A digital marketing student at Nichols College taking a photograph with a Canon camera.
Academics Undergraduate Programs Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

BSBA in Digital and Social Media Marketing

at Nichols College

Digital marketing is how organizations communicate, compete and grow in today’s online-first world.

You can drive results in advertising and communications with a degree in digital and social media marketing from Nichols College.

Students in this program develop strategic visual and written communication skills as well as proficiency in the latest digital marketing and analysis platforms, preparing for careers as digital and social media strategists.

Whether you’d like to work as a creative professional in an agency or in business-to-consumer, business-to-business or non-profit firms, our program will prepare you to harness today’s most powerful marketing tools.

Close-up exterior of a Nichols College brick building with a large arched window, with a vibrant yellow fall foliage tree visible along the campus sidewalk

Why Study Digital and Social Media Marketing at Nichols College?

Pursuing a digital marketing degree program at Nichols College means joining a program designed to make you a leader in the marketing and communications industry. Here's what sets our program apart:

Experienced Faculty

Learn from professors with direct expertise in digital marketing and the marketing, advertising, and PR industries

Hands-On Learning

Gain real-world skills with multiple team-based consulting projects that include constructing digital and social media content, advertising, promotions and PR initiatives

Industry Certifications

Earn recognized credentials in marketing disciplines

Professional Connections

Engage with professionals and secure meaningful internships through our career contacts, hands-on employer experiences and alumni network that's 16,000+ members strong

Worcester County Location

Benefit from strategic access to New England's dynamic marketing and media landscape while getting the personal attention of a close-knit campus community

Plus, our program is AACSB-accredited—only six percent of institutions worldwide are accredited by the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Experiential Learning at Nichols College

Hands-on, experiential learning is a key component of a Nichols education. Every business student completes an internship, a professional certification and a research, experiential or consulting project before they graduate. Add holistic professional development to that hands-on foundation, and you get real results—95% of recent graduates secured jobs or entered graduate school within six months. All from a college ranked top 10 nationally among undergraduate business schools for mid-career salary potential and best value.

A Nichols College student intern assists with an event at historic Fenway Park in Boston.

Student-Faculty Projects

From assisting with faculty research and teaching to working on an advanced project with your professor, there are many ways to extend your learning beyond the classroom at Nichols.

Learn More About Experiential Learning at Nichols.

Student-Run Opportunities

Whether you’re managing the Thunder Fund, working with Bison Consulting clients, helping run the Nichols Dudley Hill Golf Course Club and Bison Den or pitching ideas to companies, you’ll build career-ready skills.

Learn More About Student-Run Opportunities.

Holistic Professional Development

Build confidence and vital soft skills through experiences that take you into the community, paired with public speaking practice, networking etiquette and signature leadership development.

Learn More About Professional Development at Nichols.

Study Abroad

Take your education global through faculty-led trips, international internships, semester abroad programs and short-term travel that let you earn Nichols credits while expanding your worldview.

Learn More About Study Abroad (Study Away).
NEXT STEPS
Talk to an Admissions Counselor
Request Information
Attend an Admissions Event

Careers in Digital and Social Media Marketing

A degree in digital and social media marketing develops capabilities in campaign creation, analytics interpretation and strategic communication. Graduates can enter one of today's fastest-growing career fields, with opportunities spanning every industry and geography.

Career possibilities include:

  • Digital marketing manager
  • Content specialist
  • Social media manager
  • Digital campaign coordinator
  • Influencer marketing specialist
And More
Two Nichols College students in professional attire laughing together at a career and internship fair booth

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet

Tuba Bingol

Assistant Professor of Marketing 508-213-2253

Funda Sarican

Assistant Professor of Marketing 508-213-2263

Jean Beaupre

Dean for the School of Business 508-213-2161

Len Harmon

Associate Professor of Marketing 508-213-2164

Bill Moylan

Adjunct Professor 508-213-2247

Ashley O'Keefe

Adjunct Undergraduate Faculty
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions About Our Digital and Social Media Marketing Degree

What makes the digital and social media marketing program at Nichols College unique?

Our digital and social media marketing program at Nichols College in Dudley, MA, stands out by offering many opportunities for hands-on experience. Students create digital campaigns, manage social media accounts and analyze performance metrics for businesses and community partners. Many students earn professional certifications in industry-specific tools and platforms, including Google Analytics and Meta advertising. This combination of real project experience and industry-recognized certification ensures graduates enter the workforce with valuable skills.

