The CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing
The Certificate is aimed both at people working in a supporting role in that part of the organisation responsible for marketing function, and at people with more senior roles where marketing is only part of what they do. You start at this level if, for example, you are a:
- marketing assistant,
- marketing co-ordinator, or
- marketing executive,
or if:
- your organisation (as, for example, an SME) does very little marketing itself, and you are responsible for it, or
- you want to change your career to marketing.
How the Certificate helps
The aim of the Certificate is to provide a strong foundation of marketing knowledge. This is relevant to you if you want to become a marketing professional, and if you want to back up your practical experience with theory and move on to jobs with greater responsibility and demands.
By the end of your studies you should, for example, be able to:
- understand the function and fundamentals of marketing in some depth – including how to write and execute a marketing plan,
- know the many different ways of understanding and communicating with customers, and the function these methods serve,
- understand your organisation’s marketing environment, its many constituent parts, and how they work in unison, and
- apply your practical knowledge – including collecting and analysing data, and establishing marketing budgets.
Study programme
NQF 4 is equivalent to the first year of a foundation degree, or the first year of a standard Batchelor’s or Honours degree. It also encompasses NVQ Level 3.
There are four units; a unit is a self-contained course of study which has its own syllabus and which leads to an assessment. You must pass all four to gain the Certificate.
They are best done in the order shown here with Marketing Essentials coming first, and Stakeholder Marketing last.
Marketing Essentials (Course 361)
This unit aims to provide a detailed explanation of the key theories and practice behind marketing and also how it creates value for customers in the short to medium term. It discusses the importance of the marketing planning process and the role of marketing across the organisation. It will prepare you to be able to:
- explain how marketing has evolved and the importance of market orientation in creating customer value,
- assess the importance of marketing, its cross-functional role and the contribution it makes to the organisation and society,
- identify and explain the stages in the marketing planning process,
- assess the key elements of the internal and external marketing environment that impact upon the organisation, it objectives and its activities, and
- identify and describe the characteristics and applications of each element of the marketing mix (the “7Ps”).
Assessing the Marketing Environment (Course 362)
This unit aims to provide an understanding of the nature and scope of the internal and external marketing “environments”, with a broad consideration of the impact of international and global marketing. It will prepare you to be able to:
- explain the nature and scope of the internal marketing environment, including the “resource perspective”,
- distinguish between the types of organisation within the public, private and voluntary sectors, and understand the different influences and challenges they face and how their goals differ as a result,
- identify and explain the different characteristics of the “micro environment” and recognise the sources of information required to gain a good understanding of it, together with its drivers and challenges,
- assess the importance of, and potential impact of, key trends in political, economic, social, technological and legal/ethical/regulatory influences on a market-oriented organisation, and
- consider the implications for an organisation pursuing both economic and environmental sustainability as part of its agenda for corporate social responsibility (“CSR”).
Marketing Information and Research (Course 363)
This unit focuses on the importance of marketing information in gaining a more in-depth understanding of both the market in which the organisation operates and the customers it seeks to serve. It will prepare you to be able to:
- identify appropriate information and marketing research requirements for marketing decision-making,
- evaluate the importance of customer databases and their contribution to providing detailed market information to support marketing decisions,
- review the processes involved in establishing an effective database,
- explain the nature and scope of the research industry and discuss the importance of working in line with the industry’s code of conduct,
- explain the process for selecting a marketing research supplier, in domestic and international markets, developing the criteria to support the selection,
- explain the process for collecting marketing and customer information, using appropriate primary and secondary sources, and
- appraise the appropriateness of different qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to meet different research situations.
Stakeholder Marketing (Course 364)
This unit shows you how to recognise the nature and scope of an organisation’s diverse range of stakeholders (of which customers are part), and their relative importance to the marketing process and the market-oriented organisation. It will prepare you to be able to:
- assess the relative importance of organisational stakeholders on the marketing function, and the impact they have on the organisation’s marketing activities,
- explain the importance of “relationship marketing” in the context of the organisation’s stakeholders in achieving stakeholder interest, involvement, commitment and loyalty,
- explain how the marketing mix can be effectively co-ordinated to support internal and external stakeholder relationships,
- explain how to co-ordinate the communications mix to communicate effectively with the organisation’s stakeholders in line with budget and time requirements, and
- evaluate key methods for measuring the success of marketing mix and communications activities.
You need to have
To study the Certificate, you will need to have either:
- a minimum of two A levels,
- any general Bachelors or Masters degree,
- the CIM Introductory Certificate in Marketing (Level 2 or 3),
- an NVQ or SVQ Level 3 in Marketing,
- an NVQ or SVQ Level 4 in any other subject,
- an international baccalaureate,
- another appropriate qualification approved by CIM, or
- commercial experience in business and/or marketing so that you can successfully complete the Level 4 entry test.
General business and/or marketing experience in a support role would be helpful but is not essential. Note: qualifications over ten years old might not be considered.
If English is not your first language, you will also need to provide evidence of at least IELTS 6.5 proficiency or Trinity ISE III/IV.
What to expect
The Certificate typically takes between 8 to 12 months to study, though every student is different and some fall a long way outside this range. If you have a good idea of how much study time you’ll have each week on average, check the diagram for a closer estimate (a "session" is about an evening's work, i.e. two to three hours).
Assessment
Each unit has its own assessment; each assessment is different. Marketing Essentials has a three-hour exam, Assessing the Marketing Environment requires you to do specified preparation which you take into an exam, Marketing Information and Research has a marketing research project, and Stakeholder Marketing requires a research report. All the assessment is practical: based on either your own workplace or on real-world situations described to you in a “case study” brief.
There’s more on assessment on our CIM assessment page.
Fees
Our fees cover our course; you will have additional CIM fees. CIM charge a membership fee which you pay each year. This varies with where you are in the world. CIM also charges assessment fees. These vary according to the type of assessment you are doing (exam style or assignment style). CIM will inform you of their fees; note that fees tend to change each summer.
There’s a full CIM course information pack on our Downloads page.
Cheltenham CIM course fees
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Extra study
We run courses that, if you do your part, set you up for a safe pass. It is useful (in getting higher grades and showing professionalism, for example) if you reserve some time to keep up with developments in marketing and business. You can do that through newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, the Internet and the advice in your course materials. It will always help you if you look out for real-world examples of the things which you’re studying.
Transition (2002 syllabus to the 2008 syllabus)
In July 2008 CIM introduced the 2008 syllabus for their Certificate programme (the one described in this information pack); this replaces the 2002 syllabus which has its last assessments in June 2009. If you are a current Certificate student who started but has not yet completed your study on the 2002 syllabus, you will “transition” to the 2008 syllabus carrying your passes forward as credits:
- Marketing Fundamentals can be used as a credit for Marketing Essentials,
- Marketing Environment can be used as a credit for Assessing the Marketing Environment,
- Customer Communications can be used as a credit for either Marketing Information and Research or Stakeholder Marketing,
- Marketing in Practice can be used as a credit for either Marketing Information and Research or Stakeholder Marketing.
You will be awarded the Certificate at the level where you have passed the majority of your units. If you have two units from each syllabus, the award will be determined by which integrative unit you have passed: Marketing in Practice or Stakeholder Marketing.
