Lessons Learned Behind the Screen

Hello! My name is Faith Kurtzman, and this semester, I have been working as a Digital Marketing Intern at Craft Concepts Group, a collection of eleven bars and restaurants in Center City, Philadelphia. My experience has been highlighted by learning all of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into social media brand management, including content creation, campaign strategy, cross-channel promotion, influencer outreach, event coverage, and evaluating analytics. 

Through this experience, I’ve learned that social media management requires careful strategic planning that goes well beyond what users see online. Each story, post, reel, and update from Instagram to TikTok to Facebook is intentionally curated. Between eleven locations, each with their own distinct brand personality, content is individually curated to cater to different consumer segments. 

My experience at Craft Concepts Group, in addition to being educational, has also been positive and fun. What I’ve discovered is that one of the company’s greatest strengths is its younger-aged staff. Marketing and operational departments comprised of employees between 25 and 35 bring fresh ideas, creativity, innovation, cultural understanding, enthusiasm, and of course, fun, to the workplace. 

I’ve also learned how to navigate some important digital platforms geared toward content planning and creation. In my internship, we use Monday and Asana for sharing content and marketing information, Metricool for planning and posting, CapCut for editing, and InDesign for graphics.

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Here is this week’s Metricool content plan, complete with to-be-posted stories, reels, images, and captions

My supervisor, Grace, has been an inspiration to me. Her marketing intuition, tech-savviness, ability to adapt to ever-evolving online trends, and passion for what she does are aspects of her work ethic that I admire and are skills and attitudes I will take with me in my future professional endeavors. 

My internship experience exceeded my original expectations. Social media marketing is far more intricate and disciplined than I previously thought, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given to see both the inputs and outputs of content creation. To any college student interested in advertising in the digital space, online marketing is a constant learning process that necessitates creativity and adaptability. My experience with marketing for bars and restaurants has been particularly interesting. Measuring the success of marketing efforts through real-time sales can be rewarding and insightful. To sum it up, social media marketing in my experience is a dynamic and creative outlet, both in business and personal contexts. Attached is some of my favorite content that I’ve helped create so far.