About Your BSc Hons Digital Marketing Course
Studying our degree in digital marketing online is a fantastic way to enhance your experience in the digital marketing world, with a flexible learning structure so you can focus on excelling in your current career.
Designed to develop practical skills and knowledge in the field, underpinned by fundamental business and marketing principles, this course will prepare you for a fulfilling career in this constantly evolving sector.
Stay one step ahead of the competition by applying your new digital marketing skills and knowledge to practical work based projects as you learn. This approach gives you demonstrable industry experience, invaluable when applying for future digital marketing jobs.
Course highlights
- Gain accreditation with the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM)
- Recognised on the Chartered Institute of Marketing's (CIM) Graduate Gateway
- Equips you with the skills to respond to ever-changing digital challenges
- Enhance your knowledge of the key concepts of digital marketing to supplement your real world experience
How you'll study
This course is studied 100% online
Study this course over 4 years
Start in January or September
Application deadline
Our next deadline is31st October 2023
Fees: £15,000
Payment plans available
Professional accreditation
Accredited by the IDM and recognised on the CIM’s Graduate Gateway
Course overview
Our BSc (Hons) Digital Marketing course has been designed to help you harness the latest technology to connect businesses and other organisations with their customers and stakeholders.
Designed and delivered by digital marketing specialists and practitioners, our online learning resources and activities are easily accessible whenever and wherever, fitting around your life and commitments, including full-time work, or managing your own business.
You’ll gain a deep understanding of the core theories and models of marketing and attain greater insight into how marketing operates as a key business function with its own digital marketing strategy linked to wider business plans and objectives.
Learn to plan, develop, analyse and report on digital campaigns and recognize the different tools and techniques you’ll deploy in marketing communications. Discover the importance of content development, consumer behaviour, the customer journey and the essential role data plays in monitoring and optimising successful marketing campaigns.
You’ll delve into business-to-business marketing, international marketing, strategic brand management, and much more, whilst also developing your skills in project management. This digital marketing degree will give you everything you need to be an effective contemporary digital marketer.
As you study, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to put your skills and knowledge into practice, with live and practical applications "on the job" as you progress. Our Learning Management System (LMS) offers plenty of interactive online learning activities and resources to foster a collaborative and supportive programme, augmented by online discussions, student blog writing, and critical reflection and analysis under the guidance of experienced tutors.
Modules
Due to the structure of this BSc Hons digital marketing course, there will be instances where you will study two modules simultaneously during a trimester. You’ll be supported by your tutors to help manage your workload and assessment deadlines.
Please contact one of our advisers to discuss the pacing of this course and the options available to match your circumstances.
Understanding Work-Based Learning
This module is designed to prepare and support you in building a strong foundation on which to develop your academic and professional skills – an essential for success on this course.
Principles of Marketing
This module provides you with a fundamental understanding of the core theories and models of marketing from a bottom-up perspective, including how marketing operates as a key functional area within business and how it critically interacts with other areas such as accountancy, human resource management and business management, as well as how to analyse and evaluate alternative approaches in the use of the marketing mix.
Marketing Communications
This module is designed to provide an overall understanding of the tools and techniques used in marketing communications, including internet Marketing and E-commerce, advertising, sales promotions, Public Relations, publicity, personal selling, sponsorship, packaging, merchandising and exhibitions. You’ll learn how and why each tool is used, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each, how these tools interact with other elements of the marketing mix and how they must all integrate to achieve eventual synergy.
Introduction to Digital Marketing & Campaign Planning
This module introduces you to the ever-evolving, dynamic digital landscape, and helps you develop the skills you need to be an effective digital marketer. You’ll develop an awareness of the challenges and opportunities within digital spheres, the skills and tools required to support and enhance marketing activities, and the importance of effective digital monitoring and measurement techniques that enable organisations to improve digital marketing performance. This will prepare you for integrated campaign planning (online and offline), strategy and creativity, and promotional media in a digital age – within a framework of appropriate ethical considerations and regulations.
Introduction to Organisations & Management
Management in practice requires the ability to support people to work effectively in different organisational contexts. This module aims to develop your ability to analyse the human side of management and diagnose problems affecting performance and organisational effectiveness.
Understanding Consumers and the Customer Journey
Understanding what people need and want, and ensuring it is available at the right price, the right time and through the right channels is the core principle of marketing. This module examines consumer behaviour theory from a contemporary perspective, looking at the psychological and sociological drivers that influence behaviour and how this affects integrated marketing communications (both online and offline). You will also learn how to manage customer relationships, improve customer service, and gain an understanding of the barriers to purchase through the customer journey and learn how to navigate these.
Data and Analytics for the Digital Marketer
Digital marketing allows businesses to set precise goals and objectives, and offers the ability to track, measure, improve and control campaign activity, as part of an iterative cycle of reflection and learning. This module examines the importance of managing digital marketing data for effective decision-making and provides an understanding of how a range of measurement techniques, data sources and analytical tools can provide valuable insights to marketing teams.
