Business Management/Digital Marketing MRK.S.AAS

Associate of Applied Science - 64 - 65 Credit Hours

Division: Business and Public Services
Department: Marketing
Effective as of Fall 2021

Do you find yourself surfing social media sites for hours on end? Or, perhaps you find a website and think, 'I could build a better one'. If the answer is yes to either of these questions, consider Sinclair's Business Management/Digital Marketing degree. Professionals that work in these roles at their organizations are often well respected, well paid and play a vital role in helping businesses, governments, healthcare and educational institutions as well as non-profits generate new business opportunities. There is significant job growth in digital marketing careers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the categories of Advertising and Promotions Managers, and Public Relations Specialists will increase by 12% through the year 2022.

Our team of award-winning professors has a wealth of industry experience, is recognized for its expertise, and has extensive contacts within the industry. We bring that industry experience to the classroom daily to provide students with hands-on experience and real world digital marketing challenges. There is never a dull moment in our classes! Learning is fun as we study the latest trends, technologies and digital marketing techniques.

Digital Marketing has a wide range of career options, which gives you flexibility to follow the career path that best fits your career goals. Potential career paths include account management, sales, online branding and video marketing, email marketing, search engine marketing, social media, website design and user experience. In order to develop your broad business background, you will take general education and traditional business courses. As a way to develop your digital marketing technical skills and stand out from the crowd, you'll take specialized courses including foundations of marketing, website development, principles of advertising, digital marketing, social media, consumer behavior, geographic information systems, and visual design processes.

This program may be right for you if:

• You thrive in fast-paced work environments.
• You relish the opportunity to work on projects that require creativity and outside-the-box thinking.
• You enjoy working in a career where every day is a different set of tasks and projects.
• You look for ways to learn and use the latest technologies.
• You like working with people as well as independently.

What is the program about?

Digital Media has disrupted many of the traditional areas of business management. This program provides a broad-based study of digital marketing strategies including customer engagement and consumer behavior, social media, online reputation management, inbound marketing, advertising and branding, graphic design, and website development. Students will have the opportunity to learn new media theories, online consumer psychology and marketing approaches while developing hands on experience with digital marketing tools and techniques. All students will produce a portfolio of their digital marketing projects and benefit from an internship in the digital marketing field. This degree program contains one or more embedded certificates which will be automatically awarded when the certificate requirements are completed. If you do not want to receive the embedded certificate(s), please notify Registration and Student Records at studentrecords@sinclair.edu.

Program Outcomes

• Use online communication techniques and copyrighting skills to communicate with others in mass, interpersonal, and small group online communication situations.
• Find, interpret, explain, use and create images and visual media in order to analyze the contextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual and technical components involved in the production and use of visual materials.
• Demonstrate the ability to comprehend, evaluate, and apply basic digital marketing strategies.
• Apply relevant theories, practices and principles when designing and developing works of digital media.

Career Opportunities

According to a recent jobs survey from Adecco's Creative and Marketing Recruiting Division, "Inbound Marketing is on the rise" and many consumers are making their initial approach to a business using mobile media/smartphones, social media, social networks and search engines. Many marketing departments are not fully prepared to address this shift in consumer behavior. 82% of survey respondents indicated they don't have formal training in digital marketing and frequently learn on the job. Further, 60% of respondents think their company's digital marketing is ineffective. There is a significant need for a formalized education program in the digital marketing space. Employers are actively searching for candidates that have formalized education and experience in digital marketing. Within the digital marketing space, there are multiple career paths that a student can pursue. If a student has a passion for social media, there are positions available as a social media manager, social media project leader, social media designer, interactive content specialist and customer engagement manager. If a student is interested in broader aspects of digital marketing including website development, search engine optimization and measurement, there are many career options. Potential career paths could include coordinator, specialist, manager and even director roles in e-commerce, new media, website marketing, search engine optimization, web analytics, digital media, online marketing, paid search, and digital optimization. Digital Marketing is an exciting career path with a wide assortment of career options from which to choose.

Credentials

There are no licensure or certifications for this program. This program is designed primarily to be a career program.

Program Accreditation Information

This program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), a specialized accreditation recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).