The Master of Digital Marketing

Melbourne Business School will launch its new Master of Digital Marketing in July 2021. Students will boost their digital marketing skills in a specialisation that will put them at the forefront of digitally transformed customers and businesses. We spoke to program director, Dr Stephan Ludwig, to find out more.

Dr Stephan Ludwig is an expert in digital marketing communication and market analytics. Having lived and worked in seven countries and three continents, Stephan has taught at top-universities in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, UK, and Switzerland.

His research is world leading and published in premier journals. Stephan knows the digital marketing industry, closely cooperating with a range of Fortune 500 companies as well as exciting start-ups. His work and teaching focuses on the very core of this exciting new program: how digital marketing strategies can boost business performance and customer delight and how marketing analytics turns big data into smart customer and market insights.

How is the Master of Digital Marketing at Melbourne Business School different?

Stephan Ludwig
Program Director, Dr Stephan Ludwig

Simply, traditional marketing strategies and methods have put marketing 'on the map' but rapid digital transformation is changing the volume, speed, and reach of marketing actions and interactions. No one waits for a movie screening on TV anymore, customers use streaming services to watch on demand. 85-90% of purchase decisions are decided online – by reviews, blogs and social media influencers – before the customer sets a foot in an actual store. Customers expect instant service and responses and are accustomed to talking with chat bots, and maybe soon, avatars and drones? One single customer who’s guitar gets broken on a United Airlines flight, posts a video of it online to set loose a firestorm costing United millions. Customers search and inform themselves differently and prefer recommendations to be tailored to them individually. How much longer will flyers, billboards, and surveys really still be around?

Digital marketing graduates  are in high demand, with data analysts in particular driving the trend. It’s a rapidly evolving industry, with graduates in the field set to enjoy high employability, and an engaging and dynamic career that draws on a variety of skillsets.

‘The market is just exploding around topics in the digital marketing space, whether it’s the analytics or the content side. Digital marketing people are now the eyes and ears of their organisation. They essentially provide these valuable psychological, attitudinal and behavioural insights into what consumers are doing and how they're changing their behaviour.’ says Dr Ludwig. ‘In this one year program,  we integrate these elements into our teaching and internship based subjects. There are the general strategic frameworks you need to be a good digital marketer. Then we introduce psychological and communicative aspects that go into developing customer relationships. Finally,  we teach the analytical method skills and metrics to uncover these insights from digital data.’

So, is the Master of Digital Marketing for you?

The Master of Digital Marketing will teach you how to design the digital customer experience, which digital metrics matter, how to apply customer analytics, how best to craft creative viral content, and best- practice examples from industry thought leaders. The course aims to equip graduates for a career in this rapidly changing area through a specialised suite of advanced subjects including Customer Experience Design, Digital Marketing Metrics, Content Marketing, and Thought Leadership in Digital Marketing.

Find out more about the Master of Digital Marketing now.


‘From an academic point of view, we’re looking for students who have a Bachelor of Commerce (or equivalent), because what we want are students who already have marketing skills. It’s also perfect for mid-career marketers, who are looking to boost their digital strategies and analytical skills. We want to build on those skills and sharpen students expertise in the digital marketing area. If you are looking for a career in the rapidly changing digital marketing area, this master program will teach you how to design the digital customer experience, which digital metrics matter, how to apply customer analytics, how to best to craft the creative viral content, and best- practice examples from industry thought leaders.'

To further enhance their employability, as part of this program, students are given the option to complete an internship with an industry partner of their choice.

This program is for students who are passionate about marketing, entrepreneurial in their thinking, and happy to learn the strategies and analytics to back up their marketing decisions.

Find out more about the Master of Digital Marketing, or make an enquiry here.