D373: Marketing in the Digital Era

Marketing in the Digital Era is the shared foundation course for both M.S. Marketing specializations — the course that establishes 21st-century marketing thinking before students branch into either the Digital Marketing or Marketing Analytics track.

What D373 covers

The course examines the marketing skills needed to be an effective marketer today, teaching both a company and consumer perspective on how consumer value is created while achieving organizational goals. Learners build knowledge in core marketing areas: branding and products, consumers, communications, and technology.

It introduces strategic marketing tools for developing effective strategies for a relevant target market, and covers emerging topics — marketing automation, artificial intelligence, and data-driven communications — alongside the broader skills needed to keep evolving as a marketing professional in a fast-changing field.

The D373 performance assessment

Expect a performance assessment requiring a strategic marketing analysis for a target market, integrating at least one emerging-technology element (automation, AI-assisted targeting, or data-driven communication) into the recommended strategy.

Key topics in D373

• Company and consumer perspectives on value creation
• Branding, communications, and technology in modern marketing
• Strategic marketing tools for target markets
• Marketing automation, AI, and data-driven communications

Writing tips for D373

Follow the task instructions and rubric line by line

WGU performance assessments for D373 are graded against a fixed rubric, not classroom "vibes" — every rubric line has to be visibly addressed, usually with a labeled heading that mirrors the rubric language. Skipping a rubric point because it seems minor is the single most common reason a competent submission comes back "Not Yet Competent" for revision.

Ground your strategy in a real or realistic brand, not generic marketing theory

WGU evaluators are trained to distinguish genuine strategic thinking from a paraphrased textbook summary. Anchor your submission in the specific company, product, or scenario the task provides, and show the reasoning connecting your strategy to that brand's actual situation — not marketing platitudes that could apply to any company.

Because WGU is self-paced, don't let "no deadline pressure" become no submission

There's no weekly due date forcing progress, which means procrastination costs more at WGU than at a traditional term-based school — a stalled task can quietly eat weeks of a term. Treat your own target date for each D373 assessment as a real deadline.

Why students seek help with D373

Because this is a shared foundation course for two different specializations, students sometimes write generically instead of grounding the analysis in a specific target market and technology application — the rubric rewards concrete, applied strategic tool use over general marketing commentary.

How GradeEssays helps with D373

Share your target-market scenario and rubric, and your writer will build a concrete strategic analysis that applies specific marketing tools and at least one emerging-technology element, rather than staying at a general level.

Prerequisites and program context

D373 has no listed additional prerequisites and is shared between both M.S. Marketing specializations as their common foundation course.

• Master of Science in Marketing, Digital Marketing Specialization
• Master of Science in Marketing, Marketing Analytics Specialization

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