Subject Overview

An essential, practical introduction to how organizations use digital channels, data, content and technology to create customer value, achieve marketing objectives and build measurable relationships. The subject integrates established marketing principles with current platforms, analytics, AI, ethics and industry practice.

Learning Goal

By completing this subject, students will be able to explain core digital marketing concepts and terminology, understand customer journeys, select appropriate channels, create a basic integrated campaign, interpret performance data, apply responsible technology and AI practices, and recommend evidence-based improvements.

Syllabus

1. Marketing and Digital Marketing Foundations

Learning Objective: Explain marketing, value creation, exchange, segmentation, targeting, positioning and the marketing mix; distinguish digital, traditional, inbound, outbound, paid, owned and earned media; identify major industry roles and business models.

Category: foundation

2. Digital Markets, Transformation and Strategy

Learning Objective: Describe how digital transformation changes customers, competition and operations; translate business goals into SMART marketing objectives using frameworks such as SWOT, PESTLE, RACE and the digital marketing funnel.

Category: core

3. Customers, Personas and Digital Journeys

Learning Objective: Use basic market research, segmentation and persona development to understand needs, behavior, touchpoints, moments of truth and customer journeys across awareness, consideration, conversion, retention and advocacy.

Category: core

4. Brand, Value Proposition and Digital Experience

Learning Objective: Develop a clear value proposition and consistent digital brand identity; explain trust, usability, accessibility, mobile-first design and customer experience principles across websites, apps and platforms.

Category: core

5. Content Marketing and Creative Fundamentals

Learning Objective: Plan useful, audience-centered content using content pillars, storytelling, editorial calendars and funnel mapping; apply basic copywriting, visual, video, repurposing and content governance practices.

Category: application

6. Websites, Landing Pages and Conversion

Learning Objective: Explain domains, hosting, content management systems and landing-page structure; apply calls to action, forms, lead generation, conversion rate optimization, A/B testing and basic user-experience principles.

Category: application

7. Search Engine Optimization

Learning Objective: Explain how search engines work and apply keyword research, search intent, on-page, technical, local and off-page SEO; recognize quality, authority and ethical optimization practices, including AI-influenced search.

Category: application

8. Paid Digital Advertising

Learning Objective: Describe search, display, video, social, native and programmatic advertising; plan basic campaigns using objectives, audiences, keywords, creatives, bids, budgets, quality measures, retargeting and brand-safety controls.

Category: application

9. Social Media and Community Marketing

Learning Objective: Select platforms according to audience and objectives; plan organic and paid social content, community engagement, influencer activity and social listening; manage reputation, moderation and platform risks.

Category: application

10. Email, Mobile and Customer Relationship Marketing

Learning Objective: Apply permission-based list building, segmentation, personalization, lifecycle messaging and marketing automation; interpret delivery, open, click, conversion, retention and unsubscribe measures across email and mobile channels.

Category: application

11. E-Commerce, Retention and Customer Value

Learning Objective: Explain digital commerce models, product pages, checkout, marketplaces and omnichannel experiences; apply retention, loyalty, cross-selling, customer lifetime value and service recovery concepts.

Category: core

12. Digital Marketing Measurement and Analytics

Learning Objective: Build a basic measurement plan linking objectives, KPIs and targets; interpret traffic, engagement, conversion, acquisition cost, return on advertising spend, ROI, attribution and dashboard data to support decisions.

Category: core

13. Marketing Technology, Automation and AI

Learning Objective: Recognize the roles of CRM, CMS, analytics, advertising and automation platforms; use generative and predictive AI appropriately for research, content, personalization and optimization while maintaining human review and data quality.

Category: contemporary

14. Ethics, Privacy, Governance and Future Practice

Learning Objective: Apply principles of consent, transparency, accessibility, intellectual property, consumer protection, cybersecurity and responsible data and AI use; identify misleading practices, bias and emerging trends such as privacy-first marketing, conversational interfaces and immersive experiences.

Category: strategic

15. Integrated Digital Marketing Planning

Learning Objective: Create a practical digital marketing plan covering situation analysis, audience, objectives, channel mix, content, budget, schedule, responsibilities, risks, KPIs and optimization; communicate recommendations based on evidence.

Category: application