Prerequisites
No prerequisites are required
Intended learning outcomes
Students will develop a broad, in-depth, and critical understanding of the key concepts, frameworks, and tools of digital marketing. They will also be able to adopt a strategic and analytical mindset in evaluating the relevance and effectiveness of specific digital tools, tactics, and channels across different business contexts, industry sectors, and stages of the customer journey. Through the analysis of real-world cases and applied scenarios, they will acquire the necessary skills to design integrated and results-oriented digital marketing solutions.
Course Contents
The course provides a comprehensive and deep overview of digital marketing principles, tools and strategies, addressing issues such as customer journey, CRM, brand reputation, social media strategy, content marketing, pricing, e-commerce and digital strategy. Particular attention is also paid to emerging digital marketing tools and recent and relevant research from a managerial perspective. Many real cases are also explored and analyzed in order to highlight the potential immediate applicability of the concepts covered.
Reference Books
Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)
Teaching Methods
Lectures, exercises and applied cases, challenges and group presentations
Assessment Method
Continuous assessment tests and presentations related to the challenges and related topics
Thesis assignment criteria
A specific process will be applied (NOT on a first come, first served basis), and will include, among others, the assessment of:
CV
Average grade point
Interest in digital marketing
Number of exam to complete own individual study plan
Timing
The evaluation of individual contribution and active participation during classes will be taken into account
Week 1
Introduction to the course content and structure
The concept of value in marketing
Purchase process
Marketing Ethics
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV and Consumer-Brand Relationship)
Slides, indicated papers, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea
Week 2
The traditional and “new” Customer Decision Journey
Brand drivers, Point of Parity e Point of Difference
The several Moment of Truths and their relevance for brands
The Loyalty loop model
The Messy-Middle model
Emergent research on the Customer Decision Journey
Slides, indicated papers, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea
Week 3
Technical Digital Marketing foundations
Types of Websites
Website Objectives and Design
Types of Conversions in Digital Marketing
Applied cases and exercises related to the explored metrics
Conversion Rate Optimization and A/B Test
Main Elements of Analytics in Digital Marketing and KPIs
Recent research trajectories in Influencer Marketing
Slides, indicated papers, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)
Week 4
Technical Elements of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Calculation of Relevance in SEO
Usage and choice of keywords
Product Page Optimization
Applied cases and metrics related to SEO
Popularity Metrics
Linkbait Dynamics
Slides, indicated papers, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)
Week 5
Relevance Drivers of Paid Search Marketing
Keywords Selection of Paid Search Marketing
Advertising Copy in Paid Search Marketing
Responsive Search Ads
Other Advertising types in Search Paid Marketing (Shopping, Local search, Call and Metasearch ads, Remarketing lists for search ads)
Retargeting Main Elements
Drivers of a High Ad Rank
Automated Bidding in Paid Search Marketing
Metrics and Exercises related to Paid Search Marketing
Slides, indicated papers, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)
Week 6
Relevance Drivers of Email Marketing
Digital Email Marketing (DEM) Types
Relevant Email Types for Digital Marketing (e.g. Onboarding Email, Welcome Mail, Informational Email)
A/B Test in Email Marketing
Metrics and Exercises related to Email Marketing
META Challenge Presentation
Slides, indicated papers, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)
Week 7
YouTube & Komen Challenge Presentation
Creating Campaigns on YouTube with the ABCD Model
KPIs and Digital Strategy in YouTube Campaigns
Role of Artificial Intelligence (especially Generative AI) in CRM systems
Dynamic personalization through AI along the Customer Decision Journey (CDJ)
Use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) for sentiment analysis, insights generation, and customer segmentation
Integration of AI into CRM systems to automate tasks and enhance Customer Experience
Applied examples of AI-CRM (e.g., Salesforce GPT)
Slides, indicated papers, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)
Week 8
Concept and key characteristics of Brand Communities
Types of Brand Communities and their benefits
Role of Brand Communities in fostering loyalty and co-creating value with consumers
Content Sharing dynamics: Impression Management, Self-Concept, and Emotion Regulation
Strategic models and tools for building effective brand communities (e.g., McKinsey Brand Community Flywheel)
Slides, indicated papers, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)
Week 9
META Challenge Presentations
Continuous Assessment – Theoretical questions and exercises relating to the programme of the previous weeks
Managing Brand Reputation and its economic and organizational impacts
The role of reputation in crisis management: reputational crises, halo effect, and SCCT
Online Reputation Management (ORM): strategies and tools
Main Elements of Brand Purpose
Applied case studies
Slides, indicated papers, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)
Week 10
Group Paper Presentation
Strategies and limitations of organic social media activities: posting, engagement, and the loyalty path
The Paid / Owned / Earned media model and balancing channels to drive traffic and value
Social Media Plan: setting objectives, platform selection, content planning, promotion, and performance tracking
Content Strategy: content types, sources (UGC, co-created, curated), formats (live video, images, text)
Metrics to assess performance (CTR, conversion rate, engagement rate)
Slides, indicated papers, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)
Week 11
Group Presentation related to the YouTube challenge
Introduction to the Amazon Challenge Understanding and applying the Amazon Flywheel
Strategic inventory analysis
Pricing strategy: approaches (competition-based, cost-based, customer value-based), drivers, metrics, and elasticity
Marketplace and the role of Selling Partners in expanding selection and enabling e-commerce scalability
Slide, paper indicati, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)
Week 12
Concept and structure of Digital Marketing Strategy: link to marketing strategy and digital execution
Customer generation framework: demand generation, demand harvesting, and loyalty building
Strategic allocation of resources
Key performance monitoring metrics
Slide, paper indicati, Giorgino, F., & Mazzù, M. F. (2024), II Edizione. BrandTelling. Egea, Digital Marketing Essentials (Stukent.com)