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BSc (Hons)

Digital Marketing

Create the idea. Read the data. Make it land.

Get to know your subject

Join one of our subject-specific webinars this autumn to get a taste of your course. Meet the academics who bring it to life, explore what you’ll study and get answers to your questions.

Key information

Start
September 2027
Location
Canterbury
Study mode
3 years full-time, 6 years part-time
Fees (per year)
UK: £10,050
International: £21,950
Typical offer
BBB / 104-120 UCAS points All entry requirements
Professionally Recognised

Overview

Winning attention is only the start. Great digital marketing delivers results.

At Kent, you’ll learn how to understand audiences, build brands and create digital marketing that connects. Explore consumer behaviour and marketing strategy, develop content and campaigns, and use data to understand what’s working – and what needs to change.

You’ll put that thinking into practice too. Create digital content. Analyse marketing and social media data. Develop strategies around real-world problems. Build campaigns and pitch your ideas. Along the way, you’ll learn to balance creativity with commercial thinking, evidence and responsible decision-making.

Digital marketing keeps changing. You’ll explore the technologies, trends and ethical questions shaping the field, and build the adaptability to keep learning as platforms, audiences and ways of working evolve.

By graduation, you’ll have the creative, analytical and professional skills to move into areas such as digital marketing, content, SEO, analytics, brand management and consultancy.

4 minutes 19 seconds

Why study at Kent Business School?

The course

Learn how digital marketing brings creativity, strategy and data together – from understanding audiences and building brands to creating content, developing campaigns and measuring what works.

What you'll study

Plot your course. Discover the modules you'll study on your Kent journey.

The following modules are what students typically study, but this may change year to year in response to new developments and innovations.

Stage 1

Compulsory modules currently include the following

Excel is the industry standard software for data processing and modelling, so if you want to hit the ground running in your career, mastery of Excel is crucial. You'll learn the techniques of Excel and spreadsheet modelling through realistic problems and extensive exercises, giving you real hands-on experience to make rapid progress.

By the end of the module, you wont only have mastered excel to report, model and forecast for businesses, you'll have also developed the confidence you need to present your insights to managers, stakeholders and business leaders. This makes you a vital asset for businesses focused on growth, and gives you an extra edge when looking to make progress in expanding industries.

Develop the research, analytical and critical-thinking skills to understand audiences, identify digital trends and turn information into insights that support smarter marketing decisions.

Given the startling pace at which human-driven changes are occurring to our social and ecological systems, what skills do you need to be ready for whatever challenges await you when you graduate?

You’ll look at the biggest challenge facing businesses in every industry today: how to organise themselves in ways that ensure a sustainable future for the global community. You’ll look at various case studies to examine the impact climate change is having on business. You’ll also consider the key theories, concepts, and practices of sustainable business, including the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

In doing this, you’ll develop the skills you need to succeed as you navigate university and professional life, so that you can make a positive impact — both in your local community and globally during your time at Kent, and in your career afterwards.

Explore how businesses can market responsibly, balancing commercial goals with environmental and social impact. Examine ethical challenges, sustainability and changing consumer expectations to develop more responsible marketing strategies.

Understand how businesses record, report and assess financial performance. Learn to interpret financial statements and use financial information to support informed marketing and commercial decisions.

Develop the creative and technical skills to design engaging websites and produce digital content. Explore web design principles, user experience and content creation to build effective online experiences.

Stage 2

Compulsory modules currently include the following

As businesses embrace digital marketing as a tool to reach key audiences and deliver results, they need experts in strategy and planning to give their campaigns an edge and ensure they are successful.

Through collaborative projects and hands-on workshops you'll become the kind of expert businesses are looking for. You’ll gain the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to develop, deliver and refine digital marketing strategies to drive results and enhance brand visibility in a competitive landscape.

Being a leader in digital marketing gives you the edge that makes employers sit up and take notice, not only ensuring you’ll jump into a successful and exciting career, but you’ll be a driving force in the field.

