Marketing Jobs

Marketing roles span the full journey a customer would take with a brand, from market research and product positioning, to lead generation, sales enablement, and customer retention. In South Africa, the field encompasses the following seven career segments:

• brand and strategy, which includes roles such as a marketing assistant, a brand coordinator, a brand manager, a marketing manager, and a head of Marketing or chief marketing officer (CMO);
• digital and performance, which ranges from a digital marketing specialist, a performance or growth marketer, and an SEO/SEM specialist, to a paid media manager, a marketing automation specialist, and a customer relationship manager (CRM) manager;
• creative and content, from a copywriter and a content strategist, to a social media manager, community manager, videographer, designer and/or user experience (UX) writer;
• data and insights, which includes roles such as a marketing analyst, a market researcher, a customer insights manager, and a product marketing analyst;
• product and partnership, which encompasses jobs such as a product marketing manager (PMM), a partner marketing manager, a channel marketing manager, and a trade marketer, especially in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG);
• events and public relations (PR), across events coordinator or events manager roles, PR officer or manager jobs, a communications lead, and the role of a sponsorships manager;
• specialised verticals, such as an ecommerce marketer, loyalty retention marketer, email lifecycle marketer, or a B2B demand generation lead.

While the public sector and state-owned enterprises employ marketers in corporate communications, citizen engagement, and brand management, the majority of need for marketing professionals can be found in private sector industries, such as:

• in FMCG, such as Unilever;
• in retail or ecommerce, such as Shoprite Holdings;
• in the financial services (i.e. banks, insurers, fintech), such as Investec;
• in telecoms, such as Vodacom;
• in the automotive industry, such as Toyota;
• in travel and tourism, such as African Overland Tours;
• in media and entertainment, such as Ster–Kinekor;
• in healthcare and pharma, such as Cipla;
• in education, such as Curro;
• in tech/SaaS, such as Shift ONE Digital;
• in non-profit organisations (NPOs) and the development sectors, such as the South African Red Cross Society.

You can expect an agency role to be fast-paced, offering multi-client exposure, tight deadlines, together with a strong creative and project management culture. Working in an agency is therefore great for building a portfolio quickly, and learning to pitch to clients and the media. Hours can be demanding; and budgets will vary from one client to another.

An in-house or client-side role, on the other hand, will require a deeper knowledge of a single brand, longer strategic horizons, and closer alignment with sales when it comes to the product or service you are selling. Expect better stakeholder influence, and a clearer career ladder.

A third option is to work in a hybrid fashion, or as a freelancer – which is a role that many South Africa marketers have taken on in recent times. Others operate boutique consultancies, offering social media, content related, pay-per-click (PPC), and design services to their clients.

There are six core skills that are in great demand – commercial thinking, digital fluency, data literacy, brand and storytelling savvy, ability to manage projects and stakeholders with aplomb, and excellent navigation of the South African context.

You can break into marketing without a degree, but certain credentials are likely to accelerate the hiring process. These include:

• degrees and diplomas: BCom/BA in Marketing, Communication, Brand Management, Business Science, or Digital Marketing; diplomas and higher certificates from South African universities and private providers;
• short courses & certificates: Google Ads, Google Analytics, Meta Blueprint, LinkedIn Marketing, HubSpot (Inbound, Email, Automation), PRISA (for PR/comms), UX writing, copywriting, and data viz;
• portfolios beat paper: For creative/digital roles, a portfolio of live work, case studies, and results often outweighs formal qualifications.

Salaries vary by city (and are often higher in Johannesburg and Cape Town), according to company size, industry profitability, and your track record. You are advised to use the below as a rough guide (total monthly cost-to-company or gross salary; wide bands reflect variance):

• marketing or brand assistant: R12k to R25k;
• digital marketing coordinator or specialist: R18k to R14k;
• social media manager or content lead: R18k to R45k;
• performance or paid media specialist: R25k to R60k;
• SEO or SEM specialist: R25k to R55k;
• marketing analyst or marketing insight manager: R30k to R65k;
• brand or product marketing manager: R45k to R90k;
• head of marketing or marketing director: R80k to R180k
• chief marketing officer: R120k to R300k (at large corporates, tech companies, and in the financial services industry).

