Introductory description

In today's economy, digital marketing is no longer an "add-on" to traditional approaches, with 82.6% of media ads spend in the UK now committed to digital marketing channels (eMarketer, 2024). However, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technologies is fundamentally reshaping these digital marketing practices and consumer engagement strategies across all industries. AI is not only a technological tool, but a cornerstone of contemporary marketing strategies.

This convergence of digital marketing dominance and AI transformation means that traditional digital marketing approaches require significant evolution to remain effective in an increasingly competitive and technology-driven marketplace.

Modern marketers must understand how AI technologies are transforming established marketing frameworks whilst maintaining the strategic foundations of customer-centric marketing. This creates both unprecedented opportunities for enhanced customer engagement and complex challenges in navigating ethical AI implementation, and the balance between automation and human creativity in marketing practice.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

1. Digital Marketing Fundamentals in the AI Age
   Evolution of digital marketing: traditional to AI-enhanced approaches
   AI's impact on consumer behaviour and marketing practices
   Case studies of AI transformation in marketing

2. Strategic Management of AI-Enhanced Digital Marketing
   Strategic frameworks for digital marketing in the AI era
   Balancing automation with human creativity
   AI-informed campaign planning and management

3. AI-Enhanced Customer Analysis and Segmentation
   Modern segmentation techniques and AI tools
   Privacy and ethical considerations in AI-driven analysis

4. Digital Marketing Channels and AI Applications
   AI in search engine marketing and SEO optimisation
   Social media marketing with AI-powered targeting and content
   Email marketing automation and AI personalisation
   Content marketing: AI-assisted creation and optimisation

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Utilise modern segmentation techniques and AI tools to identify and target valuable customer segments for organisational digital marketing strategy
• Critically evaluate an organisation's current digital marketing strategy and assess its readiness for AI integration and emerging technology adoption
• Synthesise comprehensive and justified AI-informed digital marketing strategies that integrate contemporary best practices
• Critically evaluate operational and ethical risks associated with AI integration in digital marketing strategy
• Collaboratively evaluate digital marketing insights and integrate findings into AI-informed strategic recommendations

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Interdisciplinary

Exploring the impacts and applications of industry-trending technology in digital marketing areas

International

Topics are of high international demand

Subject specific skills

Digital Literacy (Data Skills, Information Evaluation, Social Media Content Creation and Management, SEO, Data Visualisation) Critical thinking (Identifying, interpreting, contextualising, synthesising). Organisational Awareness (Organisational Research, Achieving Organisational Goals, Networking, Commercial Awareness, External Stakeholder Awareness) Self-Awareness (Learning Adaptability) Professionalism (Responsive to Change, Operating Autonomously, Project Management, Attention to Detail, Creative Thinking)

Transferable skills

Communication (creating discourse, adapting output to audience, creative writing, nonverbal communication skills). Information Literacy (Understanding information outside of academia, valuing and using information need, Searching for Information, Selecting Information) Problem Solving (Problem Design, Creative Problem Solving, Logical Processing/ Reasoning, Learning from Failure) Sustainability (Resilience, Future Thinking, Contextualising, Analysing)