Program Overview
Purpose and Scope
The purpose of the program is to deliver a graduate-level experiential learning marketing program that aligns with Cal Poly Pomona's strategic initiative of promoting integrative learning, discovery, and creativity.
This program is intended to produce marketing managers and data analytics specialists who need to acquire the skills necessary in the increasingly digital economy. The digital economy is revolutionizing the way companies market their products and services and how market research is conducted to gather data about consumers and generate insights from the data. The graduates of this program will be able to generate insights about consumers, create digital marketing programs (email, social media, mobile marketing, search engine marketing), and measure their effectiveness based on their understanding of consumer psychology, behaviors, and knowledge in marketing channels (online and brick and mortar).
This program is also aimed to produce data scientists capable of gathering and analyzing massive customer data generated from companies' digital operation and marketing programs. This program will also balance the graduates' digital marketing implementation skills with modern data analytic skills beyond traditional primary data collection methods. We will emphasize effectively analyzing customer data and generating an effective data-informed digital marketing strategy.
Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Upon successful completion of the program, graduates from the Master of Science in Digital Marketing Program will be able to:
- PLO 1: Plan and execute an effective digital marketing program.
- PLO 2: Explain the role of online consumer psychology and behaviors in generating insights from data or designing digital marketing plans.
- PLO 3: Build solutions/models that would strategically address digital marketing problems.
- PLO 4: Create value-added marketing strategies based on insights from data.
- PLO 5: Communicate effectively to develop strong, ‘trusted-advisor’ relationships with clients.
Targeted Careers and Job Outlook
Graduates of this program will be trained for marketing/analytics jobs such as digital marketing specialists or managers as well as customer data analyst and consultant in both client and supplier sides. Below are example positions that graduates of the program would be prepared for:
Key Features of the Program
This program excels on the following five dimensions that prospective students care about the most when they decide on a post-baccalaureate program to enroll in, according to our survey conducted across the country with the professionals working in the insights and data industry: (1) industry-knowledgeable faculty, (2) practical, hands-on learning, (3) curriculum that is responsive to changing market, (4) professional connections to industries, and (5) advanced research infrastructure.
(1) Industry-knowledgeable faculty
(2) Practical, hands-on learning
Living up to Cal Poly Pomona’s motto – Learn By Doing, most courses will have a project or/andcase study component to help students understand the concepts better. Our capstone class will deal with real world problems that will allow our students to solve challenging problems that many companies are faced with. The CCIDM is in the process of expanding its advisory board. The advisory council members provide our students with internship opportunities, projects, and case studies.
(3) Curriculum that is responsive to the changing market
We expect the Center's advisory council will be instrumental in helping us respond to the changing market. The faculty advisory board is also scanning the environment to identify industry trends which will be reflected in our curriculum. For instance, thanks to one of the faculty advisors, the Center was introduced to Hubspot, which provides digital marketing tools based on CRM (Customer Relationship Management). The Center has adopted its email marketing and social media marketing tools to engage with our constituencies and track digital media's effectiveness. The Center will test out new technologies, which can then be rolled out to classrooms for our faculty and students to use.
(4) Professional connections to industries
The CCIDM has been instrumental in bringing industry experts to the campus through its CCIDM Expert Speaker Series and its brainchild student club, Analytics and Marketing Insights (AMI) Club. The Center has been working with the Insights Association, a professional organization in the insights and data industry, to connect our students to the industry through the AMI Club. AMI Club members are given full access to IA job banks and their email listserv so that they understand the developments in the industry. One of the outcomes in working closely with IA is that they have invited our students to serve as panelists in IA's event called Diversity & Inclusion Initiative: Spotlight Series 1 – The Student to Young Professional Journey," a one-hour event that features a recent graduate and his supervisor from LRW, and spotlight our program to the companies in Southern California. The center will continue cultivating relationships with digital marketing communities as well.
(5) Advanced research infrastructure
The CCIDM has been in operation for over a decade serving students, faculty, and business community with the following mission: Center for Customer Insights and Digital Marketing aims to (1) advance our knowledge of consumer behavior in the digital economy through cutting-edge research within and across disciplines, (2) offer innovative, experiential educational programs/models that contribute to the production of the finest, next-generation Customer Insights and Digital Marketing professionals, and (3) partner with businesses to solve marketing problems about their customers (consumers and business buyers)." Through its three signature student success programs -- 1) Internship program, 2) Customer Insights Consultancy (CIC) Program, 3) Digital Marketing Consultancy (DMC) Program and 4) AMI Club, we provide real-world experiential learning courses to our students that resulted in transformative student successes. Specifically, our students won numerous awards and honors, and landed on jobs for some of the world class companies or graduate schools. The center also provides MSDM students with resources for professional development and research.