Freelancers or consultants often bill R350 to R1 800+ per hour, or otherwise a project/ or retainer rate based on scope and outcomes.

Johannesburg and Pretoria (in Gauteng) have the highest concentration of mid-senior roles, in niches such as the financial services, telecoms, media, agencies, B2B, and enterprise tech. In Cape Town (Western Cape), on the other hand, there are plenty of startups and scale-ups, as well as roles in eCommerce, retail, design/creative agencies, tourism/hospitality, and at SaaS hubs. Durban (in KwaZulu-Natal), a third major destination, tends to see a focus on FMCG manufacturing and trade marketing, retail, logistics, and tourism roles; while secondary hubs such as Gqeberha, Bloemfontein, Polokwane, and Nelspruit, as well as various regional towns, often feature when it comes to trade marketing, retail, and public sector communications roles.

While you can certainly make a lateral move – such as from content to product marketing, especially if tied to measurable revenue outcomes – the average career path in marketing looks something like this:

• intern or marketing assistant →
• coordinator or junior specialist (i.e. in social media, content marketing, SEO, PPC, or email marketing) →
• specialist or manager (i.e. in branding, digital marketing, product, CRM, or events) →
• senior manager or lead (i.e. in cross-channel ownership, or budget control) →
• head of marketing or director (i.e. in team leadership, strategy, or P&L input) →
• CMO or GM (i.e. in enterprise strategy, board reporting, or international markets).

It’s important to begin creating before you are hired. Start a blog, a LinkedIn page, or a TikTok account – to showcase content and engagement. Run free or low-cost campaigns for friends/NPOs/startups, to build case studies. Complete self-initiated projects, such as a brand audit or a social media plan for a favourite product. Use free tools to create mockups, such as Canva, Google Analytics demos, or HubSpot free tiers. And enter competitions or hackathons, to gain recognition and endorsements.

While no two days are the same, the following activities are typical across five roles:

• brand managers: review performance dashboards, brief agencies on campaigns, plan product launches, align with sales on messaging, and attend strategy meetings;
• digital/performance marketers: check pacing and CPA/ROAS, run creative analyses, launch/iterate experiments, tweak bids/segments, perform QA tracking, build/update dashboards, and sync with sales/eCommerce on inventory and promos;
• content or social managers: perform community moderation, draft scripts or captions, brief designs or videos, schedule posts, secure influencers, track reach/engagement, and plan campaigns tied to launches and seasonal events;
• product marketing managers: define personas, positioning, and messaging, run win/loss interviews, enable sales with decks/battlecards, launch GTM plans, and measure adoption and retention.

Read more on what a brand manager does, as just one example, here.

Employ multiple benchmarking sources, such as recruiters, peers, and job boards; then present a value map, listing the revenue, pipeline, or cost-saving outcomes you’ve delivered.

When you negotiate the nitty-gritty of your total compensation, be sure to include every possible aspect, from your base, bonus, medical aid, and any pensionable contribution, to your device/data allowance, training budget, WFH stipend, and leave allocation.

Experts also suggest throwing in a line to frame potential mutual success, such as “To deliver the optimal outcomes for the firm, the salary range I’m targeting is [figure here].”

While the best SA (and global) marketing teams integrate both brand marketing and performance marketing, it is importance to differentiate the two.

In brief: brand marketing builds demand; performance marketing harvests it.

Read more in this Designity article.

To increase your productivity on the job, employ AI for drafting briefs/outlines, for keyword research, for subject line ideation, creative variations, data cleaning, and exploratory analysis. It can also be helpful in scaling A/B creative, for cluster keywords, to summarise research, and to personalise lifecycle messaging.

