Global Social Media Internship Experience and Career Growth
Digital Marketing Industry Overview:
Global Social Media Marketing (GSMM) is a part of the emerging industry of digital marketing consulting. Many small to medium businesses have begun to see benefits of growing a strong social media base to help drive consumer traffic, whether it’s for online e-commerce traffic or to indirectly drive consumers to brick and mortar establishments. Over the last decade, many companies have found that digital marketing is quickly becoming easier and more efficient than traditional mass marketing to unrefined audiences. Common industry tools, such as Google Analytics, Google Adwords, and FacebookAds, have become instrumental in targeting and segmenting specific audiences for respective businesses. The reason for this shift from traditional marketing can be explained with a simple, intuitive approach. In the online world, users are easily tracked by cookies through IP addresses and with this established line companies are able to track user likes/dislikes and trends to implement more fitting marketing tactics that cater to their needs. This differs from traditional marketing such as TV ads, which are used on a mass scale to varied audiences allowing for a greater reach, but the audiences are unrefined, so quantifying conversions and the effectiveness of marketing tactics is lacking through the use of this large-scale method. Mass marketing methods such as these are not ineffective which is why large companies still compete with each other for ad spaces like Super Bowl commercials, but for small businesses that lack large budgets, digital marketing has become a more effective way to gain results that are quantifiable.
The other side of GSMM is Education Technology. The EdTech industry is also an emerging area that GSMM looks to get a grasp on. This trend has become more popular as society has become more digital and tech-based. At the moment, public schools ranging from K-12 and colligate institutes are trying to find new ways to better help students learn. With a diversity of students comes a diversity of learning methods and the introduction of EdTech enables teachers to provide alternatives methods of teaching to better cater to the different ways the diverse student population can learn. Some of these new innovative trends include personalized online courses, augmented/ virtual reality, and professional development for teachers in public schools. Having students become more adept with the Internet of Things (IoT) and exposed to these tools at an early age will help with a smoother transition into their careers. An example would be G Suite technologies which include Google Docs, Google Excel, and Google Spreadsheets. These tools are used across all industries and the idea is to already have students equipped with the ability to use these tools preparing them for any job field.
Social Media Consulting and Education Technology Company Overview:
Global Social Media Marketing, LLC. is a licensed Social Media consulting company for small to medium sized businesses and also provides EdTech services for public schools and EdTech conferences. GSMM is considered to be in the startup phase of its life, where the social media consulting aspect of the business is the main focus, but the company still continues to expand into the EdTech industry with new services. GSMM handles most of its business online but it is based in Denver, Colorado where the CEO, Benjamin Kepner, currently resides. Because most of the services provided can be handled in an online setting; this allowed me to work from the comfort of my laptop in Athens and Atlanta during the summer.
The size of the company varied throughout my time there as the CEO is continuously searching for new interns, a popular trend most startups partake in. The company size ranged from 2-5 people, who all worked and communicated in an online atmosphere via emails, texts, calls, and video chats. My job title as Digital Marketing Manager encompassed several tasks that are normally associated with the job title as well as other tasks outside of the job description that needed to be accomplished for the forward progress of the company. These tasks will be covered later in the report.
The main objectives for Global Social Media Marketing are to provide small businesses with the essential tools needed to grow their presence on social media as well as other minor services mentioned before including EdTech innovations. Currently, pricing is dependent on the customer’s needs which may vary from client to client. GSSM does provide an extensive amount of services ranging from Social Media Marketing plans to Social Media Partnerships to Google AdWords. Pricing is also dependent on the length at which our services are needed. As a startup company, our pricing has to be flexible because of our lack of market share in the industry and also because of customer budgets that have a wider range based on the size of their company and their needs. The CEO/Founder Benjamin Kepner has created GSMM as an online service provider which means most, if not all, services can be discussed and implemented online. From the onboarding of a new client to the implementation of social media strategies, to data analysis and presentations, all services can be done online, giving both service provider and clientele the flexibility needed to carry out other business tasks for both parties. To promote the business, we have established a presence in the industry by attending EdTech conferences and networking during those events, we have a fully functionally website with content blogs as well as service descriptions. Our social media presence encompasses several major platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Some specific marketing tactics used include providing case studies of prior clients to new clients and building a reputable partnership base. GSMM also implemented some of its own services for the website to optimize and drive traffic. One way of doing this is through improving SEO Yoast for the blog articles on the website. This search engine optimization allows for better search results in Google for anything in relation to GSMM.
Global Social Media Internship Overview
Global Social Media Marketing, as stated before, is a startup company so I was responsible for a variety of things within the company. Several tasks were directly in my field of digital marketing while others were outside of that field, but this allowed me to learn more about our business. With all these responsibilities, I was able to see the full vision of where the startup is heading. At the beginning of the social media internship, a majority of my tasks fell into the table provided above. The table encompasses my weekly tasks and the amount of time each duty required. At certain points of the social media internship, some tasks were pushed ahead of others based on what the CEO felt needed the most attention. In general, my typical day included 2-3 hours of editing blog articles to improve the SEO Yoast rating, 2-3 hours of managing our social media channels, and the remaining work day included miscellaneous tasks not mentioned in the table above to help with the development of the business as a whole. These tasks included R&D of our competitors, presentation editing for, CEO, Benjamin Kepner’s conferences and public speaking events, R&D for untapped market shares in various industries, and occasionally helping out the sales intern with cold calling and research into possible leads. These additional tasks would comprise the remaining 1-3 hours of my work days which were allowed to be flexible because all tasks and relationships related to the business were exclusively online.
