Semester 1

 

Digital Marketing Environment

Mandatory - Introduces some core terminology and some essential topics (sales funnel, paid, owned and earned media etc). It also includes a detailed look at a current Irish digital marketing campaign and some leading edge marketing trends e.g. personalisation, marketing automation, proximity marketing.  

 

Digital Advertising and Social Media

Mandatory - Covers main social networks (including Youtube) and students create a simple PPC campaign in Adwords. Students plan, execute and measure results of a social media campaign for a small business.

 

Strategy for Digital Marketing

Mandatory - The focus within this module is on working with a small business to create a wide-ranging digital marketing plan covering traffic acquisition, conversion and retention. The plan is then presented to the business. 

 

Website Optimisation and Analytics

Mandatory - Looks at intricacies of building and maintaining a web presence. Students build a simple WordPress website and analyse a large website using Google Analytics.

 

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Semester 2

 

Digital Strategy Development 

Mandatory - Emphasis placed on combining digital channels to achieve commercial results. Will centre on a student project that allows them to practice new-found knowledge with a small business. 

 

Digital Advertising & Analytics

Mandatory - This module aims to equip students with a thorough understanding of both when to use different advertising platforms and how to use the most common ones (Adwords, Facebook). Designed to help students develop an analytical mindset. May help students to obtain industry qualifications (Adwords Pro, Facebook Blueprint).

 

The Digital Consumer

Elective - This module maintains a strong focus on students working in B2C. Looks at the ‘irrational consumer’ and discusses how to ethically influence consumers in order to increase sales.

 

Goal-Driven Sites & E-commerce Sites

Elective - Students taking this module will explore different Ecommerce models and explores key metrics and key issues (e.g. fraud).  It is intended to develop and run an Ecommerce store based on a platform such as Shopify.

 

Professional Development for Marketing

Mandatory - It is an aspiration of the programme to widen the students’ sources of knowledge beyond CIT and develop a professional network which will help them in their future career. Students will be expected to attend industry conferences and talks in CIT by Digital Marketing experts. They will also be expected to view a number of virtual talks / events - these could include webinars, Ted Talks, Periscope streams from industry events etc. 

 

Semester 3

 

Integrated Strategy & Planning

Mandatory - Participants further delve into the role of digital in reaching corporate objectives, with the aim of understanding the strengths of each channel and the relevance of each. Will cover some essential marketing principles as well as Market Research / Netnography with an emphasis on channel integration. 

 

SEO & Analytics

Mandatory - SEO is covered in detail while the module includes Keyword Research, Link Building, and Digital Marketing activities that have major SEO benefit including Content Marketing, Guest Blogging and Online PR. Designed to help students develop an analytical mindset.  

 

Digital Brand Development 

Elective - Inclusion of this module allows a focus on the need for developing content for both internal and external marketing, and learning the tools to create compelling copy as well as audio and video. Designed to help students develop a creative mindset.

 

Lead Generation & Sales

Elective - Targeted at students working in B2B. Focus on how digital marketing can support sales teams through CRM, lead generation, marketing automation and tools such as Hubspot and Pardot.

 

Action Research Methods

Mandatory - A preparation module for the upcoming project, students will learn the skills needed for either an ‘action-based’ research project or a market research or sector analysis project. By the time it is complete the students should have a completed project plan with clearly identified goals, methodologies and intended outcomes.

 

Semester 4

 

Applied Digital Marketing Project 

Mandatory - Students will author a major project, usually in conjunction with their employer. Most students will do ‘action-based research’ where they set a practical goal (e.g. increase site conversions by 0.5%, increase social media following by 200%, develop a website that generates 50 enquiries and 10 leads per month) and then take the necessary actions to try to meet the goal.

 

Students for whom this is not practical (e.g. career switchers, early stage entrepreneurs) will have the option of doing a Market Research project (great for small businesses who are just launching) or a Sectoral Analysis project (useful if the student is looking to change industry).  Such students will need to demonstrate significant insight into consumer behaviour and consumption in the digital age with particular value added to some aspect marketing knowledge. 

 

At the end of the project students will hand in a written report and also do a Poster Presentation to other students and CIT staff.