B2B Marketing
A greater percentage of businesses sell to other businesses than sell to consumers. Therefore this module is designed to give you an insight into the specific issues involved in strategic business-to-business (B2B) marketing, which will complement your knowledge and understanding of B2C (business-to-customer) marketing gained from this course.
International Marketing
Increasing access to new markets across the world means that marketers face new opportunities and new challenges in the global context. Overcoming cross-cultural barriers remains a key challenge that requires with the ability to communicate effectively to a range of different target audiences. The module examines a range of case studies and international market entry strategies, and assesses the impact of culture on global marketing.
Developing Content for Campaigns
The success or failure of a digital campaign is not solely reliant on understanding the principles of campaign planning, the tools with which to measure associated metrics, or the attitudes and likely behaviours of the targeted customer: content is king. In this module, you’ll learn about the principles of content curation, creation, atomisation and planning and gain both a theoretical and practical understanding of this critical element of digital marketing.
Project Management
Project management is a key skill for a Digital Marketer. Building on the planning skills you’ll develop in the previous module 'Introduction to Campaign Planning', this module focuses on developing your skills in managing marketing projects.
Strategic Brand Management
Brands are very important to consumers and firms. In this module you will learn how to manage these valuable assets, as well as the naming of new products and brand extensions. The concept of brand equity will be developed and explored using the work of leading marketing theorists and practitioners – for instance, Keller’s consumer-based brand equity model, which will be used as a foundation for understanding how brands are built, what their role is and how their equity can be measured.
Creating Impact through Compelling and Visual Content
When marketers understand consumer behaviour, the art and science of creating memorable and impactful visual advertising becomes clearer. This module looks at the history and development of effective creativity in advertising and how this relates to digital marketing. The principles of how advertisers can engage with increasingly empowered and vocal customers on multiple channels, globally and locally, are explored to establish how digital marketers can create or commission successful campaigns, or visual content for their content management plans.
Retailer and Shopper Marketing
The module develops specialist knowledge of the retail industry from a marketing perspective and explores the emerging use of “shopper marketing” which applies a range of research techniques to understand the behaviour of shoppers at point-of-purchase.
Financial and Professional Services Marketing
The global financial crisis highlighted the importance of the financial services sector. It demonstrated that the way in which financial products are designed and marketed can have implications for the stability of the global financial system and for social well-being. This module explores the principles and practice of marketing in a financial and professional services context.
International Intercultural Management
In an increasingly global business environment, those in international business and marketing must possess the insights and skills to interact with customers and stakeholders in a culturally sensitive way. The module will teach you ways to apply these theories to decision-making at the level of the individual, the team and the organisation.
Campaign Showcase
Throughout the course, you will have mastered the principles and skills of planning a digital campaign, from planning principles, to content development. Now you will demonstrate the campaign implementation skills, and your assessment of its impact. In this 30-credit major project module, you will demonstrate the knowledge and skills you have developed throughout the course to create a live campaign.
Please note the modules may change from time to time as the curriculum is refreshed for relevancy and new content is added.
Assessment
Throughout the course, we'll assess your progress to make sure you're meeting the intended learning outcomes and engaging fully with each module. These formative assessments also help you to monitor and improve your initial-level performance as you advance through the course. They might include self-completion questionnaires, group exercises (discussion forums), and practical digital marketing-related tasks and activities.
The summative assessment, at the end of each module, lets you demonstrate that you've fulfilled the learning outcomes at each level and to the standard expected. These will include written reports, portfolios, presentations, and practical work-based projects.
How you'll study
Our Digital Marketing BSc (Hons) degree is studied 100% online.
You’ll study through Canvas, our world-class online Learning Management System (LMS), which can be accessed from your phone, PC or tablet at home or on the move. Canvas provides instant access to study materials, forums, and support from tutors and classmates, as well as enabling easy submission of your assignments.
On successful completion of your studies you’ll be invited to attend a graduation ceremony on campus. If attending the ceremony in person is not possible then we’ll arrange to have your certificate sent to you.
Supported distance learning
We understand that distance learning is different to traditional campus study and if you’re new to online study you may have concerns or apprehensions about studying your digital marketing degree remotely, and that’s natural.
To help put your mind at ease we have a dedicated Distance Learning Support Team to help and support you throughout your time at ARU, starting with your first online induction and staying with you right through to graduation. In addition, you’ll also be supported by specialist module tutors, well experienced in supporting distance learning students.
Once you start your digital marketing degree, we encourage the creation of online communities and many of our learners find these connections with others invaluable, helping them to stay motivated, share concerns or make new friendships.
Contact us to talk through any questions or concerns.
Accreditation of this course recognises that the syllabus is approved by the Institute and offers you the opportunity to take an IDM Certificate qualification to further enhance your employability.
Accreditation
When you successfully complete the degree, you’ll gain accreditation with the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM), a world-renowned organisation offering relevant, practical learning, and professional qualifications, helping businesses build the skillsets to succeed in a constantly evolving industry landscape. Accreditation of this course recognises that the syllabus is approved by the Institute and offers you the opportunity to take an IDM Certificate qualification to further enhance your employability. This involves additional exams for which extra fees apply.
