Skip to main content

Key information

The MSc Digital Marketing will equip you with specialist digital marketing knowledge and skills that are sought-after by employers and is designed to position you as a marketing professional with digital expertise.

Level
Postgraduate Taught
Delivery type
Full Time, Part Time
Degree qualification
MSc
Mode of delivery
On-Campus
Duration
1 year
Location
Dubai
Start date
September

Our MSc Digital Marketing provides you with the opportunity to transition to a digital marketing career by combining an accelerated introduction to marketing with a detailed consideration of digital marketing concepts and techniques. The programme has been specifically designed to meet the current and emerging demands of the growing digital economy, to ensure you are highly sought after upon graduation.    

During the master’s programme, you’ll gain knowledge that covers and integrates the main areas of marketing and digital marketing, including their features, boundaries, terminology, and conventions. You’ll gain a critical understanding of general marketing theories, principles, concepts and applications and specialist knowledge of Digital Marketing theories, concepts and principles relating to product and service marketing and consumer behaviours. You’ll develop a critical awareness of developments in research and knowledge creation within Digital Marketing. 

You’ll develop research-informed learning skills through lecture activities, independent research, coursework, and the dedicated Research Methods Philosophy and Practice course which will enable you to apply critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis to problems at the forefront of digital marketing. You’ll be able to identify, conceptualise and define new and abstract problems and issues related to digital marketing and apply a range of standard and specialised instruments and techniques to mitigate such issues.    

Each course will equip you with highly employable expertise and skills across digital marketing. You’ll have the opportunity to choose three optional courses to customise your learning and develop your specific marketing interests. Your digital marketing dissertation will allow you to engage in an independent in-depth critical examination of a particular digital marketing topic, which is of interest to you. 

You’ll benefit from the industry relevance of the programme, which will set you up for life after graduation. Upon completion, you’ll be able to use a significant range of professional skills, techniques, practices and materials to develop original, creative and practical responses to commercial and digital marketing problems and issues. You’ll gain the skills to deal with complex issues and make judgements in situations in the absence of complete or consistent data, as encountered in real-life commercial marketing environments. Beyond the subject-specific knowledge and skills, you’ll be given the opportunity to learn and practice transferrable skills such as presentation, communication, analytical and ICT skills.    

MSc Digital Marketing has been awarded the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s (CIM) Employability Programme Award. Judged by the CIM and its industry partners, the award is based on the programme evidencing eight employability capabilities within the course material expected by employers in the marketing industry today. As a result, you will have a CV that is competitive and attractive to employers. 

Specialist mandatory courses

Semester 1

Digital Customer Experience 
Each online interaction between the customer and the organisation combines to form the overall digital customer experience. This course examines the components that form the basis of digital customer experience management. Upon completion students will understand the customer journey, recognise the role of customer insight, understand omni-channel marketing strategy and be aware of legal and ethical issues. The course provides knowledge that underpins Chartered Marketing accreditation.

Semester 2

Digital Marketing Analytics
Digital analytics is the collection, measurement, analysis, visualisation, and interpretation of digital data illustrating user behaviour on social media, websites, mobile sites and mobile applications. Understanding digital analytics enables marketing managers to understand how their digital activities are being accessed and used. Students will develop an understanding of the theory and foundations of digital marketing analytics and gain experience of evaluating content marketing plans. Upon completion students gain industry recognised certification, for example, Google Analytics for Beginners. The course provides knowledge that underpins Chartered Marketing accreditation.


Note: Optional courses subject to timetable availability.

Your student experience

Our research: a driving force for new knowledge

The MSc Digital Marketing Programme Director in Dubai is Dr. Ross Curran, and the global programme director is Dr. Andreea Oniga. The MSc Digital Marketing is part of the Marketing Group’s portfolio of programmes, which includes the MSc International Marketing, the MSc International Business Management with Marketing.

Marketing Group academics have published extensively, authoring textbooks in a range of Marketing areas including Digital Marketing, Marketing Communications and Marketing Perspectives. Group members in Dubai have also contributed to textbooks on Research Methods, and articles in leading international academic journals contributing to knowledge in Digital, Tourism and Heritage Marketing, and Marketing in the Nonprofit Sector.

The selection of optional courses draw on pioneering work in research and innovation from Edinburgh Business School across our campus locations.

Go Global

With Go Global, Heriot-Watt's global student programme, you can carry your studies to new places and experience new cultures, expanding your horizons on the way. You'll discover what it means to be a true global citizen and emerge prepared for wherever your career journey will take you.

Inter-Campus Transfer: United Kingdom

Discover new friends and places with an inter-campus transfer to the UK.

Course content

September Intake - Dubai

Digital Customer Experience

This course explores the customer journey and teaches you to recognise the role of customer insight, understand omni-channel marketing strategy and be aware of legal and ethical issues.

