.
• Content Management: delivering content through a variety of digital platforms including website, mobile, social media and email.
• User Experience: investigating what constitutes for a positive user experience, and how this will manifest itself on different platforms.
• Social Media Marketing: explore social media campaigns and what influences successful campaigns and their implementation.
• Mobile Marketing: investigate the growing importance mobile marketing plays within a digital campaign and its role within the customer journey.
• Email Marketing: investigate strategies for email marketing and its ability to forge customer relationships.
• Affiliated: appreciation of the role of affiliation marketing and how it can be used to drive traffic through SEO, PPC, email marketing, display advertising
• Measurement: understand methods of measuring campaigns in order to value and judge success, allowing for development within future campaigns

Upon completing this module, you will be able to evidence development of a professional standard campaign and demonstrate knowledge of communication tools that are critical for modern marketers.

In this module, you will explore the important role of an organisation’s digital channels as part of their marketing strategy.

You will learn the principles of website/channel evaluation and will use analytic tools for the analysis of digital data to help measure the effectiveness of web marketing and improve the user experience.

The module will aim to give you:

• An introduction to web marketing
• Website evaluation – comprising context of use & usability, layout & navigation, home page & testing.
• Application of web marketing including search engine optimisation, pay per click, conversion rate optimisation
• An introduction to web analytics, with particular reference to an industrial standard application (most likely google analytics).
• Campaign metrics and measurement.
• Multichannel metrics.
• Consolidation and/or assessment.

At the end of the module you may be in a position to take the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GAIQ) test as part of your broader Continual Professional Development.

This module enhances your employability prospects through enabling you to develop, and hone, the skills, capabilities and attributes identified as important for management and leadership effectiveness in the profession of your choice. In the first part of the module you will engage in activities, including the completion of self-administered tool-kits, to explore and analyse your strengths and weaknesses in relation to leadership, management, team-work and communication skills.

This will also involve applying theoretical frameworks and researching contemporary literature for a more in-depth understanding of self. The second part of the module contains activities which enable you to build on your self-analysis from the first part of the module, and explore further your strengths, weaknesses and areas for further development in the context of your career development plans.

You will receive guidance on how to craft professional, postgraduate CVs, LinkedIn profiles, and supporting documentation to meet the needs of employers. Detailed directed reading, diagnostics and interactive exercises will be undertaken which are contextualised to the country of study and/or intended employment, representing your specific needs. Thus, the second part of the module is designed to use your understanding of self to help you understand the key issues and specific challenges that you face, with your skills profile, in relation to your employability prospects in your target profession/industry/sector. This will also include the development of knowledge into the global graduate labour market (including routes such as self-employment and developing your career with an existing employer), drawing upon local, national and international exemplars.

The module aims to provide you with knowledge and skills regarding the application of digital technologies in support of entrepreneurial activities, across the different stages of the entrepreneurial process (opportunity identification, start-up and scale-up). Recognising you are studying at a distance, this module is delivered using online learning resources and interactive workshops, supported by an interactive discussion board permitting interaction with your fellow students.

This module will cover the main aspects of the relationship between digital technologies and entrepreneurship:
• Opportunities and challenges of digital technologies for entrepreneurs,
• The skillset of digital entrepreneurs: entrepreneurial and digital skills,
• The impact of digital technologies on the creation and recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities,
• The start-up of digital enterprises: value creation, business models and funding strategies,
• The scale-up of digital enterprises: strategies to deal with regulation, competition and barriers to growth.

The module will lead you to the development of fundamental, contemporary skills for creating and developing digital enterprises. On completing the module, you will learn about the specific challenges of undertaking entrepreneurial activities in the context of digital markets and acquire the skills to develop effective strategies to build sustainable digital enterprises.

This module is designed to provide you with an introduction to how consumers behave in the digital domain and the opportunities this presents for organisations targeting them. At the heart of this is the concept of consumer behaviour, which has been revolutionised by emerging technologies, offering new opportunities for communication with companies and fellow consumers. This will be complemented by an in-depth review of how consumers can be profiled based on their lifestyle characteristics, and an acknowledgement of the role of database marketing in delivering personalised communications.

Throughout the module you will cover the following themes:

Consumer Decision Making: understanding how consumers choose between brand offerings, and specifically how their use of digital channels has changed their consumer behaviour. This will link closely with multi-channel marketing strategy you will address in MK9700 (which is delivered concurrently).

Journey Mapping: an appreciation of how consumers make decisions as they progress through their everyday lives, what influences these decisions and the critical company-consumer touch points.

Customer Profiling: investigation of a range of criteria that can be used to segment and profile consumers, ranging from demographics to psychographic and geo-demographic data.

Database Marketing: introduction to principles of database marketing, understanding the processes of data acquisition and data cleansing. This will also incorporate an overview of core legislation such as GDPR.

Customer Relationship Marketing: understanding how personal data can be used to forge customer relationships via permission marketing and personalisation.