Digital Marketing Essentials for Leaders

Alongside Dr Panagiotis Sarantopoulos and Dr Dawn Holmes, who bring together a plethora of academic, business, and agency insight, you will develop ideas to bring your customers closer, ensure your business stays relevant, and solidify its future success.

Over the duration of this four-day course, you will develop a comprehensive understanding of digital marketing.

You will explore how digital technologies have impacted the marketing strategy formulation process, delve into the role of multi-sided platforms in digital marketing ecosystems, and grow savvy on tried and tested digital marketing techniques such as online testing, website analytics, search engine marketing, search engine optimisation, and display advertising.

Firstly, you will be introduced to various of frameworks for digital marketing that will assist in establishing a context for the digital marketing strategy formulation process.

As a group, we will: 

• Explore a variety of strategic frameworks for digital marketing
• Understand the difference between inbound and outbound marketing
• Learn to allocate budgets effectively among alternative digital marketing activities

You will then be presented to the role of multi-sided platforms in digital marketing ecosystems, where you will:

• Analyse the creation of value in platform as well as issues around growth and governance
• Discover the fast-growing nature of social media platforms and influencer marketing
• Explore sentiment analysis in social media to create optimal marketing strategies

Next, our focus will shift towards online testing and website analytics, with the aim of grasping their workings from a leadership viewpoint.

Together, online testing and website analytics can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of digital marketing efforts. Working closely within groups, you will:

• Realise the opportunities of digital experiments and identify the key steps when conducting online testing
• Recognise different sources of website traffic and audience segments
• Select key performance indicators for your organisation

We will then turn our attention to search engine marketing and display advertising, which can be effective for businesses looking to increase their online presence and attract new customers. Collaborating closely in teams, you will:

• Learn to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages through paid advertising (PPC)
• Increase online visibility, credibility, and engagement and ultimately drive more and conversions and business success with search engine optimization (SEO)
• Reach targeted audiences with display advertising and evaluate its impact at different stages of the customer journey

Finally, we will draw together the key themes of the course and how to implement them within your organisation.

On the second day of this course, we will joined by Amelia Shaw, Brand and Communications Executive at Haier Europe, who will deliver a session exploring social media and influencers.

During the course, you will have a range of opportunities to get to know your class, including a course dinner which offers the chance to come together with a wider cohort of short-course learners to help expand your network.

Delivered face-to-face at Alliance Manchester Business School’s Executive Education centre, this course involves a range of interactive learning styles that connect theory with practice which ensures delegates finish the course with applied, up to date knowledge of digital marketing.

Throughout the course, you will hear from leading industry experts, network with a variety of business leaders and work with other delegates to apply core aspects of the course to your organisation.

During your time on this course, you will gain several stand-out learning experiences, including:

Applied Learning - A learning environment created by the course facilitator that draws on the experience and input of your course peers.

Knowledge Transfer - A steady stream of feedback from participating peers with diverse business backgrounds to help build your leadership skills.

Reflection - A rare time-out to contemplate your own digital marketing capabilities and challenges while engaging with our world-class experts in the marketing field.

Network Expansion - An expanding professional network drawn from your peers.

Personal Growth - An expanding self-awareness of your own marketing competencies and how they can be honed.

Behavioural Change - An adoption of new rationales and mindsets that improve your managerial skills.

As part of this course, you will gain access to our comprehensive virtual learning environment before, during and after your time with us. Here, you will find course materials, including pre-work, slides, case studies, and recommended readings, all conveniently available to aid your learning.

At the end of the course, you continue to have access to this online learning area and the University of Manchester online library for up to one year, supporting you to embed your new toolkit of skills and knowledge back into your workplace.

• Gain a strategic understanding of digital marketing and how it fits into your broader marketing strategies
• Discover the key platforms to implement within your organisation to optimise ways of working
• Learn how to leverage web analytics and online testing to strengthen your existing strategies
• Understand the language and insights of your marketing team and build your confidence when having senior-level marketing conversations
• Gain expert insights through real-world case studies and industry speakers
• Become a member of the AMBS Executive Education Network and benefit from top-class speaker events, regular updates, and networking opportunities with like-minded professionals

• Increase your ability to spot opportunities which optimise your organisation’s performance through tried and tested digital strategies
• Share knowledge of the trends, tools, and techniques to implement within your organisation to increase its efficiency
• Support your team to scale digital initiatives to help exceed organisational objectives
• Lead your organisation towards opportunities within the digital landscape which maximise your competitive edge
• Embed digital first behaviours and mindsets within your workplace to enhance your customer outreach

This course is for business professionals with a keen interest in learning more about the nuances of digital marketing.

Whether you are responsible for implementing digital marketing plans or an executive interested in cultivating a strategic understanding of digital marketing, this course will enable you to return to your organisation with an enhanced understanding of all things digital.

Dr Panagiotis Sarantopoulos and Dr Dawn Holmes bring together an exceptional range of experience and research in the area of digital marketing.

Dr Dawn Holmes, Assistant Professor of Marketing, has accrued a large amount of industry experience in the technology sector, as well as undertaking a DBA focusing on the use of data to improve B2B customer experiences. Dawn is also a non-executive director at the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Dr Panagiotis Sarantopoulos, Associate Professor of Marketing, has produced research which has appeared in various elite world journals, such as the Journal of Marketing Research and the Journal of Business Research among others. His research and teaching interests lie in the areas of digital marketing analytics and retailing and pricing.

During this course, we will be joined by a number of guest speakers who will share their industry knowledge and expertise, including:

• Amelia Shaw, Brand and Communications Executive at Haier Europe
• Jamie Evawin, Head of Analytics and Experimentation at Code Computerlove

Upon successful completion of this short business course, participants will be awarded the Manchester Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing Essentials for Leaders.

You will also receive a digital Manchester Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing Essentials for Leaders from Accredible, an online certificate and badge which can be displayed on LinkedIn profiles.

You can choose to curate your own curriculum by attending any four courses from our extensive portfolio. On completion of the four courses of your choice, you will be awarded the Manchester Professional Diploma in Leadership.

As part of the professional diploma, you will receive three executive coaching sessions.

These sessions will help you to apply your continued learning directly into your organisation, identify the specific skills needed to enhance your leadership capabilities, and align your professional development goals with the wider goals of your organisation.

If you are successfully accepted on to the Global MBA within five years of completion of the course, you will receive exemption from one elective. Your attendance on the course must be mentioned at the time of application. For further details, please do contact us.

If you choose to stay in Manchester during your time on one of our short business courses, you can benefit from preferential rates at the Hyatt Hotel, a modern and elegant hotel located at the heart of our campus and adjoining the Executive Education centre.

Learn more about the Hyatt Hotel >>

View frequently asked questions about our short business courses here >>