Digital Marketing | MSc | University of Lincoln

Victoria Ellis-Vowles - Programme Leader

Victoria Ellis-Vowles is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing. Joining the University in 2012 after a professional music career and then moving into marketing consultancy, her teaching is centred around the marketing discipline. She maintains close ties with industry to maintain currency in her teaching. Her research is set within the pub, beer, and music industries and focuses on services marketing with a special interest in deviant customer behaviours, rural embedded behaviours, female entrepreneurship, and gender.

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Welcome to MSc Digital Marketing

The evolution of the internet and the way technology is forever revolutionising the way products and services are consumed in both their ideology and their functionality has fundamentally changed the strategies and tactics used within marketing. The connected consumer is the new norm where people constantly split their attention between devices and the world around them. Human attention is now at a premium as advertisements vie for visibility in a landscape populated by an expanse of everyday people passing on their own ideas and persuading others to think the same way. Building and growing a brand is not just a challenge of visibility, it is also creating something that resonates with the consumer.

Digital marketing is a component of marketing that applies digital mediums to realise marketing goals. The fundamental shift in consumption habits has expanded the ways marketers can understand consumer behaviour and they ways in which they can reach customers and build relationships. The strategies and tactics used within digital marketing is always changing and evolving with the advent of new technologies and the impact they have on consumer behaviour and consumption habits.

The role of the digital marketer is diverse. They develop, implement, and manage digital marketing campaigns which play a major role in enhancing brand awareness. They harness different digital mediums for advertising and build relationships with customers digitally while evaluating their campaigns using analytics and metrics. The skills required to enter the marketing industry are specialist where in many instances, the digital marketer is expected to be proficient at them all.

MSc Digital Marketing is a specialist programme designed for graduates wanting to practice digital marketing and move into future leadership roles. It has been developed to meet the needs of employers seeking candidates with digital marketing skills that add immediate value to both the workplace and to your own entrepreneurial activities.

How You Study

The programme is composed of nine core modules plus a final professional inquiry project. There is the option to undertake a Professional Practice year. The module order is as follows;

Semester A:
Digital Marketing Strategy, Planning and Budgeting
Leadership Development
Databases and Email Marketing AI
Developing Digital Brands

Semester B:
Developing Entrepreneurial Capacity and Mindset
Social Media Marketing and Digital Advertising
Big Data and Artificial Intelligence
Ecommerce, Website Design and SEO

Semester C:
Personal Professional Development
Professional Inquiry Project

Optional Second Year:
Professional Practice (optional) (non-credit bearing)

Professional Practice

Students must enrol for one of these options:
- the one-year option without placement, or
- the two-year option which includes a placement.

Students will not be able to change from the one-year option to the two-year option after enrolment. For the two-year option, students must choose the course title that states 'With Professional Practice' when they enrol.

The Professional Practice pathway provides the opportunity to undertake a period of professional practice at the end of the first year to gain hands-on experience through a paid placement. Students will be responsible for sourcing their own paid placements but will be supported by academic staff. Students who are accepted onto the Professional Practice programme will attend a consultation with a Programme Leader and Placement Coordinator early in their first term to discuss timelines, processes, and requirements.

The Professional Practice period is not assessed, however students will be required to present a placement project linked to their experience. Students who successfully complete their degree with a year in Professional Practice will receive the award title MSc Digital Marketing (with Professional Practice). Those who do not will receive the MSc Digital Marketing award, or equivalent exit award. There are no tuition fees for the Professional Practice year, but students will need to cover their own travel, accommodation, and general living costs.

The programme is delivered using a combination of lectures, seminars, and Professional Skills Workshops.

Lectures: The lectures are used to introduce topics and explore a range of module specific theories, models, and concepts.

Seminars: The seminars are used to contextualise the module specific theories, models, and concepts discussed in the lectures. Students can participate in activities such as case studies, group work, and presentations.