The degree is also recognised on the Chartered Institute of Marketing's (CIM) Graduate Gateway, which offers additional membership pathways beyond graduation.
Careers
What could a Digital Marketing BSc do for my career?
In the golden age of social media and influencer culture, more and more companies are getting switched on to the benefits of digital marketing and beginning to understand how crucial it is.
This means the sector is growing quickly, with increasing opportunities for experts to stand out from the crowd as brands seek out passionate individuals with the know-how to make magic happen online.
A successful career in digital marketing requires a well-rounded set of skills and a full understanding of the demands of businesses in marketing environments. As a marketing professional, you’ll be required to handle captivating campaigns that connect with consumers, and master communications in a sensitive and tactful manner, as well as balancing the right combinations of marketing techniques, from SEO and PPC to content and branding, and understanding the best ways to use different platforms to get the most out of online channels.
A Digital Marketing BSc offers these skills and more, giving you the tools to rise to the challenge in the marketing sector and show brands what you can do for their business.
What job roles can I consider with a Digital Marketing bachelor’s degree?
A digital marketing degree prepares you for a career in marketing or sales, which can apply to any sector or industry. These are just some of the job roles that Digital Marketing BSc (Hons) graduates may consider:
- Digital Marketing Executive / Officer
- Digital Marketing Account Manager
- Digital and Social Media Executive
- Digital Marketing Analyst
- Digital Marketing Campaign Manager
- Online and Digital Marketing Lead
- Online and E-commerce Marketing Specialist
- Social Media Specialist
- Content Marketing Specialist
- PPC Analyst
- SEO Executive
- Display Advertising Executive
- Digital Producer
If you are looking for more information about these job profiles and potential salary earnings see Prospects.ac.uk. It’s important to note that salaries can vary widely depending on the job role, employer, industry sector and location.
What skills will I get from a Digital Marketing BSc to help my career?
Choosing to study a Digital Marketing BSc will give you many transferable skills; here are just some of them:
- Develop practical research techniques
- Understand analytical approaches and critically analyse
- Master different means of communicating to different audiences
- Plan and execute projects
- Use communication and Information technology effectively in business applications
What can I study after a Digital Marketing BSc?
Depending on your long-term goals and interests you may decide to explore a postgraduate qualification such as a Marketing MSc, International Marketing MSc, Consumer Psychology MSc, and Brand Management MSc. A master’s degree is the most common type of postgraduate qualification and usually focuses on a specific area of a wider subject which may support your future career development. Having a bachelor’s degree under your belt is a key entry requirement in opening doors to postgraduate study.
Careers Advice Service
Once you become an ARU student you will be able to access our Employability service to help you whatever stage of your career, whether that’s landing your first dream job or the next progression step.
We offer:
- careers advice, including one-to-one online and telephone appointments with our experienced advisers
- help with your CV, job searches, applications and interview preparation
- an online portal packed with useful careers resources
- our Employability Programme, which helps you hone the skills employers say they want in graduates.
Entry requirements
- Evidence of Level 3 study; e.g. A levels, BTEC Level 3, or equivalent*
- A minimum of 3 GCSEs (or Level 2 equivalent) at grade E or above - one of the subjects must be English
*Applications without a Level 3 are considered on their individual merits on a case by case basis. Those wishing to apply with experiential learning may be required to demonstrate their academic potential by writing an essay.
If English is not your first language you will be expected to demonstrate a certificated level of proficiency of at least IELTS 6.5 (Academic level) or equivalent English Language qualification, as recognised by Anglia Ruskin University.
As a distance learner, you'll also need a suitable computer with internet connection, together with sufficient IT competence to make effective use our online learning management system (LMS) with high-speed internet and email.
Fees & funding
Fees
The full tuition fee for this course is £15,000.
The tuition fees you pay each year for the Digital Marketing BSc (Hons) will be £3,750. The course is studied over 4 years.
Accredited Prior Learning may reduce the tuition fees. This will be confirmed once your application has been submitted.
Funding
Government-backed part time student loans are available to cover the cost of studying this course. These are subject to eligibility and terms and conditions.
We offer payment by instalments, so you can spread the cost of studying with us.
For military students: You can use your ELCs towards this course. ARU is a recognised ELCAS provider (number 1007). Please contact your Learning Centre for details of ELC, eligibility and how to apply.
For more information on how you fund your studies please see our funding page.
What our students say
I encourage anyone who wants the freedom to travel and work while still pursuing their academic interests to consider the distance learning option.
I find the course relevant and up-to-date in terms of current best practices in digital marketing. I find myself reflecting on my experience, and how I can apply the frameworks and strategies, within my current role.
Kathy
My time studying with ARU has been challenging, fulfilling but most of all satisfying.
I’d advise anyone who is in employment to study a work-based online degree at ARU because of its flexibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Next application deadline:
31st October 2023
Further reading