How does this program prepare students for the continuously evolving digital marketing landscape?

Our digital and social media marketing degree program emphasizes both foundational strategic thinking and current platform expertise, preparing students to adapt as technology evolves. Students learn the underlying principles of consumer behavior, brand building and market research while gaining hands-on practice with today’s leading digital marketing and analytics platforms. Faculty members maintain active industry connections and update the curriculum regularly to reflect emerging trends like influencer marketing, social commerce and AI-powered marketing tools.

What types of projects do students work on during the program?

Digital and social media marketing students work on diverse team-based projects based on real-world scenarios and consulting projects that require students to combine written communication skills with graphic and video content creation, teaching them to build clear, engaging and effective messaging while measuring campaign performance and ROI. In 2024, 109 students participated in 18 consulting projects for various organizations. Students earned 105 professional certificates in the marketing discipline.

Digital and Social Media Marketing Degree Courses

Required Courses

Social media is constantly changing, and brands must develop, evaluate, and adapt their strategies. Building effective social media strategies enables marketers to leverage unique and original content to build their brand communities. Students will learn different software and create a comprehensive approach to create and execute social media strategy. This course will also offer students the opportunity to understand and analyze changing social media trends.

Examination of the consumer marketing process. This includes analysis and planning of consumer marketing programs with investigation of consumer decision making and buying patterns. Includes written case analyses and presentations.

The internet is a dynamic marketplace if there ever was one. This class will give you the theoretical understanding of the Internet marketplace necessary to adapt to its many changes, while also equipping you with the skills you'll need to perform vital daily functions. By the end of the course, you will be able to walk into any company with an online presence and improve their use of the internet. The course includes discussions of both B2B and B2C and looks at marketing and communications from an integrated, business-wide perspective. The goal is to appreciate principles and practice of online marketing. The classroom sessions are a combination of lectures, discussions, and experiential learning. To ensure effective utilization of lecture time and the time of your classmates, you are required to read the materials before they are covered in class.

A study of the application of research techniques in market analysis. Student teams design, conduct, and present a research project, including problem definition, questionnaire design, data collection, data analysis, documentation, and recommendation.

A capstone course that focuses on the integration of marketing with the other functional areas of business. This course examines the marketing strategy formulation process through the development of analytical techniques to assess company, market, and industry. Utilizes extensive case analysis/and or consulting project.

Elective Courses

Choose three from the following options, one of which must be a 400-level course and two of which must have an MKCM designation

The class focuses on the creation of visual material using several industry-standard software programs, and will be conducted in the computer lab and Visual Media Studio. Students will learn to generate visually interesting, informational, professional-level material using programs such as Photoshop and Final Cut Pro that are necessary for the production of video, infographics, and photographic imagery. Students will learn which software to use and combine to generate visual material effectively.

Storytelling is an important part of communication in all different mediums - social media, advertising/marketing, film, television, music, and books. Given that we create and deliver stories in all aspects of our lives, this course will examine the structure of stories, the best practices for gathering and telling stories, and the process for effectively delivering stories. Students will learn to both interpret/analyze storytelling and create stories in a variety of forms: written, oral, and visual.

This course is designed to give students a comprehensive understanding of the principles and practices of operating a Visual Media Studio and creating branded content for social media marketing. Students will learn how to operate the facility and its equipment while developing and implementing effective branding strategies and creating compelling digital content. The course will also cover the various media formats, including video, image, and audio, and how to optimize them for their client's different social media platforms. By the end of the course, students will have the skills to operate a studio, create and execute successful social media campaigns, and understand the importance of branding and content creation in today's digital landscape.

Industry's appetite for intelligent automation solutions grows as stakeholders recognize the power and value to these impressive tools. However, solution identification and deployment is not a simple matter. The appropriate analysis must be performed to identify the opportunity, document the process and data environment, craft the business solution and build a plan that minimizes risks. Historically, 50% of technology projects fail because this critical step is rushed, skipped or done badly. Students will learn the fundamentals of business analysis in the course from an industry best practice framework. By the end of class, students will have used key aspects of the framework and completed foundational business analysis templates.

