This class covers the most important digital marketing instruments (i.e., traditional banner advertising, targeted banner advertising, real-time bidding, search engine advertising, affiliate marketing, social media marketing, funnels, influencer marketing and conversion optimization) and aims to teach students the skills needed to analyze, build and improve digital marketing campaigns using state-of-the-art software tools with the aim to make better marketing and business decisions.

After successful completion of the course, the learned is expected to be able to:

1. Use digital marketing jargon (i.e., CPC, CPM, CPO, CTR, CR, etc.) and comfortably participate in discussions with digital marketing professionals.

2. Explain how digital marketing instruments work (i.e., display advertising, search engine advertising, affiliate marketing, social media
marketing, influencer marketing, funnel marketing and conversion optimization) and how they differ in their mechanics and revenue models.

3. Understand how data is crucial to the success of digital marketing and know how to use it in order to make better marketing decisions.

4. Analyze digital marketing campaigns and assess their profitability using data.

5. Understanding the relationship between digital marketing channels, the customer journey, and website performance.

According to WU rules, you have to attend 80% of the sessions in this course. This means you can miss one class. Please check-in online to validate your attendance. 

Due to current circumstances, we can’t hold the lesson on campus all together unfortunately. Therefore a hybrid-model was implemented. Some
classes we can hold at the campus, most have to be a mix of students being in class and students watching from home and a few classes will be held online. Therefore we will use the software Zoom for our in-class lessons in combination with other tools to make the lessons more interactive. I will use online material that I will provide to you through the e-learning platform (videos, workbooks, checklists etc.). All lessons will be recorded and I’ll ask you to participate as much as possible through asking and answering questions or voting on topics. The more you contribute the more you will learn and the more fun it will be for you too. Please don’t forget to click “attendance” once you’re in class to make sure we can record your availability which will have an impact on your grades.

The course has 4 ECTS, which translates into a workload of 100 hours, 22 hours of which are contact hours in the classroom. That means that you’ll need to work for about 78 hours outside the classroom. The workload (in hours) that you can anticipate for every grading component is approximately proportional to the weight that each grading component has for your final grade (i.e., expect a workload of approx. 7.5 hours for a case that has a 10% weight for your final grade).

Weights for each grading component used t o compute your final grade:

● Individual report: 35%
● Group presentation: 30%
● Individual case write-ups: 20% (MedNet: 10%, Ford Fiesta: 10%)
● Exercises: 5%
● In-class participation: 10%

According to WU rules, you have to attend 80% of the sessions in this course. In case you can‘t come to class, you don’t have to send me an email since your attendance will be recorded in every session automatically and also you will need to check “attendance” in MyLearn. If you don’t click, then this means you haven’t been or won’t be there.

Your in-class participation will be a combination of how often you’ve interacted in class with questions and comments as well as the chat through Zoom, since I am aware that not everyone can speak, but I’m sure everyone can write a comment. You will have multiple opportunities to contribute in talking or writing.

I also want to ensure equal contribution of group members to the group work. Thus, a peer assessment will be conducted among group members, which enters into the computation of the individual grades for your group work. This means that the members of a group are required to assess other students regarding their relative contribution.

Overall             Points Grade
90-100             1.0
80-89               2.0
70-79               3.0
60-69               4.0
Below 60         5.0

Individual Report
● You will receive a form with some information about the project and company shortly before the individual report is scheduled.
● The company that will be your case study will be in class to help answer any questions that you need answered before suggesting a digital
marketing campaign during that set class
● Afterward it’s up to you to come up with the best strategy for the project and the needs of the company
● You will be graded based on:
   ○ Understanding and fulfilling instructions
   ○ Chosen approach
   ○ Implementing strategies and ideas you’ve learned in class
   ○ Creativity

Case Studies

Since I am not happy with the books available on the market, we’ll use a lot of case studies in class. These case studies cover the topics:

1. Digital Marketing Metrics
2. Customer Journey & Conversion Optimization
3. Social Media Marketing &Advertising, & Influencer Marketing
4. Display & Search Engine Advertising

For some case studies, you will be required to prepare a write-up of the case. For others, you will have to do a presentation.

Individual Case Write-Ups

Case 1: "MedNet.com", Harvard Business School (Brief Case, April 20, 2006).
Case 2: "Ford Fiesta Movement: Using Social Media and Viral Marketing to Launch Ford’s Global Car i n the United States", INSEAD (INS231,
04/2013-5664).

Task for both cases:

Submit a 1-page write-up of the case to Learn@WU. Please make sure to summarize the key issues in the case. The following questions can be used as a guideline for your write-up: What are the key issues? Who are the players? What are their goals and problems? How can these problems be solved?

Please make sure that you have access to all course materials via Learn@WU! Also, please monitor your WU email address regularly as some (additional) information and your questions will be answered in emails every now and then. If NOT, please contact us via e mail!

Compulsory reading/preparation before class:

● Answer the questionnaire (deadline shortly before the semester starts)
● Slides
● Case Studies
● Exercises

For details about when to prepare what, see the tentative course schedule!

I am happy to answer your questions so feel free to send me a short email if you would like to talk to me in person. I will also try to be available in the classroom after each class or during the breaks of each class (via zoom). Please do not expect that I answer long emails with numerous questions to topics of the class or that is answered here! Please always check the Syllabus first (PDF version) or the slides uploaded to MyLearn. However, I’m happy to discuss questions in class.

Introduction: Before we meet 

I would like to get to know you better before class starts to make sure the content of our lessons is customized to your knowledge and interest. Therefore I would kindly ask you to fill in a short form that is telling me a bit more about yourself and your experience when it comes to digital marketing.

The more honest and open you talk about it the easier it is for me to help you achieve better knowledge and skills in digital marketing.