Digital Marketing: Part Science Lab, Part Improv Theatre, Part Mirror

In a similar vein, the South Africa’s foremost firebrand chicken retailer, Nando’s, launched the much-lauded #RightMyName campaign, a deeply resonant digital marketing campaign that tackled the misspelling (as in auto-correct), of non-Western names by spell-checkers. With the tagline ‘Your Name is Not a Mistake’, Nando’s sparked a meaningful dialogue around cultural identity and inclusion, organically fuelling millions of user generated posts across social channels, and successfully aligning the brand with the cause. Such is the power of smart digital marketing.

Move The Needle

Unlike traditional marketing – which is the marketing diet most of us grew up on – digital marketing is the first marketing medium capable of watching you back. Literally. In fact, while traditional advertising mostly shouts at people (think retail radio! think all caps headlines!), digital marketing is nuanced and mercurial in that it evolves in real time based on factors like where you are, what you clicked on, how long you hovered on a webpage, who you’re texting, and even how fast you scroll. With digital marketing, everything, it seems, is measurable. 

Creativity, as we once knew it, is no longer king. Now it's in a polyamorous marriage of data, algorithms and psychology. In fact, today’s best digital campaigns aren’t just pretty – they’re personalised, performance-tested, and A/B-split (a form of multivariate testing) 400 ways to Sunday. The goal of a good marketer, then, isn’t just to create content anymore; it’s to engineer a feedback loop. Every scroll, tap, and rage-quit teaches the algorithm what works. And behind all of these is a literal director of operations, a savvy digital marketer. And that someone could be you.

How Do I Become a Digital Marketer?

The Red & Yellow Creative School of Business, Africa’s leading business school, offers up two ways to becoming a digital marketer. The first is an Advanced Diploma in Digital Marketing (ADDM), the first of its kind in Africa. This NQF level 7 online-learning programme is broken up into four modules over 2 years has a strong focus on analytics, strategy, and optimisation, as well as industry relationships and presentation. Practical, real-world assignments, research projects, written tests and other assessments will enable you to use and build upon your skills. Ultimately, you’ll learn how to formulate a marketing strategy in the digital age, how to create effective digital marketing assets, and how to use earned and paid digital marketing tactics to achieve optimal results.

The National Certificate in Advertising specialising in Digital Marketing

Second, but not least, is the National Certificate in Advertising specialising in Digital Marketing (NCADM). In this 1-year NQF 5 qualification, you’ll learn all the fundamentals of the marketing environment, from marketing strategy to how to put your customer first. You’ll engage with the latest successful tactics to bring campaigns to life and understand paid media and the value of reporting and campaign management.

This course is perfect for experienced marketers: needing to add ‘digital expertise’ to their portfolio of skills future marketers keen to ‘get into the game’ but lacking experience or accredited proof of their competence due to circumstance or inability to meet NQF-level requirements.

A World of Opportunity

A whole host of career paths are available for both Digital Marketing programmes. These include:

·      Digital Marketing Manager

·      Social Media Manager

·      SEO Specialist

·      Digital Strategist

·      Content Marketer

·      Client Service

·      Paid Media Manager

Don’t Swipe on This Page

Digital marketing has become one of the most popular career choices globally, and in places like South Africa, it’s gaining traction fast. More companies are allocating significant budget to digital campaigns, and job boards frequently list roles. This comes as no surprise. As a facet of marketing, digital marketing doesn’t just shape desire, it reflects culture in real time. Search trends, viral tweets, meme wars, cancel culture… it all plays out on the same stage.

In the words of Ilze Nel, Red & Yellow’s expert Advanced Diploma in Digital Marketing lecturer and programme manager, “Digital marketing forces brands to be useful, entertaining, or genuinely meaningful. Otherwise, people simply swipe on.”

Don’t swipe on this page, apply now!