Art Meets Science in This Innovative Online Master’s in Marketing
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Art Meets Science in This Innovative Online Master’s in Marketing
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Online MS in Marketing

Open Doors to Leadership With the Online Master of Science in Marketing

As a marketer in today’s digital-first world, you need to be ready to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving landscape. William & Mary’s Online Master’s in Marketing prepares you to lead in this dynamic field by developing deep expertise in data analytics, innovation strategies and integrated marketing communications that forward-thinking organizations demand. This online marketing master’s degree builds on our history of excellence, extending the prestigious foundation that places our graduate business programs among the highest ranked in the nation.

Whether you’re looking to pivot your career into marketing or advance to upper management and the C-suite, our Online Master’s in Marketing offers the perfect balance of analytical insight and creative innovation to help you thrive as a marketing leader in this global, digital age—all in a flexible format that fits your busy schedule.

Program Details

  • Complete in as few as 16 months
  • Part-time schedule
  • 10 courses + 1 on-campus residency
  • 33 credits
  • 1 free Jump Start course
  • 2 opportunities to start per year
  • No GRE or GMAT required

Why Earn Your Master’s in Marketing Online With William & Mary?

William & Mary delivers a marketing education that combines data-driven decision making with creative innovation strategies. Our Online MS in Marketing program develops your ability to lead marketing initiatives that drive measurable business results.

#1
Best Business School for Learning1
(Bloomberg)
#5
Best Business Professors2
(Princeton Review)
#24
Best Online Master’s in Business Programs3
(Excluding MBA)

With an MS in Marketing online from William & Mary, you gain a recognized stamp of academic excellence that employers trust and respect. You’ll develop the specialized expertise needed to make strategic decisions and lead high-performing marketing teams in today’s data-rich environment.

Complete Your Online Marketing Master’s Degree in Just 16 Months

While most part-time master’s programs take two years or more to complete, William & Mary’s Online Marketing Master’s program can be completed in as few as 16 months. This accelerated timeline allows you to advance your career faster without sacrificing the depth of learning or quality of education.

Our program is specifically designed for working professionals who want to gain specialized marketing expertise more quickly and thoroughly than a general MBA program would provide, with a curriculum focused on the digital and data analytics skills that define modern marketing leadership.

Man working on laptop

Online Master’s in Marketing Curriculum

Jump Start Course

Jump Start Course (0 credits)

Strongly recommended for all students, the free Jump Start course is an optional resource designed to help ensure success in the Online MSM program. Its initial self-assessment is followed by direction to the individualized course modules that will be most useful for each student. Course content remains available to students and faculty throughout the program, for reference and subject-matter reminders as needed.

Foundation Course

BUAD 5207 Renaissance Marketer (4 credits)

Renaissance Marketer is a 4-credit course and serves as the foundation for the Online Master’s in Marketing program. It will introduce students to a view of the traditional “4Ps of Marketing”—product, price, promotion and place—through a new lens: Renaissance Marketing. Renaissance Marketing acknowledges the new world of marketing: one that is more collaborative, dynamic and faster moving than ever before. In this environment, today’s successful marketers must apply the principles of the discipline in a different way. The course will also introduce students to a 5th “P”: Participation. With participation, marketers engage consumers in the marketing process using technology, new forms of market research and advanced feedback techniques to co-create products, services, experiences and business models.

Analytics and Insight Courses

BUAD 5217 Analytics for Evaluation and Situation Analysis (4 credits)

This course focuses on qualitative and quantitative analytics techniques designed to assess the current state of any marketing situation, such as how consumers are responding to current efforts, how their responses fit with expectations, and gauging the effect on purchase, repeat purchase and recommendation.

BUAD 5247 Analytics for Planning and Optimization (4 credits)

This course focuses on the use of research to plan and optimize future marketing efforts. Consumers expect personalization in exchange for a measure of loyalty. Customer analytics allow marketers to use customer behavior data to identify insights and help make key business decisions. Market segmentation is used along with predictive analytics to drive tactics such as product/service innovation, promotional activities such as direct marketing, distribution decisions like site selection, pricing tactics and customer relationship management.