Professional Skills Workshops: These workshops are designed to develop practical digital marketing skills through learning-by-doing approach. Students will be introduced to commonly used industry platforms including but not limited to Google Analytics, Wordpress, and sentiment analysis and trend software. Where possible digital marketing and business experts will also be invited to the workshops to deliver interactive support and guidance in addition to imparting industry insights and good practice.

Contact Hours and Independent Study

Weekly contact hours on this programme may vary depending on the module options chosen and the stage of study. Postgraduate level study involves a significant proportion of independent study, exploring the material covered in lectures, seminars and Professional Skills Workshops. As a general guide, for every hour spent in class, students are expected to spend at least four to five hours in independent study. For more detailed information please contact the Programme Leader.

An Introduction to Your Modules

† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.

Big Data and Artificial Intelligence 2023-24MKT9707MLevel 72023-24The relationships between customers and brands has evolved with the development of digital technology. In the world of digital marketing, it is data that drives customer understanding which in turn provides the underpinning for creating meaningful value offerings that ultimately drives competitive advantage. The ethical accumulation of customer data has become so embedded in everyday marketing activities that marketers are faced with volumes that can no longer be managed by human labour alone. Artificial Intelligence is therefore called upon to mine this wealth of data to unearth new customer insights in a timely manner. Brands now look to these insights to inform their decision making when developing responsible solutions for their customers. By making ethical judgements when managing, using and handing data, digital marketers are able to drive shared values with their customers through the design and delivery of their digital marketing campaigns. In the midst ofdigital transformation, the inevitable challenges related to acquisition, validity, quality and accuracy of big data require ethical and sustainable data management and governance. To embrace the power of AI and move in the digital future, businesses will need to leap from using machine learning tools to automated processes. This module will introduce students to the concept of big data and how it is mined using artificial intelligence to uncover customer insights that will drive competitive advantage. It will explore the various sources of customer data and how they are ethically collected and stored in a centralised location. Students will learn how blockchain and AI processes produce meaningful insights out the data and how digital marketers use them to inform their decision making when developing responsible solutions within their wider marketing strategy. The skills developed in this module may be useful for students to select and apply appropriate technologies to support reasoned decision making. Students can also develop ability to apply data analytics to tackle and solve demanding problems in marketing practice.CoreDatabases and Email Marketing AI 2023-24MKT9709MLevel 72023-24Customer databases, often called Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM), form the nucleus of many digital marketing strategies. While some efforts are aimed at attracting new customers, its main focus is building meaningful relationships with existing customers to promote brand loyalty, positive word-of-mouth and to extend the customer lifetime value. By ethical collecting and responsibility leveraging customer data, marketers are better positioned to deliver personalised, relevant and effective marketing messages to their customers. Email remains one of the most effective ways to create leads and build customer loyalty as it delivers the marketing message direct to the consumer. This module will introduce students to relationship marketing by focusing on how databases and email marketing artificial intelligence are responsibly leveraged to establish, maintain and enhance relationships with customers and other stakeholders. It will consider areas such as the motivations for forming relationships, the strategic implications of relationship stages and the strategies used for customer retention and loyalty. Students will consider the ethical collection of data and the responsible judgements made when handling and managing its use. Using metrics and analytics to support decision making, this module offers an in-depth insight in the development of the database and how email is strategically used to build and maintain relationships.CoreDeveloping Digital Brands 2023-24MKT9711MLevel 72023-24A brand is the myth created by an organisation to promote a recognisable feeling by those who perceive it. Brands are not just products and services, they embody a wider set of meanings that must be carefully crafted and managed so they continue to be relevant and meaningful in the constantly changing marketplace. The evolution of the internet and the way technology is forever revolutionising the way brands are consumed in both their ideology and their functionality, is an ongoing challenge for marketers. The connected consumer is the way our consumers live their everyday lives; constantly splitting their attention between devices and the world around them. Not only do todays customers expect a brand to have a digital presence, they want to