Advertising & Digital Marketing

Advertising and digital marketing is the study of how organisations attract and retain customers through paid and organic communications across an expanding range of media channels. Advertising involves the creation of compelling paid messages that change attitudes, build brands and drive behaviour. Digital marketing encompasses the full range of online channels, including search engines, social media, email, content and influencer marketing, and the data analytics that allow marketers to measure effectiveness and optimise their campaigns.

At the University of Northampton this four-year programme, which includes a foundation year and a sandwich year, develops your skills and knowledge across both disciplines.

The foundation year provides a structured and accessible entry into degree-level study, building the academic confidence and subject knowledge needed before the main programme begins. Across the degree you will study advertising strategy and creative development, digital marketing practice, consumer behaviour, brand management, media planning, copywriting and the analytics tools that modern marketing teams use to understand and improve their campaigns. Work placements are embedded in the programme and the sandwich year gives you a substantial period of professional experience in an advertising or digital marketing organisation, developing the practical skills and industry connections that employers look for.

The combination of creative understanding and analytical capability is what contemporary marketing roles increasingly demand.

Graduates work as digital marketing executives, social media managers, account executives in advertising agencies, SEO and paid search specialists, content strategists and brand coordinators across every sector of the economy. Digital agencies, media companies, technology businesses, retailers and in-house marketing teams in large organisations are among the most common employers. The combination of creative and analytical skills developed through the degree, alongside the practical experience of the sandwich year, makes graduates competitive in a field where both dimensions are increasingly expected.

Some graduates go on to postgraduate study in marketing, digital business or communications.