Digital Marketing Skills course options

  • Digital Marketing Analytics
    On this course you will develop an understanding of the theory and foundations of digital marketing analytics and gain practical experience of evaluating content marketing plans.
  • Social Media Marketing
    This course provides understanding of theories and applications of social media marketing alongside a critical evaluation of the social, cultural and technological impact of social media technologies upon consumer behaviour and the business environment.
  • Databases and Information Systems
    This course provides students with both practical experience and critical understanding of the processes and methodologies required for specification and construction of database and information systems and the inter-relationship between these systems.
  • e-Commerce Technology
    On this course you will gain a critical understanding of different types of e-Commerce business and revenue models and business systems. You will also gain practical knowledge of the use web-related technologies for e-Commerce

Foundational Marketing mandatory courses

  • International Strategic Marketing
    This course identifies choices in marketing strategies for local and international brands, focusing on operating a global business.
  • Contemporary Consumers
    On this course you will learn about the conceptual, theoretical and practical approaches to studying consumer behaviour.
  • Branding and Communications
    This course helps you to master the key principles of brand management by learning how integrated marketing communications creates a valuable brand with strong, effective messaging.
  • Research Philosophy and Practice
    This course provides training in a range of research skills that prepares you for the dissertation project and provides the foundation for roles in market insight and business consultancy.

Digital Management Competencies course options

  • Creativity and Entrepreneurship
    This course provides understanding of the nature and value of entrepreneurship in economies and encourages thinking about ideas including ideas development and refinement, considerations of the commercial world, creativity and innovation.
  • Psychology for Marketing
    This course introduces foundational psychological theory and applies these approaches to different stages of the consumption process.
  • Project Management
    This course provides an appreciation of required professional project manager knowledge and skills and develops competence in using a generic set of quantitative and qualitative project planning tools and techniques.
  • Dissertation Project
    Upon successful completion of the taught courses, the master’s dissertation enables you to deepen your knowledge of digital marketing through research into a topic of your choice. You will gather and analyse data from companies or consumers which directly relates to your ambitions and interests.

    Examples of topics within this discipline are:
    • The impact of reviews and ratings on purchase amongst French and UK Airbnb customers
    • Perceptions of international marketers of the effectiveness of Twitter Chat for branding
    • International differences in online advertising trust: UK and China
    • Strategy in crisis: Developing a Fairtrade organisation’s e-commerce strategy during Covid-19
    • The impact of Influencer Marketing on Millennial Purchase Decision Making Towards Fashion Apparel: A Comparative Study between UK and Malaysia.

Mandatory September

  • Contemporary Consumers
  • Digital Customer Experience
  • International Strategic Marketing

Optional September

  • Databases and Information Systems
  • Management Consultancy
  • Creativity and Entrepreneurship
  • Strategic Innovation Management

Mandatory January

  • Research Philosophy and Practice
  • Branding and Communications

Optional January

  • Social Media Marketing
  • Psychology for Marketing
  • e-Commerce Technology
  • Digital Marketing Analytics

Mandatory May

  • Digital Marketing Dissertation

Fees and funding

AED 95,700 per year

  • All tuition fees inclusive of VAT.

Entry requirements

We have standard entry requirements for all of our courses that you will have to meet.

Our normal entry criteria are listed below. However, please note that the final decision remains at the discretion of the course director after evaluating scores of individual relevant subjects.

A good honours degree (first or second class), or its non-UK equivalent, in a related subject.

Applicants with relevant education and work experience may also be considered.

To find out more about the specific entry requirements for your country, please refer to our International Entry Requirements.

For more information about the entry requirements for this programme, please send an email to dubaienquiries@hw.ac.uk

Why Heriot-Watt

As the first British university to set up a campus in Dubai in 2005, we have established ourselves as a pioneer in the higher education market in the UAE. The five-star accreditation by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) secured in 2019, 2020, and 2022 is a testament to our reputation for world-class teaching.

The futuristic Dubai campus is designed to offer interactive and collaborative learning experiences with innovative classroom styles fostering group work and engagement like Collaborative lecture theatres, Digitally Classrooms and Seminar rooms. The campus also has dedicated cutting-edge laboratories and workshops that span various engineering disciplines along with Psychology, IT, Photography, Design and Architecture.

Our practical, leading-edge research combined with strong links to business and industry, have made our graduates highly employable and sought after by the best organisations worldwide, with over 90% in graduate-level jobs or further study within six months of graduation. On top of that, we have beautiful campuses, across the globe, so you'll get a truly international education through our Go Global programme.

Employability

An MSc with industry demand Digital Marketing MSc graduates will enter a job market with a growing choice of specialist digital marketing roles, that provide job mobility and good promotion prospects. Developments in digital technologies continue to support business growth and stimulate competition. Industry leaders are increasingly alert to the importance of effective digital marketing. Organisations need to fill managerial roles with candidates who have advanced problem solving and critical thinking ability – skills that masters-level study develop and test. Heriot-Watt is a global university and classes are shared with students from a range of MSc programmes and nationalities providing opportunities for professional networking that will be of benefit in professional life. Students gain experience in online collaborative working, business presentation creation, report writing and business research techniques. Students also can become involved in the Heriot-Watt Marketing Society, a student-run society which hosts speakers from industry and organises social events.

Student life

Explore facilities, and chat to staff and students

Contact our enquiries team

Contact us