engage in real-time interactivity and two-way dialogue to realise the full brand experience. This module will introduce students to branding strategy and the way digital technologies are responsibly used to build brand awareness and knowledge, shape attitudes, and improve recognition and recall. By harnessing online tools such as social media, search, mobile, online advertising, email marketing, customer relationship management databases, and automated marketing, marketers are able to strategically develop their brand story to create a coherent digital identity and increase customer engagement. Students will look to future trends of digital consumption while considering the marketing capability of the organisation when making responsible and sustainable decision making. Using metrics and analytics to support decision making, this module offers an in-depth insight in way online is used to strategically build, maintain, and make visible the digital brand myth.CoreDeveloping Entrepreneurial Capability and Mindset 2023-24BUS9710MLevel 72023-24Entrepreneurship is an essential skillset in the development of new and existing businesses, social enterprises and more broadly societies and their economies. Enterprise is defined as the application of creative ideas and innovations to practical situations, combining creativity, ideas development and problem solving with expression, communication and practical action. Entrepreneurship is the application of enterprise skills to creating and growing organisations in order to identify and build on opportunities, and applies to both individuals and groups (teams or organisations). This module can give students alternative perspectives on their career options and ultimately, the confidence to set up their own business or social enterprise.CoreDigital Marketing Strategy Planning and Budgeting 2023-24MKT9708MLevel 72023-24An effective digital marketing strategy helps businesses make the right decisions to be successful online. Where the internet has blurred geographic boundaries, digital marketers must consider their value offering within the global marketplace. By establishing the businesses current market position and identifying responsible value offerings, a digital marketer uses data driven decision making to identify potential responsible business opportunities and sets objectives to guide the planning process. The digital plan considers the marketing capabilities of the business and outlines all key online activities and the resources needed for its implementation. Only once the plan has been developed can all the digital touch points be managed in a coherent and coordinated way. This module lays the foundation for budding marketers to confidently plan and deliver a successful digital strategy. By evaluating the drivers and barriers to responsible value creation and considering the ethical issues when formulating the digital marketing plan, students are introduced to digital marketing practices that manage resources in a socially responsible way. Using digital marketing strategy models, theories and concepts, students are introduced to frameworks that encourage logical and ethical decision making during the development of effective digital plans. This top-down approach to the digital marketing operation allows students to take a birds eye view of the complete digital marketing journey.CoreEcommerce, Website Design and SEO 2023-24MKT9712MLevel 72023-24The growing popularity of ecommerce means businesses must learn digital marketing strategies to attract, convert and retain customers from a globalised marketplace. Website design has never been so important to maintain customer attention and guide them through an engaging purchasing process. Although without a robust SEO strategy particular to the focus country, even the very best websites selling the very best products and services become lost in the noise of search engine results. The omnichannel customer journey is now more diversified than ever before with multiple touchpoints and higher than ever customer expectations. To gain competitor advantage marketers need to navigate the constantly shifting landscape to maintain website relevancy and visibility. This module will introduce students to ecommerce business models to inform the strategic approach to wider business objectives. Sustainable supply chains from both the local and global perspectives will be considered. The online servicescape will be explored and in particular, how it can be manipulated to create the desired customer experience and promote engagement. Students will learn how to embed the website into the customer journey while also contributing to a wider SEO strategy and be introduced to a range of metrics and analytics that can be used to inform decision making. Value creation through the tactical use of digital media in the SEO process will also be unpacked to collectively provide students with the strategic tools to maintain visibility in what is a crowded market place.CoreLeadership Development 2023-24MGT9707MLevel 72023-24This module is designed to provide students with a conceptual and theoretical background in leadership, and an opportunity to develop leadership competencies in themselves and others. It covers topics such as leadership style, followership, ethical and responsible leadership, gender and leadership, and cross-cultural leadership. Over the course of this module, students will gain an understanding and appreciation of the impact interpersonal skills have on leadership effectiveness. This module has an applied focus and requires students to reflect on and apply