Marketers Association of Zimbabwe, (MAZ) a pioneer in offering training in Digital Marketing in Zimbabwe continues to break new ground following its recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Institute of Marketing Malawi.

The historic MOU will see MAZ offering training in Digital Marketing courses to students in Malawi.

Malawi becomes the second country in Southern Africa that MAZ is exporting its trainings to, following a same arrangement with Zambia last year.

This signifies the Association’s thrust to be a leading marketing body and impacting the Southern region and beyond.

The Digital marketing program has been one of the most sought after programs offered by MAZ and it has quoted the interest of neighbouring countries.

MAZ in 2020 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Zambia Institute of Marketing and a number of Zambian students have enrolled for the Certificate in Digital Marketing since then.

According to the MOU, MAZ will be responsible for offering Digital Marketing program while IMM will facilitate student recruitment for the programs.

President of IMM, Isabel Kachinjika said the dynamics of the marketing industry have evolved over time hence the need for marketers to upskill.

“Digital marketing enables us as marketers to better identify arising customer needs, develop new products and services, deliver services, and facilitate for the payment of the same. It is for this reason that we decided to partner with the Marketing Association of Zimbabwe in the delivery of a locally relevant digital marketing qualification which will equip marketing professionals in Malawi with the skills required to succeed in this new digital age.” said Kachinjika.

She highlighted that the importance of digital marketing cannot be understated.

“The world is now a global village and recent developments like the COVID-19 pandemic make it even more necessary for marketers to be able to connect with their existing and potential clients wherever they are,” she said.

MAZ Executive Secretary, Gillian Rusike said MAZ was excited to be a leading body in offering Digital marketing training across the region and beyond. He further highlighted that such partnerships as this with Malawi and Zambia come at an opportune time when the world has been reduced to a global village where boarder barriers are a thing of the past.

“What is exciting about this is that we are having marketing professionals from different markets in one set up hence sharing of ideas and experiences enriches the output” added Mr Rusike

“We are really excited with our regional penetration, we had an MOU with Zambia last year and we have enrolled students from Zambia and even some from Namibia and Botswana as well. Now we are moving into Malawi and we hope to take this program further in the region. Our desire is to be the pioneers of professionalism in the continent and beyond.” he said.

He said besides the regional students enrolling for the Digital Marketing program there were other students from as far as UK who were taking part in the program. Rusike said from 2016, when the first training was conducted by MAZ over 3000 Digital marketers have graduated from the Association and the program continues to be refined with time to meet the ever changing digital landscape. These include marketing managers, officers, media personnel, entrepreneurs (SMEs) and marketing teams of some of the leading corporates in Zimbabwe.

MAZ offers the following programs for Digital Marketing;

Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing Course (PCDM)

This is the leading professional Digital Marketing qualification currently being offered in Zimbabwe. Offering the program online has enableDDMAZ to widen its geographical coverage and attract students from countries like Zambia and the UK. The course is designed for individuals ready to expand their skills set in today’s internet driven market. It explores the several aspects of the new digital marketing environment and integrates them to current business operations.

Executive Certificate in Digital Marketing (ECDM)

The ECDM program is an 8 weeks certificate course designed for senior executives who will not find enough time to go through a detailed Digital marketing course. It is meant to equip participants with an appreciation of activities and roles of Digital Marketing professionals as well as the strategic aspects. The ECDM is ideal for Senior Managers/Executives from any field.

Certified Digital Marketing Expert status (CDMEXP)

The CDMEXP program is an upgrade from the Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing qualification. This program is an in-depth, practical Digital Marketing course that imparts expert level skills to students. It is composed of 6 Digital Marketing Master Class series sessions, Digital Strategy formulation exercise, a 6 months practical period and an evaluation and assessment stage, which students need to complete to earn the Expert status. Target students for this program are current holders of the Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing qualification or equivalence who need to upgrade their skills.