I’ve been running the digital communications for the South African Book Development Council since June 2018. This includes managing three individual brands, each with their own objectives, channels, messaging and audiences. These are broken down as; National Book Week – the country’s official reading awareness week; the South African Book Fair – the country’s official national literary fair, and the SA Book Council - the representative body for the country’s book sector.

 

This includes putting together strategies, managing the implementation, community management, working with our Network Members to create new content, overseeing the copy writing process, managing websites, newsletters and running Ad campaigns. In March 2019, I conceptualised and launched a nation-wide campaign which included coordinating the roll-out between multiple private and government organisations. The campaign, titled #readbecause, was born out of a need to rethink the way that reading promotion was being done in South Africa.

 

By bringing together organisations such as Nal’iBali, Van Shchaik, the Publishers Association and the National Library we were able to showcase unity of purpose among the multitude of organisations who work towards promoting a reading culture in South Africa.

 

Merging my skills in P.R with my love for online, I’ve also put together and coordinated dozens of influencer engagements between prominent figures and brands, aligning them strategically based on niche markets. Some of my clients here include Bootlegger Coffee Company, Castle Lite, Cape Quarter and Standard Bank.

 

Over and above the work mentioned here, I’ve also assisted small businesses with a range of ad-hoc digital work, such as putting together campaigns and strategy, creating and setting up accounts, website development and design, Ad campaigns, etc. In 2019 I expanded our operations and added two individuals to the team. 

 

"Shakirah Dramat has managed the digital marketing and social media for the South African Book Development Council (SABDC) since 2018. The SABDC owns two national brands, National Book Week and the South African Book Fair. Our work is complex and abstract as we primarily lead strategy, research and policy for the South African book sector. Shakirah has made it her business to understand our work, taking our complex, abstract content and packaging it into easily digestible messages and formats. Shakirah has added significant value to our work."

 

Elitha van der Sandt

Chief Executive Officer

South African Book Development Council