theories and techniques to their personal real-world context in order to enhance their leadership practice.CorePersonal Professional Development 2023-24TOU9166MLevel 72023-24This module aims to equip students for the business environment by incorporating a range of practical and professional skills. Students have the chance to be coached through the process by a team coach and receive mentoring support from academics and business representatives. The topics are selected and designed in close collaboration to industry in order to prepare students for a dynamic work environment.CoreProfessional Inquiry Project (Marketing) 2023-24MKT9714MLevel 72023-24The Professional Inquiry Project allows students to demonstrate their mastery of digital marketing within the field of their degree. It is an individual and independent project in which students can bring together and apply their learning from the programme to help to solve a chosen business problem or challenge, a real-world issue or a research topic. Through bringing together learning from across their degree programme, students will demonstrate their accumulated knowledge and understanding of digital marketing within their field and its application to organisations, through synoptic assessment. This module seeks to enable and facilitate innovation and creativity in terms of project foci, form and output. Rather than being prescriptive, students are required to not only undertake an in-depth study of a topic related to the title of the degree but also to take responsibility for their own learning and negotiate the form and output of the final project. The choice of topic and format of the final assessment will be negotiated with the tutor, which will ensure mutuality of intent, process, practice and format of assessment. Although the foci and form of the final project are to be negotiated, the following are indicative of the potential formats students may choose: work-based project, client-based project; or other negotiated project such as the design of a new enterprise. The module requires students to draw upon the framework for research methods and requires the in-depth development of a proposal for the project. Students will be responsible for finding an organisation and negotiating access where necessary with regard to client-based projects. Completing the Professional Inquiry Project can give the student a unique opportunity to undertake an extended piece of personal research on a topic of their own choosing. By undertaking the project students will be demonstrating their ability to research and critically analyse and integrate complex information necessary in the world of digital marketing.CoreSocial Media Marketing and Digital Advertising 2023-24MKT9710MLevel 72023-24Social media marketing and digital advertising are pivotal components of a digital marketing strategy. Effective social media marketing can improve a businesss online presence increasing brand awareness, improving engagement, building brand loyalty and increasing online conversions. While digital advertising is the art of leveraging different mediums such as social media, search engines, mobile apps and websites, it is the strategies and tactics used to cut through the noise and gain attention from customers that becomes critical for success. By employing a global mindset, digital marketers are able to create social media and digital advertising strategies that will create value for their target customers on platforms particular to that country. This module explores the way earned, paid and owned digital media are collectively leveraged to meet digital marketing objectives through the vehicles of social media and digital advertising. Students will be introduced to the co-creation of value through brand communities and consumer tribes as a way of building brand equity and customer retention. Advertising theories, concepts and models will be evaluated with particular consideration of consumer trends in the consumption of content. It provides a critical appraisal of popular social platforms, adblocking, mobile advertising, display advertising and PPC advertising and the role of creative copywriting used to gain consumer visibility and promote engagement.CoreProfessional Practice 2023-24TOU9167MLevel 72023-24This course is also available with a Professional Practice pathway. This two-year version of the degree provides the opportunity to undertake a period of professional practice at the end of first year to gain hands-on experience through a paid work placement. Students will be responsible for sourcing their own paid placements but will be supported by academic staff. Students will be interviewed before being accepted onto the Professional Practice programme to assess their understanding of the work involved and commitment to finding a Professional Practice placement. The professional practice (PP) period is not credit bearing and will not count towards the overall degree; however, to have the PP element attached to the degree, students are required to present a placement project linked to their experience while being in industry (e.g. learning outcomes, key skills developed, nature of the work and responsibilities). The presentation can be delivered face-to-face while the academic placement supervisor is visiting the student/organisation or via Skype if there are limitations (e.g. location). Throughout the PP period, students will be in touch with the University by having regular contact with their allocated supervisor. Students will be expected to complete a negotiated work based project as their dissertation.Optional