Consumer behaviour is a critical exploration of how consumers and organisations engage with products and services. Society, culture, identity, and psychology all influence consumer habits. So, what can marketers learn from the social and cultural world?

You'll discover why consumers from different backgrounds react uniquely to the same products, what drives these consumption patterns, and how culture shapes our buying decisions. You’ll explore the social and cultural intricacies of consumer behaviour and gain the insights needed to connect, engage and succeed in a global marketplace.

By embracing a wide spectrum of philosophical and research perspectives, you’ll gain a multifaceted understanding of the subject, alongside critical thinking skills. This will greatly enhance your employability and prepare you to tackle complex problems as you begin your career.

Marketing research helps businesses to understand their markets and target consumers, and identify opportunities that inform decision-making about the business and customers. 

You’ll learn how to use traditional marketing research techniques to gain insights into consumer behaviour before delving into the analysis of digital data from online sources and interactive dashboards. You’ll gain hands-on experience using analytical software that will give you the skills needed to navigate digital data landscapes, analyse customer behaviour and trends, and extract actionable insights into customers and competitors. 

Embracing this data-driven approach to market research ensures that your marketing strategies are grounded in empirical evidence. This results in meeting customer expectations better, building stronger relationships, and fostering brand loyalty.

How do brands differentiate themselves from their competitors? How do they create competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace? This module covers four main areas: developing brand strategy, implementing brand management, evaluating brand performance, and sustaining brand growth.

By studying these four areas, you’ll gain insights into formulating effective strategies, executing brand management practices, assessing brand effectiveness, and fostering long-term brand growth in dynamic market environments.

You'll delve into real world case studies, engaging discussions and collaborative projects, so you'll not only grasp the theoretical foundations but also cultivate practical insights into the dynamic world of branding. You'll emerge with a profound understanding of how to strategically build and manage brand identities that leave a lasting impact and produce results.

In competitive marketplaces, strategic marketing planning is essential for firms seeking to reach their target customers, foster brand awareness and increase revenue.

In this module, you’ll develop your understanding of marketing strategy and planning by learning how to systematically approach and develop a strategic marketing plan for a commercial or social organisation. Through this process, you’ll learn the tools marketers use to assess market opportunities and evaluate their competition.

You'll also learn by exploring real-world case studies and hearing directly from guest speakers with industry experience. These insights will deepen your appreciation of the challenges, issues, and ethical dilemmas marketers face today. If you're aiming for a career where you lead impactful and successful marketing campaigns, this module is a key step to getting there.

Explore how businesses develop and manage marketing strategies across international markets. Examine cultural differences, global consumer behaviour and competitive environments to understand how brands adapt and succeed worldwide.

Tom Tillin

My year in industry couldn’t have gone better. I secured a role at IBM, working in their sports and entertainment department – it was perfect for me
Year in Industry

You have the option to add a year in industry to this course. We already know you have the confidence and commitment to thrive in the workplace and kick-start your career. This is your chance to prove it, to yourself and to employers.

Any questions? We have the answers.

When should I start looking? Companies will recruit at different times of the year based on their size. It's good to be application ready by the summer of your first year.

Where can I get help finding a placement? Book an appointment with a placement adviser via the careers service. 

Will I get paid? Most of our placements are paid. 

Do I have to pay tuition fees? Yes, you’ll pay a substantially reduced fee. Fees for the current year (subject to changes) can be found on our tuition fees website.

Where can I get visa advice if I’m an international student? Kent Students' Union can help with any visa queries. 

Does the University keep in touch? You receive four-weekly check-in emails, a visit from the team every three months and you can reach out to us any time by email or phone. 

Do I work for a full year? The minimum requirement for an industrial placement is 44 weeks.

What could you do in a year?

Cheyenne Nolan

My ‘You only live once’ decision to study in Japan is one of the best I’ve ever made. I had a fantastic year.
Go Abroad

Taking a year abroad – whether you study at one of our prestigious partner universities or do an internship – is an amazing opportunity.

Any questions? We have the answers.

Is there any additional funding for the year abroad? You may be able to apply for funding; check with our Go abroad team.

