4 Tools To Have Under Your Belt

Hi! My name is Paula Cuerquis and I am a junior advertising student at Temple University. Wrapping up my second internship thus far, I’ve learned a lot about the do’s and don’ts of the advertising industry. Whether it be about brief writing, data analytics, concepting, content creation or even media placement research, my past and current internships have taught me so much about the grit it takes to get ahead. One of the many things my internship at Flackable, a PR and Digital Marketing Agency in Center City, Philadelphia, has offered me is the ability to learn and use platforms that are essential to any advertising agency. Listed are 4 tools any person in advertising should know:

1. Hootsuite: Let’s face it. We’re at the age of likes, retweets, pins, snaps, shares, etc. Reaching our target audiences have never been simpler. For someone who wants to go into social strategy or community management, say hello to your new best friend—Hootsuite! Hootsuite is a great application to know because it pre-sets posts for you AND shows you the analytics of any and all of your social media channels. When in need of a social media management tool, Hootsuite should be your go-to!
2. Cision: PR isn’t going anywhere. With Cision, you can find the contact of anyone or everyone. Working at Flackable, I had to do a lot of media placement research for clients. Where can we get a story published? How do we get a story published? Who do we pitch to? Those are all questions Cision can answer. Think of it as a digital ‘Yellow Pages.’ If you need an name, email, or publisher, Cision can find it for you.
3. Adobe Photoshop: I can’t tell you enough how thankful I am of my mediocre graphic design skills. Nowadays, employers are looking for people who can essentially “do it all.” Although you don’t have to be an expert, it’s never a bad thing to have that skill set under your belt. Although my role at Flackable was to assist the Account Executives on day-to-day client tasks, I was able to utilize my Photoshop skills and create Facebook covers, email blast headers and social media content for various clients. If you’re trying to tackle on the beast that is Creative Cloud, I highly suggest Lynda.com!
4. Canva: Last, but certainly not least, to my people who just can’t get Photoshop down… not to fear, Canva is here. This is the best platform to use for quick and easy content creation. You can design resumes, cover letters, Instagram posts, collages, banners– you name it! Canva is your saving grace for all things creative. It’s quick, easy and simple to use.