In the beginning, the tasks shown in the table above were formatted for the preparation and improvement of our website/social media platforms. As more clients were brought on, I was allowed to use the skills I sharpened from improving our website and social media channels to then work on clientele projects. The tasks in the table remained virtually the same for these new companies because they also were looking to improve their social media platforms and drive traffic to their respective websites. The transition from working to build our business to working with clients to build their digital platforms was smooth because similar tactics were utilized. Small tweaks would be made based on the industry in which the client was stationed. This allowed me to work on projects in several industries including augmented/virtual reality, insurance, real estate, and local restaurants. To surmise my overall role within the marketing strategy, I believe my work improved the quality of the website. Improvement of SEO Yoast does so much for Google recognition. Our blogs were easier to find and identified when searched in Google which improved website traffic. I was also directly involved with optimizing clients’ social media platforms which brought revenue for accomplished and improved channels. All of my accomplished tasks freed up time for Benjamin to handle more complex tasks for current clients as well as bring on additional clients overall. This led to direct growth in business as we continued to gain more clients.
Digital Marketing Project/Task Description
The task I felt that brought most satisfaction to me as well as the company was working on the South Carolina Upstate Technology Conference presentation. This conference was described to me by the CEO as the most important conference of the year. This event was a great opportunity for Benjamin to network on the behalf of the company in efforts to gain insights and potentially monetize the other side of the business, Google for Education. The opportunity allowed for direct conversations with our target audience, educators and tech corporations alike. Having a speaker’s slot at the conference allowed for Benjamin and the company to be in the spotlight and I was tasked with editing and curating the information on the presentation to fit the audience. The presentation incorporated information about the importance of improving the education system in modern society. Improvements would be done through the introduction of Google Certified Trainers, such as Mr. Kepner, to teach educators in professional development sessions and then integrating Google technologies into classrooms in order to better prepare students for higher learning and future careers.
My involvement brought short-term value because of the exposure the conference brought to Global Social Media Marketing. Our presentation led to partnerships and interest by several attendees about our services on both social media consulting and EdTech features offered by the company. The long-term value brought about by my input into the presentation is indirectly building atop an established reputation which could potentially lead to similar conferences and events. For a startup company such as GSMM, exposure to the minds of our industry leaders in attendance greatly improves how we are viewed by competitors and consumers alike.
Digital Marketing and Technology Skills Learned
At the beginning of my time at GSMM, I was responsible for editing over 300 blog articles. These articles were developed over several years by the CEO and the articles have been periodically posted since the inception of the company and website. I first learned about the wonders of SEO Yoast in a social media marketing course I had taken the semester prior to the start of my social media internship so it was exciting to finally be able to use the knowledge gained in a classroom setting, in the real world. Optimizing SEO Yoast allows for search engines, like Google, to better direct users to what they need based on the information your website provides. With a plethora of articles that range from Event Marketing to Travel, website traffic could improve greatly by simply achieving good SEO Yoast for each individual article helping the overall website become more search friendly for Google. Other than the traditional proofreading I was tasked with optimizing metadata, the text snippets are seen in Google search under the title of the website that describes what that particular landing page entails. I also was responsible for optimizing the alt text, adding relevant pictures to articles, and creating focus keywords suitable for each individual article. I became proficient in this task by editing over 300 articles which brought improved search traffic and results for the website.
Another useful skill I have picked up while at GSMM is proficiency in the usage of Word Press and Google’s G Drive. Throughout the social media internship, most of the work and engagement was done through both Word Press, the interface used to create the company website, as well as Google tools based in all Gmail accounts. Word Press and the many tools incorporated with the content management system taught me how to analyze data and insights tracked on the program. Google Analytics allows the company to view things such as the number of sessions, page views, and bounce rate. The introduction to these insights allowed me to understand truly how digital marketers in today’s society are able to learn from customer behaviors, to then address faults and ask important questions for the overall improvement of the company. Optimizing SEO Yoast is a feature found in Word Press, so the daily use allowed me to sharpen my understanding of how websites function through Word Press. The other tool the company relied on was Gmail and G Drive tools. Prior to this social media internship, I rarely used my Gmail account and the various applications such as Google Docs. The company has ventured into the EdTech atmosphere through teaching Google tools and with the help of CEO and Google Certified Trainer, Benjamin Kepner, I was able to use the G Drive tools to their full potential. Most communications were via emails and Google Hangout calls, making Gmail a vital lifeline for the business.
