Digital Marketer (Integrated) Degree Apprenticeship BA (Hons)

Applied Marketing

This module provides a comprehensive introduction to marketing, fostering an appreciation for its significance in organisational success. Explore the fundamentals of marketing within the business context through this module. Gain a profound understanding and assessment of the marketing concept and principles. Delve into the role of marketing in organisations, uncovering key concepts that drive marketer activities. Examine the elements of the marketing mix and their application to meet market and customer needs. Additionally, acquire insights into a tactical planning framework designed to enhance marketing effectiveness.

Introduction to Management and Organisational Behaviour

This module focuses on work and people management in organisations. Apprentices explore key theories, policies, and practices, analysing their impact on organisations and society. Adopting a holistic approach, we consider the perspectives of both workers and management. Apprentices connect theory to real-world scenarios through case studies, investigations, and examples, facilitating reflective learning. Building on prior knowledge, we introduce frameworks integrating sociology and psychology perspectives. This comprehensive exploration enhances apprentices' understanding of organisational management, fostering critical thinking and the application of concepts in diverse contexts.

Business Analytics

This module explores the transformative impact of data on organisations, shaping competition and fostering business growth. Embracing Business Analytics practices is crucial for organisations to navigate data and gain a competitive edge, employing statistical methods to explore and interpret big data. Apprentices will gain knowledge and understanding of Business Analytics, including the sources of business data and the application of data analyses to support management decision-making processes. This module equips apprentices with essential skills to navigate the dynamic landscape of data-driven decision-making in contemporary business environments.

Digital Marketing Techniques

This year-long module focuses on understanding the dynamic digital landscape and honing skills to enhance digital marketing effectiveness. It covers digital techniques such as utilising the digital marketing toolbox, online PR, SEO marketing, and online customer acquisition/conversion/retention activities. Topics include customisation, triggered processes, co-creation, and assessing strong and weak practices in Digital Marketing. The Digital Enhancement aspect explores integrated digital marketing processes, incorporating frameworks/models, resource planning, data management, and methods for customer feedback capture and analysis. Digital Management delves into developing and evaluating digital marketing plans, integrating analytics across the marketing mix, and employing tools for monitoring and reporting digital changes in the marketing environment.

Personal and Professional Development 1

This module supports the beginning of Personal and Professional Development by focusing on the development of the ‘individual’ in the context of ‘self’, ‘learner’, and ‘employee’. It is a vehicle that will begin by referencing the learner’s application embedded in the Initial Needs Analysis (INA) and deepening this to become a Personal Development Plan to demonstrate and evidence achievement of the necessary Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviours associated with the relevant degree Apprenticeship Standard or industry-specific competency framework. This module is delivered at NTU's Mansfield campus.

Understanding Buyers and the Customer Journey

This module aims to introduce the concept of understanding consumer behaviour and the vital role of the customer journey in influencing consumers. It offers a holistic perspective on the customer, encompassing both online and offline environments and their respective impacts. The specific objectives include fostering a comprehensive understanding of consumer behaviour and key influences drawn from psychology and sociology, particularly brand-related factors. The module also aims to cultivate an appreciation for the broader customer journey across both online and offline realms, along with an understanding of online journeys and the requisite tools for their design and development

Web Analytics and Social Media Monitoring

This module introduces apprentices to relevant concepts and tools in web analytics and social media monitoring within the digital marketing discipline, emphasizing their significance in understanding online customer behaviour and evaluating campaign effectiveness. Specifically, the goal is to equip apprentices with knowledge of relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics, foster an understanding of appropriate data collection methods, and develop analytical approaches to support decision-making. The module also seeks to cultivate apprentices as effective decision-makers who utilise established approaches and methods to drive data and insight-driven decisions when spearheading digital marketing activities.

Research for Digital Marketing

This module seeks to develop apprentices as effective decision-makers proficient in employing established approaches and techniques to comprehend digital consumers. In organisational decision-making, effective marketing research plays a pivotal role in understanding consumers and market dynamics. The surge in social media has altered consumer behaviour and introduced innovative avenues for market research. The module explores fundamental market research principles and contemporary digital developments, encompassing tools, techniques, and the role of market research agencies. Through this exploration, apprentices gain insights into the evolving landscape of market research within the digital context, empowering them as informed decision-makers in the dynamic digital marketplace.

Planning Digital Campaigns

Throughout this year-long module, apprentices delve into the intricacies of crafting effective marketing campaigns and developing pertinent activities to influence customers. The module imparts knowledge and skills essential for planning and executing successful campaigns that yield tangible results for organisations. Emphasising creative and collaborative communication campaign development, the module covers the application of the planning process, analysis of the organisation's current commercial standing, setting SMART campaign objectives, evaluating the impact of a live campaign, and instilling the discipline of measuring and assessing success. This holistic approach supports continuous improvement in navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of marketing.

Personal and Professional Development 2

The second of three Personal and Professional Development modules, Personal and Professional Development 2, builds upon Personal and Professional Development 1 and aims to develop the apprentice further as ‘learner’ in the context of ‘group’, ‘team’, and ‘collaboration’. This module moves the apprentice to the next level of the scaffold and considers the role of the learner as a collaborator by reflecting on teamwork deliverables in studies and the workplace. It supports the apprentice in exploring the contribution an employee makes to an organisation’s development and innovation as part of a team.  This year of professional development considers: The knowledge, skills, and qualities required to collaborate successfully and the apprentice’s role in their acquisition and development. The work-based approach to collaborative learning, working, and development. The continuing development of critically reflective practice as it applies theory to practice.

