MSc Digital Marketing with Advanced Practice
16-24 months Full-time classroom
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Response to Covid-19: Our focus is on providing a safe and welcoming learning environment and ensuring continued access to learning.
As a result of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and resulting social distancing requirements, we are intending to teach this course using a mix of on-campus and online learning activities. We continue to be guided by the Government to ensure our campus is Covid-secure. More information about our response to Covid-19 and FAQs are available here.
All information is accurate at the time of sharing. Courses starting in 2021 are offered as a mix of face to face and online learning. We continue to monitor government and local authority guidance in relation to Covid-19 and we are ready and able to flex accordingly to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff. Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with restrictions, potentially to a full online offer, should restrictions increase in future. Our online activity will be delivered through Blackboard Ultra, enabling collaboration, connection and engagement with materials and people.
Whether you are a business student looking to build your knowledge and specialise in the digital domain or looking to join the marketing world, this MSc Digital Marketing with Advanced Practice programme has been designed to accelerate your career potential in a rapidly developing sector. The Advanced Practice stage of this Masters degree includes the option of 12-15 week internship or applied group consultancy project in your penultimate semester, giving you valuable work experience and business insights.
This option offers the opportunity to spend three months gaining all-important work experience and employability skills in a professional work setting. You may be able to extend this over more than one semester in cases where it is adjacent to a vacation period. Support is provided to help source opportunities and to perfect the applicant CV but ultimately the onus is on the student to secure the internship position.
Our marketing Subject Group has established working relationships with key bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM) allowing the course content to be reflective of their syllabus. This is particularly of value if you are intending to progress on to a professional qualification with either body upon successful completion of your Masters.
The MSc Digital Marketing programme demonstrates how new digitally-focused tactics and strategies integrate with more traditional marketing tools and practices to capture new customers, build customer loyalty and provide superior customer service. You will understand the value of, and methods for, determining return on investment of Internet marketing programs, as well as online visitor and buyer behaviour, customer journey mapping, mobile marketing and social media.
You will also have the opportunity to develop a wider understanding of the principles and practice of leading and managing organisations and develop a range of applied research skills.
Following your second semester, you will undertake the Advanced Practice element of this programme which consists of either an internship or an applied group consultancy project where you will work with a real organisation on a live business problem. You will benefit from valuable work experience and developing key business insights.
For those completing an internship, in the remainder of the programme you will complete your research and writing up of your dissertation or undertake a consultancy project. Every student has a personal research supervisor and will be required to submit an assessed research proposal prior to embarking on the dissertation itself. For those not undertaking an internship and depending on what grade you achieve on the consultancy project, you will undertake an applied management work investigation or dissertation in the final semester.
The Advanced Practice version of this course offers you a valuable opportunity to secure a work placement or complete a group consultancy project, giving you experience of the workplace environment or live business issues, and an excellent way to put your learning into practice. This stage of the programme will take place between your second and final semester, and is a semester long (12-15 weeks) in duration. Internships as part of the Advanced Practice stage may be paid or unpaid. The alternative consultancy module allows you to work in teams with a business organisation working on consultancy-based projects on real business scenarios. Whether you choose the internship or consultancy project you will successfully develop your business skills and further enhance your employability.
September starts
If you choose to start your Masters in September, your programme will last for up to 21 months. You will have a summer break after Semester 2, and commence your Advanced Practice stage in September.
January starts
If you choose to start your Masters with Advanced Practice in January, your programme will run for 16-24 months. You will commence the Advanced Practice stage of the programme in the following January, immediately after your second semester. Please note that there are two summer breaks included in this programme for those starting in January.
May starts
For those starting your Masters with Advanced Practice, you will start the Advanced Practice stage of the programme in January, straight after you have completed your second semester. Your programme will run for a total of 16-18 months. Please note that there is no summer break included in this programme for those starting in January.