Do I have to pay tuition fees for the year abroad? Yes, you’ll pay a substantially reduced fee. Fees for the current year (subject to changes) can be found on our tuition fees website. You don’t pay anything to the host uni.

Will I still get my maintenance loan? Yes.

When does the year abroad take place? Between your second and final year.

Do I have to learn a foreign language? You’re taught in English in many destinations, but you’ll get more out of your year if you learn the local language.

Does the University keep in touch? You have full access to all Kent’s support services as well as our dedicated Go abroad team.

Where could you go in a year?
Stage 3

You take all compulsory modules and take either the KBS Challenge or conduct your own study on the Research Project in Business

Compulsory modules currently include the following

As digital marketing and social media become increasingly important to business strategy, knowing how to use analytics to drive success has never been more important. Digital analytics produce a wealth of insights that enable marketing managers to evaluate the success of digital and social media marketing initiatives. They are also useful for forecasting trends to inform future marketing decisions.

You'll learn how to use a range of analytical tools to interpret and evaluate data on consumer behaviour and preferences and social media engagement. You’ll also discover how to use key performance indicators (KPIs) - which are specific to digital and social media campaigns - to help drive improvement and performance.

The module will equip you with the analytical and data skills necessary to interpret digital data, enhancing your employability and preparing your for a range of careers in marketing or business.

Marketing communications serve as the voice of a brand. They create a dialogue that connects businesses with their audiences across various platforms and mediums. This module will examine how advertising fuses creativity and strategy to influence consumer behaviour and perceptions.

You’ll engage with tools like social media and search engine optimisation (SEO) to create conversations and nurture communities. Integrated marketing communications (IMC) ensure consistency across all channels, amplifying the resonance of each message. Ethics and sustainability practices that guide responsible marketing are at the heart of the module: respecting privacy, ensuring transparency and embracing sustainable practices that prioritise long-term well-being over short-term gains.

You’ll enhance your employability by blending practical, applied learning with essential marketing concepts. By engaging directly with current advertising tools, digital platforms and real-world case studies, you’ll be able to apply your knowledge effectively in a professional setting. You’ll learn the theory and strategies to navigate digital landscapes and uphold ethical standards. This hands-on approach, combined with insights into sustainability, prepares you to enter the workforce with the confidence and skills needed to excel in a dynamic industry.

Learn how to develop creative marketing campaigns, from initial ideas and audience insights to campaign planning and execution. Build the confidence to pitch your ideas persuasively and communicate strategies to clients and stakeholders.

Put your digital marketing knowledge into practice by tackling real-world challenges. Apply your skills in campaign planning, content creation and analytics to develop solutions and evaluate their effectiveness.

Explore the emerging trends and challenges shaping digital marketing, from AI and new technologies to changing consumer behaviour, data privacy and ethics. Examine how marketers adapt their strategies in a rapidly evolving digital world.

Optional modules may include the following

Do you have what it takes to be a management consultant? Do you have the skills to be able to respond to the real-world problems that businesses are facing today? On this module, we'll work with real businesses who want the help of groups of KBS students to solve the challenges that they currently face.  Through a series of workshops you'll come to understand the consultancy process and develop key consultancy skills as you master the art of responding effectively to a brief from a business. Working in a group of your peers, you'll bring different skillsets from your studies to bear on solving business problems like designing a marketing strategy, advising on recruitment processes, or support meaningful performance management and financial evaluation etc. Put a capstone on your studies with a project that has real world impact.

Is there a topic that you are passionate about and what to understand better? This module will provide you with the opportunity to apply your learning, experience, skills and curiosity to a variety of contemporary business and management issues. You'll develop a research project on a topic of your choosing with support from a series of workshops that cultivate key research skills like scoping a project, using databases to do secondary research, asking good interview or survey questions, coding data that you've collected, and reporting professionally on your findings. You'll also be allocated a supervisor in your field who will work to support you in shaping and completing your project. Gain sought after skills in independently scoping, researching, and reporting on a problem to prepare you for a career in consultancy or postgraduate study. 

