Digital Marketing BSc (Hons)

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 other 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.

Whilst studying, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to put your skills and knowledge into practice throughout the course, 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.

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.

The degree is also recognised on the Chartered Institute of Marketing's (CIM) Graduate Gateway, which offers additional membership pathways beyond graduation.

Modules

Due to the structure of this 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.

Annie Dawson, Course Leader

Annie has a significant breadth and depth of knowledge across food and non-food retail and FMCG, including 4 years running international teams before moving on to own and direct her own consultancy company.

Annie is an energetic, creative and supportive leader with a track record of achievements in integrated omni-channel marketing campaigns, brand building, change management and category management.

Annie has strong international experience operating across businesses and geographical boundaries, with particular strengths in operational excellence and cultural sensitivity. Annie is an experienced profit orientated leader of high performing teams that are globally dispersed.

Natalie Goodchild

Since graduating, Natalie has built a career combining her passions for marketing, health and education. She is currently a freelance marketing consultant specialising in the health and fitness industry, dedicating the majority of her time to her role as Chief Marketing Officer of Pactster, a health tech startup. She has also worked with hundreds of brands, from Nike to Technogym, as a health and fitness writer.

Prior to this, Natalie gained a wealth of experience working for M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment - part of the world-renowned M&C Saatchi Group. During her time with the agency, she worked on Samsung's Olympic partnership including their multi-award-winning activity around Rio 2016, Samsung's rugby partnership, NatWest's England Cricket sponsorship, and has worked across multiple projects with Reebok Global.

Natalie is passionate about self-development and is a huge advocate of portfolio-building and networking. She believes that the key to success is curiosity:

"I'm excited to share the insights that I've acquired by working in the fast-paced marketing industry. But more than that, I'm keen to help foster students' curiosity so that they can explore the field of digital marketing themselves. By keeping up with the latest in digital technology during their studies, students will graduate with an incredible opportunity to innovate and progress the field of marketing."

Natalie Goodchild, ARU

Jo Bartlett, MA

Jo has been a lecturer for over twenty years, focusing for the last eight years on online and distance education, and holds a Masters degree in this specialism.

Jo has worked with Anglia Ruskin University for the last six years, teaching across a range of modules and degree programmes, most notably for the Management pathways and degree apprenticeships.

In addition to this, Jo has a wealth of experience in using digital and social media for the creation, distribution and marketing of e-books, and is currently one of the directors of a cooperative digital-first publishing house, alongside her teaching commitments.

Jo has worked with a number of large organisations in the development of their sales and customer service workforce, developing bespoke training materials in relation to customer service and financial services.

Katie-Louise Leggett, AFHEA, MA

Katie-Louise has been a tutor at Anglia Ruskin for the last two years, teaching across a range of modules and degree programmes, most notably for Marketing and Business Research Methods.

In addition to this, Katie-Louise has a wealth of experience and currently works for two organisations; SeedPack GmbH, a future-orientated packing company developing marketing strategies for their new product range and Palmers Homestore. Katie-Louise has major responsibilities within Palmers, such as the maintaining the stores financial affairs and warehouse operations.

Katie-Louise's research has focused on cause-related marketing (CRM) in particular the framing and communications with regards to the variables of donation frame, message frame and message source. The research project as to date has been presented at three university research student conferences and has won both first (2015) and third place (2016) in the research poster category and has won first prize (2016) and second place (2017) as an oral presentation.

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.

To help you land your dream job, our Employability Service will work with you throughout your time at ARU and after you graduate.

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.

Fees

The full tuition fee for this course is £14,400.

The tuition fees you pay each year for the Digital Marketing BSc (Hons) will be £3,600.  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.

Digital marketing is a fast-paced and ever-changing industry that requires brands to respond in real-time to trends and events, and demands adaptability from teams and individuals who are required to understand changes in the market, as well as changes in social climates, as they occur.

For this reason, you need to be fully prepared for the digital marketing environment, with deep insights into the core principles of marketing, its contemporary trends and the factors which can make or break a digital marketing campaign.

A degree from ARU Distance Learning will equip you with the knowledge and experience to handle the challenges of an industry that is always evolving, keeping you ahead of trends and educating you on all facets of marketing in and out of the digital sphere. This prepares you to create competitive campaigns that are market-ready and designed to reach target audiences and get results.

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.

All ARU Distance Learning courses are designed for full flexibility – that goes without saying.

That’s why our online Learning Management System, Canvas, enables you to access your course resources from wherever you are with just an internet connection and your device of choice, at a time that suits you.

In addition to this, our Digital Marketing BSc course is designed to support your career development from day one with learning that will positively impact your job performance from the get-go.  The new skills and knowledge you will learn from the course can be put into practice straight away to maximise your learning experience.

The full flexibility of our courses means that no matter your lifestyle, the chances are an ARU degree is right for you.

In addition, if you are a candidate with prior digital marketing experience that you want to build on and are interested in putting your learning into practice right away, this course is the perfect career development opportunity for you.

Aside from our typical entry requirements (listed above), candidates for this course should be interested in the fast-moving world of technology, in reaching out to and connecting with consumers, and in innovation – these are all core principles of digital marketing. And if you want to learn how to master these principles and excel in the field, it may just be the perfect match for you!

Anglia Ruskin University is ranked by Research England in the top 10% of English Higher Education Institutions for skills, enterprise and entrepreneurship.

And our Digital Marketing BSc course is designed not only to further your skills and boost your abilities in an academic setting, but to help you utilise your new skills to get results from the word go.

Digital literacy is vital in digital marketing, and a distance learning course with ARU will give you the opportunity to improve your software skills not only through modules but through the mode of study, with the course taking place entirely online.

As our course is also accredited with the Institute of Digital Marketing, so once you graduate you have the opportunity to gain an IDM certificate qualification. Our degree is also recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Graduate Gateway.

These additional qualification opportunities, as well as the real-world experience and practical knowledge our course offers you, will prep your CV to stand out from the crowd and launch your career in digital marketing to new heights.

And whilst studying with ARU, your greatest asset will be the wealth of knowledge and experience offered by our outstanding tutors who will be guiding and supporting you through your course.

Think you’ve got what it takes to thrive in Digital Marketing? A BSc with ARU Distance Learning is your next step to success.

Find out more about distance learning on our blog:

• What Support Will I Get On A Distance Learning Course?
• 10 Reasons Digital Marketing Could Be Your Ideal Career
• How Does Distance Learning Work?