Analytics is the process of getting value out of data. It explains how seemingly mundane data points, when combined, can provide insights into habits, processes, and patterns. We live in a world overflowing with data, and only recently has technology reached the point where anyone can conduct this type of analysis without the aid of supercomputers or consulting firms. This course covers "D2D", or Data to Decisions. Specifically, this means we will learn what to collect, how to collect it, and how to transform it into actionable information. It is also focused on solving real business problems, which is the most practical application for Nichols business students.

This hands-on course covers the art and science of data visualization. It explores various visualization techniques and the way that shape, size, color, orientation, and motion influence the way information is comprehended. The class will use world-class visualization platforms such as Tableau and PowerBI. Students will understand the difference between exploratory versus explanatory visualization as well as gain an appreciation for the appropriate use of visualization techniques. We'll discuss how visualizations can be manipulated to mislead or misinform others and discuss the ethics around data visualization. Students will work through a series of interactive dashboards culminating with the final project in which the student will create a story with their data.

Public Relations (PR) is a management and marketing function that identifies, establishes, and maintains effective relationships between an organization and the audiences it services. PR used to be all about mass media, but social media has changed that. It is still about building and maintaining effective relationships, but PR is now also about having a direct conversation with your audience using paid, earned, shared, and owned channels. In this course, we will examine the strategic purpose and tactical practices of PR, including the identification of publics, planning, writing/content creation, ethical considerations, and evaluation.

This course examines in depth a major issue, problem, or theme in the area of marketing. It includes a specialized research paper or project, involves discussion and oral and written reports, and may include guest speakers and field trips.

A course focusing on advertising, sales promotion, and direct marketing also known as integrated marketing communications. Topics include planning and execution of promotional programs, strategy development, and segmenting and positioning. Orientation reflects the managerial or "client" side of business rather than the "creative" or message development side.

This course examines in depth a major issue, problem, or theme in the area of marketing and communication. It includes a specialized research paper or project, involves discussion and oral and written reports, and may include guest speakers and field trips.

An internship serves as an integral part of our experiential learning emphasis for students selecting the Marketing concentration. The objective of the course is to gain work experience in a marketing and/or communication related field or position. Students may select an internship based on their interests and preferences, and faculty and the Career & Professional Development Center are available to assist students in the internship search. Students are required to work 120 hours over the course of the semester and complete a comprehensive project upon completion of the internship.

491 The Research Associate is an option for select, motivated students to work under the close supervision of a faculty member, assisting in the faculty's current research project, or conducting their own study. Students are provided training in research, and develop new communication and critical thinking skills, and are introduced to the possible future opportunities in the research-related aspects of their field. The experience will enhance students' graduate and employment qualifications. To be eligible, students must have completed at least 60 hours of classroom instruction. Research Associates and other experiential learning opportunities require approval of the Program Chair.

A Teaching Associate Intern works with students in a specific course to provide support for the faculty member in charge. His/ her duties may include teaching; preparing instructional materials; critiquing student papers; tutoring students; aiding in online or classroom discussions; sample assignment preparation; and performing other duties as assigned. Major responsibility for a class shall not be given to a teaching associate intern. The associate works under the supervision of an experienced faculty member. In consultation with the supervisor, the teaching associate works to gain instructional skills and to enhance his/her grasp of the essentials of the academic discipline and the role and responsibilities of a faculty member. To be eligible, students must have completed at least 60 hours of classroom instruction (or receive approval by the appropriate faculty member or program chair), have earned a "B+" or better in the course they wish to assist, and have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.0. Teaching Associates and other experiential learning opportunities require approval of the Program Chair.

The Advanced Project is an opportunity for students to work with a group under the close supervision of a faculty member, developing professional skills and personal knowledge through an outside-the-classroom advanced project. Students develop new communication and critical thinking skills, as well as practice leadership and teamwork. They are introduced to new hands-on opportunities related to their field, and possible career opportunities. The experience will enhance students' graduate and employment qualifications. To be eligible, students must have completed at least 60 hours of classroom instruction. The Advanced Project and other experiential learning opportunities require approval of the Program Chair.

Free Electives

12 credit-hours of electives

Interested in Learning More?

Join us at one of our upcoming campus events in Dudley, MA, or schedule a campus visit. You can also contact our Admissions team to discuss your academic goals and how Nichols can help you reach them.