Marketing Innovation Courses

BUAD 5257 Product Management and New Product Development Strategies (4 credits)

The course will focus on an ability to innovate through several interrelated capabilities: a) the ability to identify unique insights into customers’ needs and motivations, b) the ability to identify and define the best opportunities for innovation given these insights, c) the ability to generate creative product and service solution concepts to exploit these opportunities, and d) the ability to continually learn from customer feedback and to iterate toward products and services that capture a disproportionate market share and/or that create new markets. Course activities will promote the development of each student’s innovation skills and mindset (e.g., design thinking), as well as equip each student to participate in and lead cross-functional innovation projects.

BUAD 5267 Market-Driven Innovation Strategy and Management (4 credits)

This course is focused on innovation tools and techniques appropriate to corporate strategy along with innovation management. Success factors in innovation management include: innovation strategy, innovation process, resources and organization, and innovation culture. Visual design, innovation techniques and cutting-edge tools are added to the traditional strategic toolbox to bring new insights into innovation management including business model canvas, value proposition canvas, strategy canvas, service blueprinting, corporate identity, branding and other visual marketing strategy tools.

Modern Integrated Marketing Courses

BUAD 5277 Integrated Campaign Marketing (4 credits)

Integrated campaign management entails the orchestration of paid, earned and owned media vehicles to create a marketing experience that increases consumer engagement, strengthens brand differentiation and demand, and moves consumers through the purchase funnel toward repeat purchase and brand advocacy. This course will approach integrated marketing communications through an experience-planning lens: teaching students to create integrated communications experiences that make strategic use of communications vehicles to drive brand and business growth.

BUAD 5287 Digital Content Management (4 credits)

This course explores the evolving world of digital content management and its role in integrated marketing campaigns. Students will examine how digital media tools and techniques can be leveraged to promote products and services as well as their personal brands. Upon completion of this course, students will have a working knowledge of the current digital marketing ecosystem, content marketing tactics and ethical practices.

Residency Support Course

BUAD 5237 Residency (1 credit)

The residency is designed:

  • To help students better understand and assimilate into the culture of William & Mary and the Mason School of Business
  • To teach content that is best learned in a face-to-face environment (e.g., experiential exercises)
  • To allow students to make connections with faculty and each other along with an opportunity to create relationships that will endure beyond the end of the program

Capstone Course

BUAD 5297 Capstone: Revolutionary Marketing Leadership (4 credits)

This course helps students with insights into the tenets of leadership—how to lead and motivate a team, how to handle crises and how to manage ethical considerations in modern marketing. The leadership content is designed to prepare students to practice the skills they learn in the program in a senior-level marketing position. It also serves to complete the study of the Marketing Challenge. Each student will prepare a presentation to give to the class on their Marketing Challenge.

Master Data-Driven Strategy and Marketing Innovation

William & Mary’s Online Master’s in Marketing degree focuses on three core competencies essential for today’s marketing leaders. These competencies are reinforced through our Marketing Challenge, an immersive experience that allows you to apply your learning in real-world scenarios before graduation.

Analytics & Insights

Learn to interpret data for meaningful insights and become fluent in the language of analytics through courses like:

  • BUAD 5217: Analytics for Evaluation & Situation Analysis
  • BUAD 5247: Analytics for Planning & Optimization

Marketing Innovation

Develop expertise in product development and innovation management strategies through courses like:

  • BUAD 5257: Product Management & New Product Development
  • BUAD 5267: Market-driven Innovation Strategy & Management

Modern Integrated Marketing Communications

Master the art of creating cohesive marketing experiences that strengthen brand differentiation and drive consumer engagement through courses like:

  • BUAD 5277: Integrated Campaign Management
  • BUAD 5287: Digital Content Management

Experience Real-World Application With the Marketing Challenge

The Marketing Challenge begins in your first course and evolves throughout the program:

  • Start by establishing project parameters based on real marketing challenges in your industry
  • Apply new concepts from each course to develop your challenge further
  • Connect with senior leaders in your organization as you address strategic and tactical requirements
  • Build a comprehensive project that showcases your expertise to current or prospective employers

By working on this real-world project, you’ll graduate with more than just a master’s in marketing—you’ll have a portfolio-ready demonstration of your marketing leadership capabilities.

