What I Learned as a Digital Marketing Intern

Hello, my name is Ryan Small, and I’m an Advertising Major with a concentration in Account Management. This summer, I had the opportunity to intern at Digital Results Now, Inc., a digital marketing company based in Chester Springs, PA. This internship taught me a lot and gave me real-world insight into what pursuing a career in digital marketing looks like.

What This Internship Taught Me

I started this internship in late June of this summer. Since this was my first internship, I was extremely nervous about entering a professional space as I was unsure whether or not I could keep up with all my given tasks/duties. However, I quickly got over the fear of that because my supervisor, Joe, was extremely welcoming of my inexperience. He understood that it was my first time doing something like this, and he made it extremely easy for me to learn the ropes. At my internship, I started off by managing client communication, doing things like taking calls and forwarding emails, etc. This basic work helped me gain a foundation for professional communication and client management. I didn’t think much of it at first, but looking back, it helped me progress tremendously and gave me first-hand experience of what client communication is like from a business standpoint.

As I progressed further into my internship, I started doing more digital marketing-related things, the main task was learning the Google Ads platform. I got to learn how our clients’ successful ad campaigns are run and managed, what their budgets are, where their ads are placed online, and how to track performance metrics revolving around the campaigns. It was certainly a lot to take in, but since I am on a computer nearly every day of my life, I took to it pretty quickly. Now, I’m pretty much able to navigate the entire platform on my own and have some knowledge of what I am looking at.

Advice for Others When Looking to Start an Internship

Now that I have been through the experience of getting and working an internship, I want to give some points of advice to those who are looking to do the same. First, I would say to build your network, as it can open up more doors than you would ever know. Taking time to connect with others can help tremendously when looking for a job or internship. My second piece of advice is not to be scared or nervous of a position you are pursuing. Because it’s your first internship, you have to realize that the supervisor often knows that you have little to no experience in the role you may be taking, so you have to go into it and be willing to learn and improve.

Overall, this internship taught me more than I could ever imagine while also giving me much-needed real-world experience that I can carry over to my resume and LinkedIn.