Marketing and Digital Strategy

This module aims to enable the learner to take both a traditional and digital strategic approach to marketing planning, integrating digital strategy, models and frameworks, and techniques throughout to achieve competitive advantage.  Apprentices will be able to recognise the significance of situation analysis and use techniques to assess the external and internal environments that enable effective decision-making.  The learner will be able to apply all stages within the marketing planning process – from the audit through strategic decision-making to the implementation of plans across both traditional and digital channels. Finally, the module aims to enable the learner to manage resources and employ monitoring and measurement techniques that enable the achievement of strategic marketing objectives.

Digital Optimisation

This module will provide the apprentices with an in-depth understanding of the strategic and transformative implications that many organisations face in adopting digital marketing in practice and application.  The module compromises three main themes that support this in-depth understanding in terms of developments in the digital environment and its impacts on marketing. The module will enable apprentices to integrate and optimise digital marketing within an organisation, develop strategic responses to change and ensure responses are measured to evidence success for an organisation.

Mastering Digital Channels

This module develops the skills and knowledge required to enable strategic decision-making for the management of Digital Channels, and the knowledge to understand the customer journey and desired customer experience. The module comprises three main themes which support the development of skills to assess digital customer insights and strategic options for channel selection, knowledge about the effective management and legalities of digital channels and campaigns, and techniques to understand the customer journey and develop planning skills to improve user digital experience.

Work-Based Research Project

This module makes up part of the Synoptic End Point Assessment and is the ‘capstone’ for the degree course and brings together the learning and development in terms of knowledge, understanding, and application of skills which has taken place through the duration of the course.  It aims to further develop and demonstrate the understanding of the connection between evidence and theory through review and application to a contemporary digital marketing issue.  The applied nature of the WBP requires the application of a ‘consultancy’ approach with a defined ‘client’. This must consider a critical evaluative approach, empirical investigation and analysis, and a combination of academic research and business report writing skills. It requires reflection on the implications for professional practice from an ethical, professional, and continuous development standpoint.  The module provides the opportunity for learners to demonstrate the ability to diagnose and investigate a live, complex marketing issue, locate and analyse the work within the body of contemporary academic knowledge, collect and analyse data, derive supportable conclusions and make practical and actionable recommendations for change, improvement or enhancement of current digital marketing practice.

As an Integrated Degree Apprentice, this module contains one assessment that is completed as part of the End Point Assessment (EPA) of the apprenticeship and detailed in the ST0481/AP01 Digital Marketer (integrated) Degree Apprenticeship End-Point Assessment Plan.

Personal and Professional Development 3

This module looks at drawing together the knowledge, skills and behaviours developed over the apprenticeship. It builds on the work undertaken during years one and two on the individual and collaborative working practices and extends this into the higher-levels seeking to draw the learning together from across the programme supporting the apprentice not only for the production of the final applied work-based project, but also for the final year of their apprenticeship. This module scaffolds the apprentices learning towards their End Point Assessment and evidencing of their Competency Framework.  Specifically, the aims of the module are to develop a critical understanding of evidence-based approaches for demonstrating competence and sharing knowledge, develop and evidence an understanding of the behaviours, skills and leadership styles to lead projects.   Develop confidence to engage in dialogue and clearly articulate, evidence of achievements, development needs, and plans for self-directed learning.  Develop an ability to be independent and have autonomy and accountability for your own personal and professional development. Enable an understanding of how to identify ongoing development needs for continuous career management.

As an Integrated Degree Apprentice this module contains one assessment that is completed as part of the End Point Assessment (EPA) of the apprenticeship and detailed in the ST0481/AP01 Digital Marketer Integrated Degree Apprenticeship End-Point Assessment Plan

Completing your Apprenticeship

To achieve the apprenticeship, all apprentices must complete an End-Point Assessment (EPA). The EPA is an independent assessment that ascertains whether an apprentice is competent in their occupation.

Gateway

Gateway is the period of time between the end of the off-the-job training (practical period) and the beginning of the assessment period when EPA will take place.

At Gateway, the apprentice, employer and training provider will review the apprentice’s knowledge, skills and behaviours to determine whether they are ready to take their EPA. This is normally done at a Gateway review meeting which takes place near the end of the apprenticeship. At this meeting, all three parties will check that the mandatory aspects of the apprenticeship have been completed and that the apprentice is ready to take their final assessment(s).

Apprentices must meet the Gateway requirement set out in the assessment plan before taking their EPA.

End-Point Assessment

This apprenticeship is integrated. This means that the end-point assessment is administered by Nottingham Trent University and is usually linked to the academic award that apprentices study whilst in their off-the-job training period. The assessments are conducted by Independent End-Point Assessors who have been selected to assess apprentices against industry-specific competences.

Details of the assessment elements can be found in the assessment plan.

There are two elements to this end-point assessment:

1. Report (based on work-based project) and Presentation
2. Interview

On successful completion the apprentice will be eligible to apply for professional registration at associate grade for the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Apprentices may also apply for recognition with other professional bodies, details of which can be found on the Institute for Apprenticeship and Technical Education website.