The IDM Award in Direct and Digital Marketing
(Award DDM)

Key benefits

The IDM Award in Direct and Digital Marketing will help you acquire the skills and knowledge you need to progress your own career and give your organisation the marketing edge, including:

• An excellent grasp of how direct and digital marketing works and where it is going
• A grounding in the economics of planning and measuring campaigns
• The knowledge to enable you to plan marketing research and test campaigns
• A thorough understanding of how digital media fit into the mix
• The skills and confidence to plan an integrated marketing strategy
• Experience in developing offline and online communications strategies
• An understanding of the critical success factors for creative executions on and offline
• The skills to brief and evaluate the work of creative teams and other external suppliers

Syllabus

Module 1: Overview of direct and digital marketing

How direct and digital marketing have developed and changed, especially in the past five years. Key factors for the future.

Module 2: Developing direct marketing strategy

Understanding strategic marketing planning. Key processes in developing the plan. How integration works

Module 3: The role of research

How marketing research works and its role in developing vital customer insight

Module 4: Direct marketing and the internet

How digital campaigns are planned and implemented. The growth and applications of user generated content. Online advertising, pay per click, email, viral and mobile internet are also covered here

Module 5: Budgeting, measurement and evaluation

The vital importance of getting the numbers right. Costing and evaluation models. The benefits of Lifetime Value Analysis (LTV)

Module 6: Developing and managing a marketing database

Why the database still underpins all direct and digital marketing activities. Data privacy and the increasing concerns of consumers about data integrity. How profiling and segmentation work

Module 7: The power of testing

How testing works. The benefits of controlled testing both offline and on

Module 8: Media planning offline and online

How and where digital media fit. Planning integrated campaigns. The two kinds of integration – strategic and tactical

Module 9: Campaign planning

Tools and techniques tohelp you plan effective campaigns. Finding and managing external suppliers. Developing effective communication strategies

Module 10: Briefing and producing creative work

Why the brief is so important. Developing powerful propositions. Evaluating the creative work of others

After completing the course you will have the opportunity to complete an online assessment which if successful will qualify you to receive the IDM Award in Direct and Digital Marketing.

What you will learn

Studying the Award will:

1. give you a thorough understanding of the principles, applications and methodology of direct and digital marketing
2. equip you with the knowledge and confidence to plan and execute successful campaigns in today’s rapidly developing environment.

Topic 1 Overview of direct and digital marketing

• How direct and digital marketing have developed and why they have become key marketing disciplines
• The revolution in customer power and why all marketers must accept they are no longer in control of customer relationships
• Customer acquisition strategies and sources of new business
• The principles of profitable customer retention and CRM
• The essentials of privacy and data protection legislation

Topic 2 Developing direct marketing strategy

• The process of creating a strategic marketing plan
• How to perform a situation analysis on your organisation using tools such as SWOT and PESTLE
• How to set SMART objectives
• How to use insight to inform your strategic marketing plan
• The principles of profiling and segmentation and using them to improve response and ROI
• CRM: harnessing people, process and technology to prolong the customer journey
• The essentials of a successful e-commerce strategy
• How to implement your strategic marketing plan using communications and contact strategies

Topic 3 The role of research

• How marketing research can be used to gain a deeper understanding of your customers
• How each of the six dimensions of marketing research can be applied to gain valuable insight
• Which techniques you can use for gathering insight and when to use them
• Brand equity and how it is measured

Topic 4 Direct marketing and the internet

• How digital differs from traditional channels and how it can be integrated into your marketing mix
• The different digital media and how and where best to apply them and how to measure their effectiveness
• How to use email effectively in B2B and B2C
• How to use natural and paid search to boost traffic to your website
• The essentials of online display advertising: the formats, how to buy it and the key players
• How you can use Web 2.0 to reach customers and prospects in new ways and increase response

Topic 5 Budgeting, measurement and evaluation

• How to measure the success of direct and digital marketing campaigns
• Why budgeting is essential to campaign management and how to do it well
• The different campaign costing models you can use and in which situations to apply them
• The basics of lifetime value analysis and using discounted cash flow to calculate LTV
• Essential web metrics, what can be measured and how to do it

Topic 6 Developing and managing a marketing database

• The hierarchy of data and be able to identify the most important elements
• The importance of data quality and how to collect, manage and maintain data
• When and how to use the two types of data modelling: descriptive and predictive
• The five stages of profiling and segmentation – and how to create valid segments around which campaigns can be built
• Why B2B is different and how to adapt your marketing to this environment
• The essential impact of legal and regulatory issues on your database

Topic 7 The power of testing

• Why testing is one of the great advantages of direct marketing
• Why you should only test the ‘big things’ and in what order to test them
• The challenges of evaluating test results in integrated and digital campaigns
• How to develop a test programme using the main testing techniques
• The essentials of the statistics of testing – how to ensure your test results are reliable

Topic 8 Media planning offline and online

• The broad process of media planning and how the direct marketing approach differs from traditional media planning
• How the ‘big idea’ underpins the best integrated marketing campaigns
• How tactical integration of media can maximise effectiveness
• The advantages and disadvantages of each type of online and offline media – and when and where to use them

Topic 9 Campaign planning

• The campaign planning process from concept to final post campaign evaluation – and how direct marketing campaigns differ from traditional awareness campaigns
• How to develop campaign plans to acquire new customers or repeat business
• How to plan multi-stage campaigns
• Why B2B is different and how to manage those differences effectively
• How and where to combine digital media into your campaign
• How to find and choose – and most importantly brief suppliers

Topic 10: Briefing and producing creative work

• The basic principles of how creative works in direct and digital marketing and how it is different to traditional advertising
• The four Ps of direct marketing: people, propositions, personalisation and positioning and how to use them to create powerful campaigns
• Why briefing is critical to campaign success and how to do it well
• The basics of good copywriting and design and how to apply principles such as AIDCA and the 5Ws
• The principles of brand response advertising

Online study

This new qualification is delivered online, which is a convenient and easy way to study wherever you are. It means as a student you can study at your own pace wherever you live and work, without having to travel for traditional classroom-based tuition. For employers it will minimise your staff down time while they gain this important professional qualification.

Students will be required to undertake all ten modules in order to achieve the qualification. In all, this will require approximately 35 hours of study (you will be allowed up to one year to complete).

The interactive course is supported with offline reading, online research and numerous activities to help you lock in the learning from the various topics.

At the end of the programme there will be one online examination to be completed which, if successful, will qualify you to receive the IDM Award in Direct and Digital Marketing (Award DDM).