Study Guide

Objectives

The Management of Digital Marketing programme will give you the confidence to conduct, manage and develop digital marketing. After completing the degree, you will have a strong knowledge base, concrete practical skills and up-to-date knowledge of emerging marketing technologies. You will be able to develop digital marketing to grow your company's business.

After completing the degree, you will be one step further in your career as a digital marketing expert or manager in industrial, service or trade sectors, or as a self-employed entrepreneur.

The training is especially for you if you work in a small or medium sized company and are already implementing and developing digital marketing in practice. You want to raise your level of competence and broaden your vision. Your work will include responsibilities regarding development, planning and implementation related to e.g. electronic customer service channels (website, social media, chat), e-commerce, marketing communications, customer service tasks, content creation, marketing automation, marketing analytics or sales. In all learning assignments, you will develop your company's digital marketing.

Degree programme description

The programme is 90 credits (cr)

Core studies, 30 credits

The core curriculum consists of six modules. They cover the digital marketing environment and the implementation and development of digital marketing.

Courses
- Strategic change management in a digital environment 5 cr
- Marketing in digital channels 5 cr
- Customer experience 5 cr
- Research-based development in business 5 cr
- Customer acquisition and sales 5 cr

Complementary studies, 30 credits

At least 10 credits of research and development studies are chosen for the supplementary studies to support the implementation of the thesis. At least one 5-credit course (complementary studies) must be in English. You can choose your complementary studies from the multidisciplinary Master School offer common to all master students.  

These common studies cover courses both in Finnish and English and include the following:  
• Digitality and technology in society
• International operating environments and communication
• Management, leadership and entrepreneurship
• Research and development
• Language studies

You can also choose complementary competence studies from other universities, if they are at the level of master’s degree.  

Thesis, 30 cr

For a thesis, you need a topic, a sponsor and research skills. The scope of the thesis is 30 credits, which corresponds to about 800 hours of work.
The topic of your thesis is related to the digital marketing of your company, its management or development or the development of your digital business. The thesis has research and has a development objective. The client is a company, organisation or RDI project.

You will acquire your research skills through research and development courses (15 credits in total). You will also have a supervisor. The thesis will be started towards the end of the first academic year in the course "Research-based development in business".

The course assignments link you to the analysis and development of your company's business and digital marketing. In addition to Xamk teachers, external experts in digital marketing and business will provide topical content for the training.

Implementation of studies

You can complete the programme online, depending on which studies you choose for your complementary studies. Most people study while working and we have taken this into account for online learning.

The start of studies and the group orientation day will be held at Xamk's Mikkeli campus, there is no streaming. This is a smooth start to the studies and a chance to get acquainted with other digital marketers. Other meetings or contact days can be held on campus by agreement. These days are held on weekdays and are for doing, learning and discussing together. Participation is always voluntary but highly recommended.

The usual pace of study for a working student is about 15 credits per semester, which means a workload of 400 hours. If the student's own time allows, it is possible to complete the study programme more quickly. Parallel courses can be chosen from the complementary studies. This will be agreed when the personal study plan is drawn up.

Career opportunities

After completing the programme you can work in versatile digital marketing tasks. Examples of job titles are Chief Marketing Officer, Marketing Specialist, Content Manager, Communications Specialist, Marketing Coordinator, Communications Coordinator, Marketing Analyst, Marketing Director, Digital Marketing Manager, Digital Marketing Specialist.

RDI and cooperation with world of work

During your Master’s degree programme you will get to know professionals in your own field as well as in other fields. This multidisciplinary network of experts will also bear fruit in working life after your studies. You will also build important networks in development projects for working life, the most important of which is the thesis.

Learning environments

In Management of Digital Marketing programme, the workplace is a key learning environment where the subjects are studied, applied and developed. There are also many other work-related assignments available to students, which are worth undertaking as part of their complementary studies.