Past Marketing Challenge projects from our students include:

  • Creating compelling podcast content for underserved populations
  • Developing strategies to increase referrals from general veterinary practitioners to veterinary neurologists
  • Building a content creation company specifically for Black men

Jump-start Your Success and Build Your Network Early

Our Online Master’s in Marketing program offers two unique opportunities to connect with your cohort and ensure your success from day one.

Woman working on her laptop

Jump Start Course

This free, optional resource is designed to help you succeed in the intellectually challenging program. The course includes:

  • Knowledge Check: A self-assessment that identifies areas where you might need to brush up on marketing fundamentals
  • Marketing Principles: Core concepts that form the foundation of the program
  • Marketing Math, Finance and Analytics: Resources to ensure you’re prepared for the data-oriented coursework

Residency Weekend

Join your classmates on our beautiful Williamsburg campus to meet face-to-face and build lasting relationships. This 1-credit course experience is structured around three key themes:

  • Collaboration: Exercises designed to capitalize on in-person interactions
  • Culture: Experiences that connect you to William & Mary’s prestigious legacy
  • Connections: Networking opportunities with faculty and peers that extend beyond the program

Residency Weekends are offered twice per academic year, providing flexibility for your schedule while enhancing your online program experience.

Learn More

Group of three student talking around a table

Who’s Earning the Online MS in Marketing?

Our students come from backgrounds in marketing, advertising, business, communications and finance. Here’s a snapshot of the professionals you’ll collaborate with in your cohort:4

74%
female
8 years
of work experience
31
average student age

Lead the Future of Marketing With William & Mary

Graduates of our Online Master’s in Marketing program emerge as renaissance marketers—leaders who balance analytical prowess with creative vision. Our alumni are:

  • Empowered with leading-edge digital marketing skills and strategic insight
  • Adept at leveraging analytics tools to drive innovative decision-making
  • Fluent in quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques
  • Prepared to collaborate across teams and with customers to develop marketing strategies that drive measurable business results

In a competitive marketplace, marketing leaders must be continuous learners and innovators who can adapt to rapidly changing technologies and consumer behaviors. Our Online Master's in Marketing prepares you to be this kind of leader—someone who can solve complex problems with creative strategies grounded in data-driven insights.

More Than a Degree.
This Is Your Launchpad.

A William & Mary education is not just a degree but a unique connection to a tight-knit community of students, alumni, bold educators and driven, principled, connected leaders. Build your brand with a university known for breaking barriers, championing integrity and channeling academic grit since its inception.

The Raymond A. Mason School of Business imparts essential business knowledge and builds the dynamic mindset necessary to lead in today’s challenging and rapidly changing business environment. As an online graduate business student, you will:

✓ Graduate with the perspective to envision and enact positive change
✓ Access mentorship and experiential learning opportunities
✓ Receive personalized career support
✓ Build a lasting network to bolster your career for years to come

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Interested in Our Online Programs?

Jun
13
Priority Application Deadline
June 13
Fall 2025 Term
Jul
25
Application Deadline
July 25
Fall 2025 Term
Aug
25
Next Start
August 25
Fall 2025 Term
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Sources
  1. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from bloomberg.com/business-schools/william-and-mary-mason/ 
  2. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from princetonreview.com/business-school-rankings?rankings=best-professors 
  3. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from usnews.com/education/online-education/college-of-william-and-mary-231624/rankings 
  4. Based on a limited sample of self-reported data from alumni of W&M’s Online MS in Marketing program from graduating cohorts between Fall 2020 and Spring 2024