Welcome to the Digital Marketing Communications (DMC) graduate certificate program at St. Lawrence College. This program is proudly connected to the Advertising and Marketing Communications diploma and advanced diploma program and is viewed as a “fast track” (10 months for a graduate certificate vs. 2 years for a diploma or 3 years for an advanced diploma). We are excited to meet and work with you this year and help you achieve your unique education and career goals. As a student in this program, you are part of something special and will form a lasting professional network with your classmates and faculty. Connect with your classmates early and often, as they will become your biggest supporters, your course team mates, your sources of inspiration and motivation, and your friends. In some cases, they may become your coworkers in industry, so take each classmate encounter as an opportunity to learn something new and extend kindness, respect, and professionalism.
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Semester One Courses
GRAP5000 Digital Publishing
This course exposes learners to a wide range of tools needed to produce highly creative and current messaging and branding for companies in order to be heard, create followership, and succeed in today's market. Modern media channels are now accessible to virtually all businesses at a low or no cost. In one hand it's democratizing the space, but it contributes to a crowded and noisy advertising/marketing space. In this busy environment, marketers have to fight hard to capture the attention of the consumer. Telling stories, being remarkable, transparent, and producing highly creative ideas and messaging for a company or individual can truly differentiate and achieve its intended goals.
MARK100 Market Research and Consumer Behaviour
This course provides learners with knowledge of essential research methodologies and consumer behavior techniques applicable to communications and marketing problem solving. Both secondary and primary research techniques are studied and applied in a practical research project. Learners evaluate media research data from a variety of industry sources through the lens of numerous perspectives/disciplines (e.g. communications, psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, and economics) to describe and predict how customers, (individuals and organizations), are likely to behave. This course prepares learners to predict customer actions, determine the needs of target markets, and identify how not only consumers but also businesses, governments, and not-for-profits make choices in the marketplace. In addition, this course covers a variety of markets and includes significant discussion of online consumer behaviour and the impact of the Internet on the market behaviour.
MARK1006 Interactive Web Marketing
In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, marketers play a pivotal role in creating and maintaining a compelling web presence. In this course, you will explore the central role of a website as a marketing hub connecting other digital marketing channels. You'll learn the basics of webpage design, create high-performing web content through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques, and master coding languages to elevate your online presence.
MARK5001 Integrated Marketing Communications
This course equips learners with the skills required to design and implement a complete integrated promotional campaign for an organization. Learners examine the marketing communication, promotional goals, and strategy of an enterprise, with an emphasis on the integration of digital and traditional channels. The course is practically oriented, and learners examine traditional mass advertising, online communication, promotion, public relations, personal selling and other communication areas. The course illustrates the relationships between the various forms of communications and how an organization uses them individually and collectively to resolve business problems. Businesses today are searching for integrated solutions, hence the need for coordinated planning of all forms of marketing communications.
MCOM2001 Client and Project Management
Modern creative agencies require effective teamwork to manage projects and cultivate client relationships. This course emphasizes collaborative skills to prepare students for diverse agency roles. You will learn how to document client objectives and strengthen partnerships through professional practices. Utilizing project management principles and approaches, you'll understand how tools and techniques can be deployed at various stages of the project lifecycle to meet customer requirements. By the end of this course, you will prepared to develop and deliver project artifacts including client-facing plans, reports and presentations.
MARK1001 Content Marketing and Video Strategy/Editing
Content is king, and everyone is a creator. In this course, you will embark on a dynamic journey to craft compelling content that resonates with a target audience. Through practical application, you will understand the pivotal role diverse content types play in digital marketing, coupled with the influential force of a captivating brand narrative. By the course's end, you will possess a wealth of practical knowledge and a polished content portfolio.
Semester Two Courses
CARE1001 Career Readiness and Personal Branding
In today's world, everyone is a brand - including you! In this course, you'll get comfortable marketing your most in-demand asset, your value. You'll develop your personal brand identity, create a standout resume and portfolio, practice your interview skills, secure recommendations and build a powerful professional network to help you acquire employment opportunities.
MARK1002 Analytics for Digital Marketers
Make better and faster business decisions by delving into the heart of digital marketing: data. In this course, you will learn strategies for understanding data, the tools to measure common marketing data sources, frameworks and methodologies for data analysis, and best practices for reporting. By the end of this course, you will have proficiency in the art of measuring and reporting results across diverse marketing platforms, sharing insights to drive strategic business improvements.
MARK5002 Social Media Marketing
This course provides learners with a fundamental understanding of how different social media channels are being used by consumers and marketers. Learners demonstrate social media strategically by employing social media planning principles, analysis, social media content planning, writing, and implementation to deliver on marketing communications objectives. Testing and post-campaign analysis is also touched on.
MARK1005 Search Engine Marketing & Social Media Ads
Unlock the potential to grow a business through search engine marketing (SEM) and social media advertising! In this course, you will understand the nuance of paid search and social advertising. You will strategically allocate marketing dollars for digital advertising campaigns, gain performance insights, and assess your campaign's impact against business objectives. Throughout this course, you will elevate your understanding of best practices for online success, empowering you to confidently navigate the evolving landscape of digital advertising.
MARK1004 Marketing Automation & Customer Relationship Management
Build a strategy for better customer relationships through the use of marketing automation! In this course, you will explore the intricacies of the user journey, strategically planning marketing funnels to implement drip campaigns across multiple platforms and incorporating advanced remarketing tactics. You will dive into best practices for collecting, storing, segmenting, and leveraging user data inside of a customer relationship management (CRM) system, ensuring sustained engagement post-purchase.