How you are assessed

A range of assessments methods are used in this programme, including presentations, reports, essays, business proposals, reflective commentaries, and portfolios which may include brief writing, pitch presentation, video creation, and content writing.

All modules are mapped to programme-level outcomes and assessment activities are designed to be relevant, inclusive, and diverse. These prioritise authentic real-world, live challenges, and experiential learning, fostering global mindsets and problem-solving skills, active learning, critical thinking, effective communication, and independence in learning.

The assessment activities include measurement of student performance and retained learning, enabling compliance with AACSBs Assurance of Learning.

Formative assessment is embedded within all modules with the aim of providing students with feedback on how to improve and develop their assessments and other activities. It is designed to support the student's learning journey in becoming more self-directed and self-evaluative, capable of setting their own goals and overseeing their own progress.

The University of Lincoln's policy on assessment feedback aims to ensure that academics will return in-course assessments to students promptly usually within 15 working days of the submission date.

Fees and Funding

For eligible students, there are more ways than ever before to fund your postgraduate study, whether you want to do a taught or research course. For those wishing to undertake a Master's course, UK students can apply for a loan as a contribution towards the course and living costs. Loans are also available to those who wish to undertake doctoral study. The University offers a number of scholarships and funded studentships for those interested in postgraduate study. Learn how Master's and PhD loans, scholarships, and studentships can help you fund your studies on our Postgraduate Fees and Funding pages.

Programme Fees

Entry Requirements 2023-24

Applicants would be expected to have a minimum 2:2 honours degree in marketing, business, or management. Accredited prior learning (APL) with significant marketing experience will also be considered.

Applications from individuals with alternative UG study area degrees who have least 2-3 years' experience in a marketing role and/or a professional marketing qualification will be considered on an application by application bases, and interviews will be held where appropriate.

If you have studied outside of the UK, and are unsure whether your qualification meets the above requirements, please visit our country pages:
https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/studywithus/internationalstudents/entryrequirementsandyourcountry/ for information on equivalent qualifications.

Overseas students will be required to demonstrate English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. For information regarding other English language qualifications we accept, please visit the English Requirements page:

https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/studywithus/internationalstudents/englishlanguagerequirementsandsupport/englishlanguagerequirements/.

If you do not meet the above IELTS requirements, you may be able to take part in one of our Pre-session English and Academic Study Skills courses.

https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/studywithus/internationalstudents/englishlanguagerequirementsandsupport/pre-sessionalenglishandacademicstudyskills/

These specialist courses are designed to help students meet the English language requirements for their intended programme of study.

How to Apply

To apply for this course you will need to submit an application through our online application system:

Apply Now

Industry Expertise

Where possible, industry professionals will form an essential part of the delivery of the programme through the Digital Marketing Professional Skills Workshops.

Key industry research topics may include digital marketing strategies, digital retailing, AI-powered marketing, data analytics, influencer marketing, and social media.

Broaden Your Horizons

Lincoln International Business School students can expand their horizons, visit our partner universities, and see international business in action by joining funded international trips to exciting overseas destinations. Places are awarded competitively to eligible students each academic year.

Find out more about our funded field trip places for students.

Career and Personal Development

Graduates with Master's level awards may progress to marketing roles in a variety of industries around the world. Specialist skills are highly valued by private and public sector organisations, as well as beneficial to those running their own enterprises. Some students choose to pursue careers in research or academia.

The University Careers and Employability Team offer qualified advisors who can work with you to provide tailored, individual support and careers advice during your time at the University. As a member of our alumni we also offer one-to-one support in the first year after completing your course, including access to events, vacancy information and website resources; with access to online vacancies and virtual and website resources for the following two years.

This service can include one-to-one coaching, CV advice and interview preparation to help you maximise your future opportunities. The service works closely with local, national and international employers, acting as a gateway to the business world.

Working in Partnership

Lincoln International Business School works with students and organisations to enhance the contribution of business to society. For students, that means developing their business skills and knowledge to improve their career readiness.

The University of Lincoln is a member of AACSB, a global nonprofit association connecting educators, students, and businesses to achieve a common goal: to create the next generation of great leaders. Find out more.

Postgraduate Events

Find out more about how postgraduate study can help further your career, develop your knowledge, or even prepare you to start your own business at one of our postgraduate events.

Find out More

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Key Information

MSc Digital Marketing