Overview

The MSc Digital Marketing provides you with the opportunity to transition to a digital marketing career by combining an accelerated introduction to marketing with a detailed consideration of digital marketing concepts and techniques. The programme has been specifically designed to meet the current and emerging demands of the growing digital economy, to ensure you are highly sought after upon graduation.   

During the master’s programme, you’ll gain knowledge that covers and integrates the main areas of marketing and digital marketing, including their features, boundaries, terminology, and conventions. You’ll gain a critical understanding of general marketing theories, principles, concepts and applications and specialist knowledge of Digital Marketing theories, concepts and principles relating to product and service marketing and consumer behaviours. You’ll develop a critical awareness of developments in research and knowledge creation within Digital Marketing and cognate disciplines of sociology, geography and psychology.  

You’ll develop research-informed learning skills through lecture activities, independent research, coursework, and the dedicated Research Methods Philosophy and Practice course which will enable you to apply critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis to problems at the forefront of digital marketing. You’ll be able to identify, conceptualise and define new and abstract problems and issues related to digital marketing and apply a range of standard and specialised instruments and techniques to mitigate such issues. 

Each course will equip you with highly employable expertise and skills across digital marketing. You’ll have the opportunity to choose three optional courses – from the legal context of marketing, strategic innovation management, databases and information systems, entrepreneurship and creativity, contemporary business technology, digital marketing analytics, social media marketing, psychology for marketing, and e-commerce technology – to customise your learning and develop your specific marketing interests. Your digital marketing dissertation will allow you to engage in an independent in-depth critical examination of a particular digital marketing topic, which is of interest to you.   

You’ll benefit from the industry relevance of the programme, which will set you up for life after graduation. Upon completion, you’ll be able to use a significant range of professional skills, techniques, practices and materials to develop original, creative and practical responses to commercial and digital marketing problems and issues. You’ll gain the skills to deal with complex issues and make judgements in situations in the absence of complete or consistent data, as encountered in real-life commercial marketing environments. Beyond the subject-specific knowledge and skills, you’ll be given the opportunity to learn and practice transferrable skills such as presentation, communication, analytical and ICT skills.

Expertise

Your learning will be informed by the expertise of our research-active academics whose work covers four key areas:  

• Employment, Work and the Professions  
• Logistics and Sustainability  
• Networks and Enterprise Excellence  
• Social and Economic Data Analysis  
• 
  

Your learning environment

The MSc Digital Marketing programme is taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials and group work allowing you to get to know and build relationships with your peers, the teaching staff and academics. You will be assessed by independent work and coursework and will receive feedback on your attainment of knowledge, understanding and research-informed learning skills throughout the programme. 

Outside of the classroom, you can join Heriot-Watt’s Marketing Society which holds regular social events and provides networking opportunities and insights into marketing career opportunities by working closely with the support of the academic tutors. 

Customise your learning

You’ll learn from the core five courses on the syllabus, with the choice of three optional courses to focus on the area of digital marketing that interests you the most. This gives you the opportunity to customise your degree to match your specific interests or career pathway by selecting a specialist course option.   

In semester three, you’ll explore in-depth your chosen area of digital marketing through your dissertation. You will be required to demonstrate your mastery of the subject area by developing new insight from the analysis of valuable primary research.  

You can choose whether to study the programme full-time, part-time, or by course. This flexibility allows you to fit your postgraduate studies around your lifestyle. You can begin the programme either in January or September, based on your availability, and the full-time course will last 12 months full-time or 24 months part-time. If you decide to study part-time, you register for two courses per semester and progress to the dissertation at the end of your second year.   

You may have the opportunity to Go Global on our Inter-Campus Transfer. Opportunities for postgraduate study abroad are assessed on a case-by-case basis and if you are interested in studying at our Dubai campus or Malaysia campus for a semester or longer, you should contact the Go Global Team.  

Industry

MSc Digital Marketing is an industry-focused degree with extensive professional accreditations that offers the strongest possible foundation from which to launch your career. The course content is designed and delivered by professionals with industry experience and respected academics with expert knowledge across the full range of disciplines related to marketing. 

Accreditation

The MSc is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) within the Graduate Gateway programmes. You’ll gain a credit for prior learning upon completion of your degree or have the option to self-study for a CIM qualification during your programme of study. To gain your CIM certificate, you will need to register one additional CIM training course, and to gain your CIM diploma, you will need to register two additional courses.