Remember that human oversight is necessary to verify facts/claims, and for POPIA-compliant data use. No sensitive customer data should be utilised in public tools, and clear disclosure of what has or will be used going forward should be provided, where appropriate.

Here’s an article to help you upskill on the ethical use of AI in digital marketing.

In brief, audit, prioritise, plan, align, build, and deliver.

Read more in this Marketing Trainer article.

You could start by listing 30 dream employers, setting alerts, and connecting with hiring managers on LinkedIn with value-driven messages. However, your best starting point is probably to sign up on a user-friendly and professionally run job board, while also pursuing leads on LinkedIn, company career pages, and creative/tech communities.

Also consider approaching specialist marketing and creative recruiters for mid-senior roles, and joining Slack/WhatsApp/LinkedIn groups, industry associations, meetups, and webinars.

To get into product marketing, you should ideally build expertise in positioning, pricing, competitive intelligence, and sales enablement. Run customer interviews and own a launch end-to-end.

When it comes to growth/performance marketing, you’ll need to show an affiliation for analytics, experimentation, CRO, and lifecycle. Show revenue impact with dashboards and cohort analyses.

Read more about the difference between the two, here.

Here are five astute focus areas:

• prioritise owned channels: SEO, email, WhatsApp, and community;
• repurpose content: one anchor asset → reels, carousel, blog, email, thought-leadership;
• employ UGC & creators: micro-influencers with real engagement beat pricey macro-influencers;
• have a geo and audience focus: start with your most profitable segment/location;
• do relentless testing: low-cost experiments, kill losers fast, and scale winners.

For more inspiration, watch this YouTube clip : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUeeVU-OoCM.

You should display strategic clarity (category, positioning, customer segments, and pricing input), operating rhythm (reliable planning, cross-functional alignment, and on-time delivery), team performance (hiring, upskilling, vendor ecosystem, and culture), financial stewardship (efficient budget allocation, forecast accuracy, and profitable growth for your firm), and clear brand & demand measures (balanced investment).

Read more, here.

It’s a good idea to undertake at least one short course per quarter, or a deep dive project; to find a senior SA marketer to approach for mentorship (in exchange, you could offer to assist him or her with a project that is short staffed); to write articles, speak at conferences, and share your case studies in journals as a thought leader; to attend all the industry events you can for credibility and networking, and to enter high-profile competitions; and to take on side projects, such as launching a small eCommerce store, newsletter, or online community to practise end-to-end growth.

Yes they can, but subject to valid work permits or visas and employer sponsorship. Roles demanding scarce skills (data/analytics, performance, product marketing) may have better prospects. Conversely, South Africans seeking remote jobs can work for global companies if time zones and compliance allow; ensure tax and contractor status are handled correctly.

There are six things you can do:

• define your positioning – e.g. “Performance marketer specialising in eCommerce apparel”;
• set measurable targets – e.g. 30 applications/week, 5 networking messages/day, 2 portfolio updates/week;
• build cornerstone assets – e.g. one flagship case study with clear results; one polished portfolio site;
• provide proof of work – e.g. a downloadable growth plan or content calendar sample, tailored to a target employer;
• give references that matter – i.e. former managers or clients, who can speak to measurable outcomes;
• keep receipts – i.e. of screenshots, dashboards, campaign IDs (with sensitive data redacted) to verify your claims.

For additional techniques to advance your digital marketing career, click here.

Marketing in South Africa is vibrant, commercially meaningful, and increasingly data-driven. Whether you’re aiming for brand leadership in FMCG, growth roles in fintech and SaaS, or content in the creative industries, the winning combination is customer insight + measurable outcomes + cross-functional collaboration. If you build a portfolio that proves you can turn budgets into growth – ethically and efficiently – you’ll stand out in any city, and at any seniority level.