Three Months at Portent: My Life as an Intern

My internship at Portent is ending, and although I am sad to be leaving, I want to take the time to reflect on my past three months. Here are some thoughts I want to share for anyone out there looking for an internship in social media or something related to digital advertising. To the best of my ability, I have collected everything that I have learned and found most helpful regarding social media.

First and foremost, Facebook Business Manager became a really good friend of mine these past three months. I learned more about Facebook after coming to Portent than I ever knew before. The biggest take away I can give to any business is to get on Facebook. Social has become such a huge part of today’s marketing world and Facebook is a major component of this. No matter what size or who your target audiences are, you need Facebook. Then you can decide for yourself (or maybe get a professional opinion) what other channels are best for you. But, why is this so important? Facebook allows you to run ad campaigns and boost your posts towards a targeted group of people so that you have the best opportunity to sell your product to the people who would most likely want to buy it. The whole idea behind social media is that it gives you the ability to promote yourself to an audience and gain a following of people who like your brand. If your followers like you, they will share your name with others, so on and so forth. Social media allows you to connect and build relationships with the people buying your product in real time, a concept that didn’t really exist before.  Furthermore, Facebook Business Manager gives you access to the numbers behind everything you are doing so that you can analyze your business strategy and if need to, change it. These metrics are also offered on Twitter, YouTube, Google+, LinkedIn, and more. The better you promote yourself, the better your business will perform, and that is what social is all about.

Another thing I found very helpful (although maybe not the most fun) was devoting a couple hours a week to staying up to date on recent events in the digital marketing world. Sites like Mashable or Social Media Today, and even just searching within Google news are places I would do this. One thing I have learned at Portent is that there is always something new to learn, and you should WANT to learn it, especially when it concerns something that is relevant to your career. If you are really passionate about what you are doing, you will take the time to learn more about it. If you aren’t, you should probably switch careers.  Seriously, some of the smartest people I have ever met are located in this office. Yes, they have many more years of experience under their belts than I do, but they wouldn’t have gotten to where they are now if they refused to keep learning. Our CEO, Ian, constantly remind us to learn the $#!+ out of everything, and that is something I will take with me the rest of my career, whether I am performing on stage or sitting at a desk.

The digital marketing industry is rapidly growing. I think that there are still many people who aren’t aware of just how much it can positively impact a business. Social media and other forms of online paid advertising have really sparked my interest and is something I would like pursue for the next few years. What is also great about it is that the knowledge I have learned from this industry can be applied to other fields as well. These include things like PR, Marketing, Advertising, and more. Although each field has its own specialties, they are also very similar. Through social media advertising I have learned the process that goes into promoting a business or product. I have learned how to market a product to a specific group of people and the details and costs that go into advertising it. There are three types of media: paid, earned, and owned. Social media and PR work with these to grow your business and its reputation overtime. The online marketing world is so prevalent in today’s society and being able to be versatile in your work can be very beneficial for you. Digital advertising helped me get my foot in the door, and from here there are a number of directions I can go.

So, there you have it. Three beautiful months boiled down in three small paragraphs. For anyone interested in a social media career, I can tell you its loads of hard work and fun. The social world is constantly changing and updating itself, which is the reason it remains so interesting. Social is one of the many new forms of marketing, and if you want your business to succeed in this day and age, you have got to get your business online, simple as that. To end, I’d like to give a shout out to everyone at Portent who made my time here so awesome, especially everyone in the cool kids’ corner (you know who you are). Peace out for now, and remember, “It’s not goodbye, it’s see ya later.”