By: The Capella University Editorial Team with Bradly E. Roh, PhD, DBA and Interim Dean and Vice President for the School of Business, Technology and Health Care Administration
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Digital marketing moves fast, and leadership positions in marketing require more than keeping up with the latest platform updates.
If you’re already running campaigns but are now ready to shape strategy or lead other people, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in digital marketing could help you build your business foundations and enhance your skills.
Learn what an MBA in digital marketing offers and how to choose the right program so you can balance your career goals with your current commitments.
Neither Strategic Education, Inc., Capella University, nor any of their affiliates promotes, endorses or has any business relationship with products or platforms listed herein.
Looking to advance your marketing skills? Explore Capella’s self-designed MBA.
An MBA in digital marketing usually combines core business competency with strategic leadership and technical subjects that deepen your understanding of marketing.
The curriculum may include traditional business subjects like organizational behavior, business management, economics and financial management. You usually also cover more specialized coursework, such as digital strategy and planning, marketing analytics, consumer behavior and social media marketing. Marketing-specific coursework helps you develop your ability to interpret market data and connect campaign decisions to broader business outcomes.
Let’s say your company is planning to launch a new product and you’re leading the marketing effort. Here’s how different parts of the MBA curriculum would actually show up in your work.
In this product launch, you would be responsible for:
Each of these draws on managerial economics, operations management, organizational behavior and strategic management. These are the strategy and leadership subjects that an MBA curriculum would cover. They teach you how to move from owning a marketing function to influencing how the entire business operates.
Once the business case is approved, you would use the knowledge you gained from the specialized coursework to shape how you approach execution.
While digital planning and strategy help you build the go-to-market roadmap, consumer behavior tells you why your audience may or may not respond to the product launch campaign. Integrated marketing communications helps you keep the messaging consistent across paid ads, emails and organic posts.
After the launch, you’ll need to monitor the product’s performance. And for that, the market and data analytics coursework usually covers topics like segmentation, customer lifetime value, return on advertising spend and multi-channel attribution. You’ll likely learn how to present data in financial terms that resonate with leadership teams and help them make informed business decisions.
There are lots of ways you can advance your digital marketing skills. You could get certifications, a Master of Science (MS) in digital marketing or an MBA. However, each serves a different purpose.
An MS in digital marketing is usually more about tactical depth and mastery over tools and techniques. The core curriculum might focus on channel-specific execution, such as search engine optimization (SEO), content strategy, paid social and programmatic advertising. You probably also learn to use tools like Google Analytics and gain experience in running integrated digital campaigns.
An MBA, on the other hand, covers less of the mechanics of different marketing channels and more about how organizations grow. For example, Capella University’s Self-Designed MBA includes core subjects, such as operations, accounting and business analytics, alongside specialized subjects, such as digital marketing tactics like lead generation and sales funnels. You can tailor the course with subjects of your choice.
Digital marketing certifications build proficiency in specific tools and channels. They’re relatively quick to complete and useful for staying current with platform updates. Some of the most widely recognized ones include:
The certification programs enhance your expertise in specific platforms, but they don’t cover business fundamentals like an MBA does.
An MBA is a demanding degree. When you’re comparing MBAs in digital marketing, it’s a good idea to look for programs that are designed to fit around your life responsibilities. This increases your chances of actually completing the program. You also need to ensure the curriculum aligns with your career goals.
The first thing to evaluate is how the program is delivered. Traditional in-person MBA programs typically run on fixed schedules, which may make it difficult to manage work and study.
Some programs are fully online with asynchronous classes, and a few are hybrid, combining on-campus attendance with online learning.
Learn more about online MBA vs. traditional MBA programs.
As a working professional, an online MBA gives you the flexibility to study around your job and personal commitments. However, consider the learning pace when choosing your course. Some online programs follow a flexible schedule but with set deadlines to help you stay on track. Others let you move at your own pace, which matters when your workload is unpredictable.
Capella University, for example, offers two learning formats: FlexPath, which lets you progress through courses on your own timeline, and GuidedPath, which follows a set schedule with weekly coursework and 24/7 access to the courseroom.
Compare FlexPath and GuidedPath.
General MBA programs may include a single digital marketing elective, while others might be structured around a marketing concentration with multiple specialized courses. Some programs might dedicate four to five courses specifically to digital marketing and others might offer just one or two electives.
Before enrolling, look at the actual course list. Check how many credits go toward core business subjects versus digital marketing. Also, consider whether the specialization covers the areas most relevant to your role, be it SEO and content or paid media.
Remember to verify university accreditation, as it may affect the acceptance of transfer credits.
Be specific about your professional goals before evaluating programs. For a mid-career professional who wants to move into management or more strategic roles, an online MBA in digital marketing that emphasizes leadership and business decision-making might be the right place to start.
But if you’re a senior professional with over a decade of experience managing teams and budgets, an Executive MBA may be worth exploring.
Learn more about online MBA vs. executive MBA programs.
The skills you develop from an MBA can prepare you to pursue roles that go beyond traditional marketing. With an MBA in digital marketing, you may be able to access several career opportunities, from strategy positions to cross-functional roles.
Specific roles are mentioned below, and roles vary by experience, specialization and employer. It’s important to research your target roles. Remember that Capella cannot guarantee any role or title.
These roles sit between strategy and execution. You might be responsible for translating business goals into marketing plans and then making sure the organization has the budget and resources to deliver on them.
A marketing manager’s role describes this well. They’re accountable for how well the entire marketing department performs against revenue targets. An MBA in digital marketing here helps build the analytical and leadership skills needed to evaluate what’s working across channels and reallocate budgets accordingly for better business outcomes.
Roles in business development involve evaluating new markets. Based on an analysis of the market, professionals build revenue-generating partnerships and make decisions that influence where the company invests next.
A typical senior role in this category would be the director of business development. Their job is to assess market viability and negotiate deals while building an internal plan about the company’s expansion.
Cross-functional positions require you to coordinate decisions across departments that don’t share the same priorities or metrics.
A general manager, for instance, oversees an entire business unit. They are accountable for the performance of an entire business unit, spanning operations, finance, people and strategy. The MBA curriculum trains you to think across these functions, which is exactly what a general manager role requires.
While these are only a few roles you may explore with an MBA in digital marketing, specific requirements vary by employer. They may require a mix of experience and technical skills alongside a degree. So it’s worth researching specific roles as you narrow your focus.
An MBA in digital marketing offers more than credentials. The curriculum integrates strategic marketing with consumer behavior analysis, and the project-based coursework puts you in realistic business scenarios before you face them on the job.
For professionals who want to build the foundations and MBA offers with the flexibility to build a program that suits their own needs, Capella’s self-designed online MBA lets you choose electives that align with your professional goals. It’s available in both FlexPath and GuidedPath learning formats, so you can match the format to your way of working.
Explore Capella’s flexible MBA programs designed for working professionals.
We've received your message and will get back to you soon.