MARK1008 Creative Marketing Agency
Apply your technical, strategic and creative knowledge and skills in this experiential course! Through high quality project-based learning, you will collaborate to manage live projects for real organizations. You will gain practical experience interfacing with peers, faculty and clients throughout all project phases. These experiences will culminate with the creation of tailored marketing deliverables and supporting creative assets with final presentations to clients/stakeholders.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many hours of class time each week should I expect?
- How is this program being delivered for the fall term (semester 1)? Am I on campus or online?
- When will my timetable come available?
- How do I access my courses?
- Are there required textbooks for each course?
- What additional program costs should I budget for?
- I have a communications degree/diploma; do I qualify for transfer credits?
- What if I am unsuccessful in a course?
- What if I need to miss a class? What happens to that assignment?
- What employment opportunities can I expect after graduating?
How many hours of class time each week should I expect?
You'll be spending 20 hours in-class every week.
Time to work on homework, assignments, and group assignments should be factored in on top of class time (approximately 1 hour of class time = 1 hour of homework/assignment time). Example: 20 hours/week of in class time + 20 hours/week of homework and assignment time.
How is the program being delivered? Am I on campus or online?
Most course run fully in-person at our Kingston campus. Please be sure to view our campus safety protocols before coming to campus.
The DMC program is highly experiential and based upon building relationships with each student. As such, it is a requirement of the program that students attend their classes consistently, on time, and prepared for discussion and engagement with faculty and classmates. This is not a lecture style program and your participation in each class is required for your success. You will see that most courses have a participation grade weighting of between 15% - 30%, which factors in class attendance and participation in class discussions verbally and written.
When will my timetable become available?
The timetable is made available at the start of each semester. Please check your slc.me portal for an updated timetable. Contact your program coordinator if you have issues accessing your timetable or if you see any discrepancies.
How do I access my courses?
Using your slc.me student portal you can access Blackboard for each of your courses.
Blackboard is your resource for all course work including course outlines and learning plans, course calendar, readings, assignment details, lecture notes, and assignment submissions.
MS Teams is also available through your slc.me student portal and is your resource for virtual meetings with faculty and classmates and attending any guest speaker sessions online, in addition to attending any online classes.
Are there required textbooks for each course?
Textbooks and/or simulations/certifications are required in most courses. Please check the course learning plan and/or the textbook list on your slc.me portal to identify what resources you need to purchase. It is recommended that you attend your first class and speak to the professor about the required resources prior to purchasing them.
Some resources may be purchased through the SLC bookstore (new and used options are available) while others are purchased through third-party websites. Details will be provided in each course learning plan.
What additional program costs should I budget for?
Students in the DMC program must have their own laptop computer, preferably a Mac laptop, though a PC based laptop is fine. As well, a USB key or external hard drive is needed.
Approximate additional costs and general system requirements:
- Laptop - $1,500 - $1,800
- Sample system requirements for an Apple device to sufficiently run Adobe Creative Cloud can be found here.
- Adobe Creative Cloud - $19.99 - $29.99/month subscription (all students MUST subscribe while in the program. Adobe offers a student discount)
- USB key - $30
- External hard drive - $100
- SD card (16gb or 1 terabyte) - $50
- Textbooks, Online Learning Tools and Apps - costs vary
I have a communications degree/diploma, do I qualify for transfer credits?
Due to the condensed nature of this graduate certificate program, we encourage all students to take each of the courses in semester 1 and 2 in order to maximize your learning experience. If you are a student who has recently taken a marketing communications course at another post-secondary institution, you might be able to get a transfer credit for a course. To find out whether you qualify for a transfer credit, please forward a copy of your transcript to your program coordinator.
What if I am unsuccessful in a course?
All courses in semester 1 are requirements for entry into semester 2 (specifically, MARK1008: Creative Marketing Agency). If you feel you are at risk in any of your courses, speak to your program coordinator right away.
What if I need to miss a class? What happens if I miss an assignment?
Attending class, following technology norms, and participating in class discussions, exercises, and group meetings, are regarded as integral parts of the learning process and the development of business-like attitudes. 80% attendance is recommended as a minimum for success in this highly experiential program. If you need to miss a class or are concerned about an assignment, speak directly to your course instructor in advance.
Meeting due dates is an essential requirement in business. The following policy regarding due dates applies to all courses in the Digital Marketing Communications Program: All assignments must be handed in on time (typically at start of class, with start of class defined as scheduled start of class, i.e.: 8:30am for an 8:30am scheduled class). A late assignment is a failed assignment. Students who submit a late assignment or do not submit an assignment will receive a “0” grade for that assignment. The only exceptions to this policy are documented cases of illness or personal emergency, communicated in advance at instructor’s discretion.
Full details relating to attendance, participation, grade weighting and assignment deadlines are located in each course learning plan under the ‘Special Notes for this Course’ section.
What employment opportunities can I expect after graduating?
DMC graduates find employment in the field very quickly following graduation. This is due to our focus on building relationships with students early in order to help coach and support your professional development and career goals while in this program. Invest the time in your CARE5000 course to deeply explore your career path goals and work with your faculty team to build your professional network early. We offer many professional development workshops and activities outside of class time and there are employment opportunities within the college to help you build your resume. Students find success when they engage with their program and college community beyond what’s required in their courses.
Graduates find employment in many areas of the marketing communications industry from ad agencies to marketing departments, to charitable and government organizations,to smaller entrepreneurial endeavours. Job areas include: Marketing Coordinator, Content Specialist, Copywriter, Web Producer, Digital Media Specialist, Social Media Manager, Digital Advertising Specialist, Client Services Account Executive, Brand Specialist and more.