The Advanced Practice programmes are structured as below:
| Sept-Jan | Jan-May | May-Sept | Sept-Jan | Jan-May | May-Sept | Sept-Jan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September starts | Semester 1 | Semester 2 | Summer break | Masters’ Internship | Masters’ Dissertation | ||
| Business Clinic PG Group Consultancy Project | Applied Management Work Investigation* | ||||||
| Jan starts | Semester 1 | Summer break | Semester 2 | Masters’ Internship | Summer break | Masters’ Dissertation | |
| Business Clinic PG Group Consultancy Project | Applied Management Work Investigation* | ||||||
| May starts | Semester 1 | Semester 2 | Masters’ Internship | Masters’ Dissertation | |||
| Business Clinic PG Group Consultancy Project | Applied Management Work Investigation* |
*dependent on what grade you achieve in the the Consultancy Project
You will be taught through a mix of lectures, seminars and workshops, totalling around 13 hours per week, to enable you to grow your knowledge of the business world. In addition, you will be expected to engage in independent study involving directed and self-directed learning, around 32 hours per week.
Assessment for this programme takes place through group work, assignments, presentations and exams giving you multiple methods for you to show your understanding of the course material.
You’ll be taught by experienced lecturers and academics who use their industry experience to demonstrate how the theories you will learn translate in to real life situations.
Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) is embedded throughout the course with tools such as the ‘Blackboard’ eLearning Portal and electronic reading lists that will guide your preparation for seminars and independent research.
Significant emphasis is placed on developing your ability to complete a Masters degree. As part of induction you will be made fully familiar with the learning resources and support available to you. There will also be weekly academic support sessions designed to build your confidence and ability as a postgraduate learner. You will also be allocated an individual guidance tutor at induction. You will meet this tutor at regular intervals throughout your studies.
Graduates will be well suited to join a wide range of businesses, including graduate training schemes or even start up their own businesses or begin a professional qualification with one of the marketing industry bodies.
Upon successfully completing your course, you may choose to further develop your employability skills through Professional Pathway programmes delivered by our partner, QA. These are offered to our graduates for free and give you an excellent opportunity to undertake professional training at the end of your Masters from one of the UK’s leading corporate training providers. Find our more about Professional Pathways and your eligibility.
You can also gain access to the Northumbria University Graduate Enterprise scheme where we can help provide you with advice and skills to enable you to set up your own business.
From your Programme Leader, Dr Lillian Clark
Digital Marketing reading:
Advanced Practice:
Applicants should have the following:
If you’re unsure if you meet the entry criteria, please contact us and our team will be able to advise you.
Alternatively, you may be eligible to join one of our Pre-Masters programmes. These are specifically designed for students who do not yet meet the entry requirements for our postgraduate degrees and would like to bridge this gap in their qualifications. Upon successful completion of one of our Pre-Masters programmes, you will be eligible to join one of our Masters programmes.
Please visit our entry requirements page for country-specific qualifications.
If you have IELTS 5.5 – 6.0, then you may be able to join our Pre-Sessional English before beginning this programme.
All modules are core.
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 understand 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. In addition, you will learn to appreciate the digital nature of modern day business operations and marketing strategy.
The module will cover the following themes:
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 collating, updating and using data to deliver personalised communications messages.
Throughout the module you will cover the following themes:
This module is designed to equip you with an overview of managing a digital marketing campaign alongside opportunities to utilise a range of digital media.
At heart of the module is digital campaign management, which is continually evolving due to consumers’ digital media usage, offering interactive opportunities for businesses to communicate.
You will explore this in the module by completing a group-based live marketing project which is a part of the Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM) National Student Competition, covering digital campaign management, developing content for digital platforms, the user experience through the digital area, the role of social media marketing, deploying email marketing, and affiliated marketing’s role in a digital campaign.
Throughout this module you will cover the following themes:
In this module, you will explore the important role of the website in an organisation’s digital marketing strategy.
You will learn the principles of website evaluation and will use analytic tools for the analysis of web data to help measure the effectiveness of web marketing and improve the user experience.