Lastly, one of the things that really allowed me to develop was learning how to grow accounts on social media platforms. At the beginning of the social media internship, I was tasked with growing out our social media platforms. This process, though tedious, gave me hands-on experience in a field that piques my interest, social media marketing. The process taught me how most startup companies and social media influencers are able to grow their own accounts from scratch and gave me a greater appreciation for the work that goes into being a social media powerhouse. After working on the company’s social media platform, I was given the green light to take on clients and work on growing their platforms giving me more experience in different industries.
Global Social Media Marketing Company Strengths and Weaknesses
I believe one of the major strengths of the EdTech service is the marketing strategies that have not been put into full effort thus far in the life of the company. The idea of targeting public schools and challenging educators to enhance the learning experience of the next generation is a brilliant ploy. Once I was informed of this strategy I felt a sense of purpose with the work I contributed to launching this new project. I was proud of the prior work I had participated in, but this service felt like it is more than revenues and profits. Having first-hand experience learning from Benjamin, the tools and knowledge about Google products will be extremely beneficial to all exposed, especially students entering college. Preparing students for the modernized world is a great societal deed that I believe is lacking in this country and as more European countries invest in EdTech, I believe this will allow for companies such as GSMM to benefit while also providing a service that society can benefit from.
The other strength I would like to highlight is the efforts made by the CEO to find opportunities to participate in conferences and give presentations on our services. This allows GSMM to get great exposure to industry giants. For all of the conference presentations I helped prepare, feedback was always given by some well-known industry leaders and this allows the company to learn and grow. These conferences also encourage networking and this allowed GSMM to gain several partnerships. Some of these partnerships have given us leads into industries we otherwise would have missed.
The biggest weakness in the company would be a lack of marketing expertise. Prior to the spring of 2018, the company was a one-man show run by Benjamin Kepner, a UGA Marketing graduate, with almost 8 years of marketing experience. Outside of Mr. Kepner, the company is in the hands of interns. I believe the other interns would agree that Benjamin holds a wealth of knowledge that can only be matched by a few and it is great to have him as a mentor but the struggles of working on several different upper-level projects alone can stall the growth of the business.
Another minor weakness would be the structure of the team. During the social media internship, I was asked to do several tasks a lot of which varied drastically. I enjoyed the exposure to the wide array of things to learn and being that the company is still in its startup phase, I learned great points on entrepreneurship. The downfall of this was the inconsistency of jumping around from different department tasks. The problem would sometimes cause an overlap between interns. Job titles were assigned but these had to be flexible because of the size of the company.
Social Media Internship Recommendations
For the first weakness of lacking more marketing expertise, I think the solution is clear. Hiring a second expert would allow for a division of workload as the company onboard more clients. As an intern, we were not paid an hourly rate, and this is the probable reason behind the reluctance to hire another expert. If this solution is not fitting, I would suggest hiring interns that have already graduated from college and potentially has work experience in the fields required. The growth of the company will remain stagnant without more expertise to help guide interns as well as take on some of the workload that cannot be handled by the interns.
The solution for the second weakness would be to micromanage the tasks required of the interns. Having a little more structure could go a long way in overall productivity as the expansion of the company continues. Another solution to this weakness would be to hire more interns with specified job descriptions. I enjoyed experiencing all aspects of the projects I worked on, but I definitely liked some tasks more than others because I felt more in my comfort zone. The overall trend I can see with these weaknesses is that the company has great potential and is growing rapidly, but without more hands on deck the process is slowly stalling.
Social Media Internship Reflection Summary
Global Social Media Marketing allowed me to see the benefits of modern, digital marketing and how digital data has become so prominent in learning customer behaviors. Along with the digital marketing experience, I was able to learn from an entrepreneur about the metrics of how to start and maintain a successful startup company. As my mentor, Benjamin Kepner taught me how to enhance a brand while also using these skills to brand myself. Benjamin continues to learn every day as he earns certifications in a number of areas that allow him to add more services to his company. With that being said, I believe a good phrase to describe my time at GSMM would be, “Marketing yourself is just as important as marketing for a company.”
Personal Value
Throughout this social media internship experience, I have been able to learn from a former UGA grad, Benjamin Kepner. During the summer I was introduced to many industry lessons as well as life lessons which I am very appreciative of. I continue to stay in contact with Benjamin as he has become a mentor for me. I am able to ask marketing questions and personal questions alike as I get ready to graduate and enter the job market and with an asset like Mr. Kepner, I have become more assured in my career path. This social media internship has given me great work experience in my field while also giving me perspective on entrepreneurship and leading a startup to success. I would highly recommend this social media internship to fellow peers because of the range of work interns are exposed to. For marketing majors working toward digital emphasis, this social media internship has allowed me to become more familiar with subjects such as social media marketing, digital analytics, and Google AdWords. Many of the courses I have taken at UGA have touched on these subjects, but I was able to put what I learned in the classroom to use in the real world which I believe is the most efficient way to learn.
By: Voshon Ramcharan, Terry College of Business, The University of Georgia 2018
SOCIAL MEDIA INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE AT GLOBAL SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING