CIM Diploma in Professional and Digital Marketing (L6)

Aims of the module

This module aims to equip the marketer to explore key concepts of sustainability as a whole (delivering well-being for all) and gain a better understanding of the level of change that the organisation needs to achieve and, how marketing needs to align to facilitate and support that change over the long term. Students will consider the role of marketing in engaging with stakeholders and partners (both internally and externally) to drive awareness and motivate them to take action. And, understand how to build effective partnerships which allow your organisation to respond to the increasingly urgent social and environmental challenges we face.

Module structure

The module comprises three learning outcomes each. Each learning outcome will be covered by the related assessment criteria and will be assessed by way of exam. By the end of this module you should be able to:

Learning Outcome 1: Understand the changing societal and environmental landscape and its wider concepts, and what that means for business and society

• Analyse the impacts of a range of societal challenges on an organisation
• Analyse customer awareness, attitudes and behaviours relating to the social, environmental, and ethical landscape
• Assess the ability of an organisation to deliver positive societal impact; short term and long term

Learning Outcome 2: Understand how marketing can align and support the business, societal and environmental agendas 

• Appraise the organisational actions and activities to drive attitudinal and behavioural change internally
• Explain the structure of a business case for prioritising societal and environmental change, alongside business objectives
• Recommend a stakeholder/partnership strategy based on collaboration or co creation to deliver change

Learning Outcome 3: Understand the process of long-term planning to implement societal change and measure results

• Recommend the stages involved in a long term plan to effect change
• Determine objectives and goals which align to the organisational greater purpose and meet the needs customers, society and the environment
• Explain the strategy and tactics required to underpin and take forward a responsible/ethical marketing strategy
• Determine appropriate metrics to track societal and environmental performance with the intention of driving social impact and delivering against business objectives

Aims of the module

Data underpins marketing excellence. Understanding how to interpret and apply the data to support strategic commercial decisions is critical in today’s competitive business landscape. This course delves into three key areas to understand how to apply and interpret commercial and marketing campaign data to deliver strategic marketing success. The course will allow students to emerge equipped with a deeper comprehension of the key financial metrics to unlock insights, build strategic budgets, optimise channel performance, and deliver ROI.

Module structure

The module comprises three learning outcomes each. Each learning outcome will be covered by the related assessment criteria and will be assessed by way of exam. By the end of this module you should be able to:

Learning Outcome 1: Understand the metrics used to measure marketing performance

• Determine financial metrics to understand marketing’s contribution to an organisation’s commercial performance
• Explain marketing performance using metrics to uncover insights
• Interpret data to uncover customer behaviour across segments

Learning Outcome 2: Understand how to manage marketing resources to meet marketing objectives

• Analyse data and relevant insights to support efficient use of resources
• Assess the management of resources required to deliver the marketing objectives

Learning Outcome 3: Understand how forecasting and financial techniques support the marketing budget

• Explain budgets based on financial metrics
• Recommend forecasting techniques to inform and manage future budget
• Prioritise marketing expenditure to deliver marketing objectives

Aims of the module

In today’s dynamic digital landscape understanding the intricacies of data and insight in the customer journey is pivotal for sustainable growth. This course provides a strategic framework to understand how to evaluate the stages in the customer journey and identify a data-led approach to achieve seamless, personalised journeys cultivating customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. The course will allow students to emerge equipped with a deeper comprehension of the customer journey and the methodologies necessary to cultivate meaningful connections with their audiences.

Module structure

The module comprises three learning outcomes each. Each learning outcome will be covered by the related assessment criteria and will be assessed by way of exam. By the end of this module you should be able to:

Learning Outcome 1: Understand the stages involved in creating an integrated customer journey map

• Analyse how a successful customer journey can deliver benefits to the customer in an organisational context
• Demonstrate the steps involved in creating an integrated customer journey map
• Explain the process of selecting, analysing and applying appropriate and robust data and insights

Learning Outcome 2: Understand how the use of data and insight can determine how customer journeys can be improved

• Reflect on the customer journey audit to identify pain points
• Explain how to utilise patterns and trends in the data
• Determine what improvements can support the customer journey

Learning Outcome 3: Understand how metrics can be used to measure
the success of improvements to the customer journey

• Recommend metrics to measure proposed improvements
• Justify how the content of an optimisation plan will deliver improvements across channels

Aims of the module

This module looks at how marketers can help organisations to create distinctive, sustainable and differentiated positions within increasingly complex and competitive markets. The module explores proposition development, brand management, equity and purpose, considering how these relate to customers, wider stakeholders and society. With transparency and authenticity becoming increasingly important in a digital world, the module also looks at the importance of brand innovation and reputation management.

Module structure

The module comprises three learning outcomes each. Each learning outcome will be covered by the related assessment criteria and will be assessed by way of exam. By the end of this module you should be able to:

Learning Outcome 1: Understand how to develop propositions that differentiate the organisation

• Explain why organisations need to differentiate themselves
• Explain the need for cross-functional processes to develop customer value propositions
• Recommend how organisational resources, competencies and capabilities can be combined to leverage competitive advantage

Learning Outcome 2: Understand how the brand supports the proposition

• Explain how brands are defined and positioned to add value to organisations
• Analyse how brands add value to the customer
• Justify branding decisions in dynamic markets

Learning Outcome 3: Determine the factors that drive brand identity and strategy for success

• Demonstrate how brand innovation can help to formulate clear brand vision, identity and purpose
• Determine risks and barriers to brands and consider how these might be
  overcome
• Identify the characteristics of strong brands and successful brand management strategies
• Recommend a brand strategy

Aims of the module

Content marketing is fundamental for addressing important audience questions as well as building trust, developing relationships and improving conversions. This Specialist Award provides a strategic approach to content marketing that aligns to wider corporate and marketing goals. You will gain skills to enable the creation an effective content strategy and manage its implementation, including the provision of appropriate copy for a variety of audiences.