This module engages you in personal and professional development in order that you develop and hone your team working, management and leadership skills, capabilities and attributes, and in so doing, enhance your employability. On this module, you will not only prepare for your first job after you graduate but also kick-start your commitment to life-long personal and professional learning. In the first part of the module you will be supported in a self-analysis by a range of activities, including the completion of self-administered tool-kits to demonstrate an increased self-awareness and self-understanding. A key outcome of this process is how you will be able to exploit this development in order to lead, and manage, more effectively in your future careers. The second part of the module contains activities which enable you to build on your self-analysis and explore further your strengths, weaknesses and areas for development in the context of your career development plans. This will also include the development of knowledge into the global graduate market, (including routes such as self-employment and developing your career with an existing employer) drawing upon local, national and international examples.
This module will provide you with essential knowledge and analytics skills needed for you to complete a high quality Masters’ Dissertation, or Consultancy Project. By undertaking and reflecting on practical research-based activities you will understand the process of designing and carrying out a research study, also you will engage in activities that involve understanding of data and analysis of data. This will place you in a strong position to undertake your own Masters’ level research or Consultancy Project. At the end of the module you will write a research proposal, this will be assessed and will contribute to your final mark. In the dissertation you will work under the supervision of a member of academic staff and your proposal will also help to ensure you get the most from this relationship.
The aim of this module is to support your study, language and communication skills for academic purposes in the study in your chosen discipline at postgraduate level. The module is designed to enable you to become an advanced independent learner. The module is supported by a teaching and learning plan which outlines the formal sessions. Interactive workshops will be tailored to address some of the specific issues that you meet within your discipline. You may also be asked to complete some preparation tasks for some seminars but these will be kept to minimum. You will be expected to identify those skills which you need within your postgraduate programme, and to develop these independently through a range of learning activities that might include extended reading, and reflection.
Students completing the Advanced Practice Masters programme can choose to complete a 12-15 week internship, worth 60 credits. This internship can be sourced by the student or by the university. It may be paid or unpaid. Most internships are unpaid. Students will be supported in the process of applying for an internship during their first year of study and equipped with the necessary internship application and selection skills, e.g. CV writing, interview technique. All internships will be approved by the university to ensure they are providing an appropriate learning experience and working environment. Students will be allocated an internship tutor who will work with them throughout the internship period. This will include visits and support in completing the internship assessment.
The module is assessed by a 4,000 word reflective portfolio which is focussed on your development from the perspective of gaining particular skills relating to employability and being employment prepared, engagement in further self-development from the perspective of employment potentially in a new or international context and further demonstration of cultural and ethical awareness through broader experience of working in a cultural diverse groups and teams via this employment opportunity.
You will design a research project, assessed through a proposal and will then work under supervision of a member of academic staff to use and extend the knowledge and skills that they have acquired during your programme of study to complete a dissertation. You will use appropriate research methodologies and data collection methods to critically synthesise a body of knowledge relevant to the taught programme.
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to conduct research and organise the findings into a comprehensive and explicit structure that is critically assessed and is linked to the conclusions drawn. You will demonstrate this ability by identifying an appropriate research topic, critically selecting and applying an appropriate research methodology and data collection method(s) to your chosen research topic, demonstrating a rigorous understanding of the theory and literature relevant to the issues under investigation, and showing how these link to the research method(s). You will also critically reflect on how their research contributes to the understanding of the topic area.
Some students may choose to base their topic on their internship.
As a student enrolled on one of the Advanced Practice Programmes you may undertake a group consultancy project within the first semester of your second years of Masters’ study (the alternative is an Internship). Through your work-based experience, you will develop abilities as a problem solver with valued investigative, theoretical and practical business skills. This work-based experience will last the length of the semester and involve the examination of a complex organisational problem or commercial opportunity. By undertaking this module, you will have enhanced your individual skills, knowledge, effectiveness and employability by locating learning and development within a work-based context and will have critically reflected and evaluated upon organisational practices and the relation with academic theory.
The content of the work-based experience will be unique to you as a group of participants. The nature and scope of the area of student investigation will be defined and agreed in collaboration with the organisation and the University supervisor. The syllabus will include:
Assessment will be both formative and summative and incorporate self, peer, and tutor evaluation. You will present your work-based findings to the host organisation (oral presentation) and an interim report written on behalf of the host organisation or sponsoring project client. In the follow-up module, Applied Management Work Investigation, you will provide a substantial management investigation report on the business related issue emerging from this placement or consultancy, alongside a personal reflective statement.
