Digital Marketing
with a Year in Industry
Create the idea. Read the data. Make it land.
Key information
Create the idea. Read the data. Make it land.
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.
The following modules are what students typically study, but this may change year to year in response to new developments and innovations.
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.
Compulsory modules currently include the following
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 practice your skills by responding to live briefs and practical marketing simulations, gaining crucial hands on experience.
You’ll also learn by considering case studies and hearing from guest speakers will boost your understanding and appreciation of marketing strategy and the issues, challenges and ethical dilemmas marketers face. If you want a career where you lead on impactful and successful marketing campaigns, this module is your first step to getting there.
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.
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.
All students spend a year in industry in the UK or internationally, supported by a dedicated Employability and Placement teams. The programme is designed to ensure that students gain experience in the functional areas and industries of their choice. For students taking one of the specialist pathways, our strategic partnerships provide opportunities for placements in specific areas.
Unique to KBS, students can take a Self-Employed Placement year during which they develop their initial business idea into a feasible business plan. The ‘Selfie’ programme students are supported by an in-house entrepreneur who acts as their specialist mentor.
The placement allows you to experience, first hand, many of the issues addressed in the taught programme and to use the tools, techniques and applications in a real business setting. It will become a vital component of your CV and will give you a distinct advantage over other business graduates.
What could you do in a year?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
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.
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.
Fees for undergraduate students are £2,010.
Fees for undergraduate students are £1,505.
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.
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.
There may be additional costs associated with the Year in Industry such as travel or accommodation, which will need to be covered by the student. Please see Careers and Employability webpages for more information.
Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. See our funding page for more details.
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
A degree can boost average lifetime earnings by over
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.
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.