Module structure

The module comprises three learning outcomes each. Each learning outcome will be covered by the related assessment criteria and will be assessed by way of exam. By the end of this module you should be able to:

Learning Outcome 1: Develop a targeted content strategy to meet wider marketing goals

• Develop content goals to meet wider marketing goals
• Prepare a content strategy to deliver on content goals

Learning Outcome 2: Plan the creation and distribution of effective content 

• Assess relevant content media to deliver content marketing goals
• Recommend suitable paid and owned channels to distribute content

Learning Outcome 3: Rationalise effective copy and select appropriate channels for selected target audiences

• Identify key characteristics of target audiences
• Justify copy for a variety of target audiences using appropriate content formats and channels

Aims of the module

As AI technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, this Specialist Award will enable you to respond effectively to developments and understand their application to marketing. It provides strategic insights to the impact of AI within the business environment and the resources required to implement AI technologies. You will gain the knowledge and skills to create a suitable plan to respond to AI developments.

Module structure

The module comprises three learning outcomes each. Each learning outcome will be covered by the related assessment criteria and will be assessed by way of exam. By the end of this module you should be able to:

Learning Outcome 1: Identify the application of AI within marketing

• Define the key concepts of AI
• Explain how data contributes to AI
• Analyse the benefits of AI

Learning Outcome 2: Understand the challenges of AI within the business environment

• Assess customer acceptance and adoption of AI
• Assess the ethical implications of AI
• Define the skills required to implement AI

Learning Outcome 3: Understand how to plan the utilisation of AI in marketing activities

• Recommend tools to apply AI in the marketing function
• Explain the stages of implementation of AI in a current marketing plan to meet objectives
• Assess the impact of the implementation of AI on the marketing function

Aims of the module

Consumers are increasingly choosing to shop from the comfort of their own homes, making ecommerce a must for any retail organisation. This Specialist Award provides the knowledge and skills to develop and effective ecommerce proposition as well as understanding of best practice for ecommerce strategy creation.

Module structure

The module comprises three learning outcomes each. Each learning outcome will be covered by the related assessment criteria and will be assessed by way of exam. By the end of this module you should be able to:

Learning Outcome 1: Utilise a business case for an Ecommerce proposition

• Justify business models for Ecommerce
• Explain the content of a business case for Ecommerce
• Identify critical elements of Ecommerce

Learning Outcome 2: Understand best practice in Ecommerce to support site transactions

• Explain the principles of User Experience (UX) design for Ecommerce sites
•  Recommend ways to optimise the checkout experience

Learning Outcome 3: Implement an effective inbound marketing strategy for Ecommerce

• Recommend on-page optimisations to increase SEO of Ecommerce
• Explain how partnership marketing strategies can drive customer acquisition for Ecommerce
• Identify how automation can support Ecommerce activities

Aims of the module

With many customer journeys beginning with a search engine, adopting a successful search engine marketing strategy has become a critical to increase brand reach and visibility. This Specialist Award will provide you with the knowledge and skills to create an effective search strategy for both organic and paid channels. You will be able to apply research techniques to understand customer search behaviour and utilise it to optimise paid campaigns and websites to maximise search engine visibility.

Module structure

The module comprises three learning outcomes each. Each learning outcome will be covered by the related assessment criteria and will be assessed by way of exam. By the end of this module you should be able to:

Learning Outcome 1: Utilise research methods for organic & paid search

• Explain keyword research techniques
• Justify internal and external analysis tools to develop customer insights

Learning Outcome 2: Understand how paid search is managed

• Recommend paid search activities to meet campaign and marketing goals
• Analyse the effectiveness of paid search activities

Learning Outcome 3: Understand how organic search can be optimised

• Recommend on-page optimisations to maximise audience visibility
• Justify best practice for establishing site authority

Aims of the module

Social media usage continues to grow with the proliferation of new platforms and tools. This Specialist Award provides strategic insights into how social media can enable an organisation to reach, nurture, and engage with its target audience. It provides the knowledge and skills to create an effective social media strategy, alongside successful management of social media platforms to drive audience engagement.

Module structure

The module comprises three learning outcomes each. Each learning outcome will be covered by the related assessment criteria and will be assessed by way of exam. By the end of this module you should be able to:

Learning Outcome 1: Utilise an integrated social media strategy

• Describe research techniques to understand social media audiences
• Explain the content of a social media audit
• Determine the stages in development of a Social Media Strategy

Learning Outcome 2: Understand how to manage social media

• Assess a range of techniques to manage a brand and its reputation on social media platforms
• Recommend suitable ways to manage influencers and social media communities
• Determine the resources required to successfully manage social media activities

Learning Outcome 3: Utilise key measures and tools to analyse social media activities

• Recommend appropriate KPIs and metrics to monitor and measure social media activities
• Justify the criteria for social media tool selection