How you'll study

Business is something you learn by doing. You’ll question ideas, solve problems, work with others and put what you learn into practice – building the knowledge, confidence and professional judgement to take into your future.
Lectures
Seminars
Independent Study
Group Work
Workshops

Example timetable

Here’s a sample timetable from your first term at Kent. You'll learn through a mix of lectures, seminars and workshops - in both big and small groups with focused teaching blocks and time to work, rest or explore uni life.

Items in green are confirmed, whereas anything marked yellow could be scheduled at a different time or day depending on your group, but this gives a good sense of what to expect.

✅ A balanced timetable that works for you

  • Plan your week better: We group teaching together to give you free time for catching up on course work or just taking a breather.
  • Purpose in every class: Whether it’s a couple of hours or a whole day, every session is designed to make progress.
  • Time to live the uni experience: Space for societies, part-time jobs and downtime.

Entry requirements

Typical offer
104-120 UCAS points
A level
BBB
Contextual offer: BCC
BTEC
DDM
Contextual offer: DMM
IB
30 points in the IB Diploma or 120 UCAS Tariff points
Contextual offer: 26 points in the IB Diploma or 104 UCAS Tariff points
Contextual offers consider personal circumstances as well as academic grades.
Find out more

Fees and funding

Tuition fees for 2027 entry

  • Full-time (UK)
    £10,050
  • Part-time (UK)
    £5,025
  • Full-time (International)
    £21,950
  • Part-time (International)
    £10,975

Tuition fees may be increased in the second and subsequent years of your course. Detailed information on possible future increases in tuition fees is contained in the Tuition Fees Increase Policy.

For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.

Fees for year in industry

Fees for undergraduate students are £2,010.

Fees for year abroad

Fees for undergraduate students are £1,505.

Your fee status

The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.

For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.

IT Equipment 

Students will require regular access to a desktop computer/laptop with an internet connection to use the University of Kent’s online resources and systems. Please see information about the minimum computer requirements for study.  

Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.

Funding

Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. See our funding page for more details.

The authentic campus experience

  • Get Your Kent Start, £2,000 over two years - £1,000 in cash and £1,000 to spend on campus food and drink, plus free gym membership and a guaranteed virtual internship.
  • Everything you need on your doorstep – stunning views, nightclub, cinema, restaurants. We have it all!
  • Easy to get around – walk or catch the bus into the city. We're under an hour from London.
  • Meet your people – over 250 clubs and societies to get involved with at Kent.

Your future

Take digital marketing almost anywhere.

Every organisation needs to understand its audience, build its brand and prove what works. That creates opportunities for digital marketers across sectors – from technology, media and retail to transport, professional services and beyond.

At Kent, you’ll graduate with experience in content, campaigns, consumer insight, analytics and strategy, giving you a strong platform for roles that combine creativity, commercial thinking and data.

Where our graduates go

Our graduates have gone on to organisations including:

Rackspace Technology · Roku · The Daily Telegraph · Sky · Sainsbury’s · Tesco · Transport for London · Yahoo! UK · KHL Group · Hewlett Packard

Where could it take you?

Digital Marketing Executive · Brand Manager · Social Media Manager · Digital Marketing Analyst · Content Creator · SEO Executive · Consumer Insights · Marketing Consultant

Graduate prospects

Top 10 in the UK
For graduate prospects in Marketing. (The Complete University Guide 2027).

A degree can boost average lifetime earnings by over

£300,000
Graduate employment outcomes - Universities UK

Why study at Kent?

Ready to apply?

If you are from the UK or Ireland, you must apply for this course through UCAS. If you are not from the UK or Ireland, you can apply through UCAS or directly on our website if you have never used UCAS and you do not intend to use UCAS in the future.

Apply through UCAS
  • UCAS code N500
  • Institution ID K24
earth International students

You can make a direct application to Kent if you pay international tuition fees, live outside the UK or Ireland and do not have or intend to have a UCAS account or application. 

There is no application fee for a direct application to Kent.

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Everything you need to know about life at the University of Kent.

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