Depending on what grade you achieve for the Consultancy Project, you will progress to one of the following modules:
This follows your group consultancy project during the first semester of your second year of Masters’ study.
In this module you will take the skills you developed as a problem solver of a work based project and develop a client focused management report and presentation alongside an individual literature review and personal reflection.
The content of the management report will be unique. The nature and scope of the area of your investigation will be defined and agreed in collaboration with the organisation you worked with on the group consultancy project and your University supervisor. The syllabus will include:
In undertaking this project based module, you will critically reflect and evaluate upon organisational practices and their relation with academic theory, and in doing so, provide practical and actionable recommendations through an investigative management report.
The assessment for your module consists of a Group Consultancy Report (7,000 words) and Final Client Presentation, weighted at 60%, alongside an Individual Assignment comprising a Literature Review (4000 words) and a Reflective Learning Statement (2,000 words), weighted at 40%.
You will design a research project, assessed through a proposal and will then work under supervision of a member of academic staff to use and extend the knowledge and skills that they have acquired during your programme of study to complete a dissertation. You will use appropriate research methodologies and data collection methods to critically synthesise a body of knowledge relevant to the taught programme.
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to conduct research and organise the findings into a comprehensive and explicit structure that is critically assessed and is linked to the conclusions drawn. You will demonstrate this ability by identifying an appropriate research topic, critically selecting and applying an appropriate research methodology and data collection method(s) to your chosen research topic, demonstrating a rigorous understanding of the theory and literature relevant to the issues under investigation, and showing how these link to the research method(s). You will also critically reflect on how their research contributes to the understanding of the topic area.
Some students may choose to base their topic on their internship.
Please note that your tuition fees do not include the cost of course books that you may choose to purchase, stationery, printing and photocopying, accommodation, living expenses, travel or any other extracurricular activities. As a Northumbria University London Campus student, you will have full access to our online digital library with over 400,000 e-books and 50,000 electronic journals.
The modules you will study do not require you to purchase additional textbooks although we recommend you allow an additional £100 for the duration of your studies should you choose to purchase any additional reading materials.
Your tuition fees cover far more than your time in class with our expert academics, it covers the cost of providing you with excellent services and student experience.
Depending on the country you are from, you may be eligible for a country bursary and/or scholarship when studying the MSc Digital Marketing with Advanced Practice programme.
All of our scholarships and bursaries are automatically applied when we process your application and one of our team will be able to confirm your eligibility.
If you need support to spread the cost of your tuition, you may be eligible for our payment plan.
If you are a UK or Home student, you may be eligible for a postgraduate loan of up to £10,000+ from the UK Government. Click here to find out more about the loan and whether you are eligible to receive it.
Enquire now to find out more information about the course, studying with us, the application process, and to ask any other questions you may have.
Once you’re ready to apply, you can apply online to study the MSc Digital Marketing with Advanced Practice programme. This method allows you to upload your supporting documents at the time of application and automatically receive your student application number.
We strongly recommend that you submit your application as early as possible to allow you to complete all of the preparations needed to study your programme. After receiving an offer it can take time to arrange your finances and apply for your visa (if required) and it is important that you arrive in good time to enrol onto your course. Please refer to the Dates and Fees page.
If you are unable to apply online, you may apply using one of our PDF application forms below. Once you have completed your application form and have your supporting documents, you can email them to london.admissions@northumbria.ac.uk.
International students application form
UK/Home students application form
For us to assess your application in a timely manner, it is important that you provide us with the following documents:
You can check more information on how to apply here, including guidelines for the application forms.
Postgraduate
UK/Home Fee: £12,450
International Fee: £19,000
Minimum 2:2 (second class) honours degree or equivalent
IELTS 6.5 (or above) with no single element below 5.5 or equivalent
Full-time classroom
16-24 months
Coursework and exams
Available
Available
Available
January, May, September
Next application deadline