What I Learned as a Marketing Intern (That I Didn’t Learn in School)

After a little over 5 and a half months of soaking in knowledge at RED66 Marketing, my marketing internship has come to a close. Throughout the way, I’ve learned more than I thought I would and have expanded my skill-set farther than any collegiate class I’d taken thus far. 

Here’s my take the lessons I've learned from my internship and why I recommend this experience for “green” marketers in the field. 

1. SEO & Branding

Sure, I had talked about SEO in school—I’m pretty sure I even wrote a paper on it. But to use it in the field? To put SEO into practice and learn how to uniquely optimize pages per specific location for a franchise? 

Before my internship, I had never done anything like it. Not only did I learn what SEO was through internal training; but I was able to put my training into practice for real-life clients.

As for branding, my knowledge on it was limited. I knew what a “brand” was—or maybe I thought I did. Through my internship, branding took on a whole new meaning. 

Branding is more than just brand fonts and colors—it consists of the company's values shown through their product line, their business and company culture decisions, and what problems they wanted to solve for their customers. I learned about this on a technical level, and quickly realized the importance this had on the client’s success.

2. How to Put Yourself Out There

Something school won’t teach you is how to put yourself out there. You can read any book, write every how-to paper, or watch any video; however, you won’t actually develop this skill until you’re put in the spotlight to do so. 

My internship taught me the importance of making a way for yourself. It can be anywhere from stepping out of your comfort zone to network (that’s how I got this internship!), asking for help or learning something new, or grabbing at an opportunity that comes your way. It won’t always be comfortable, but that’s how you grow. 

Through RED66, I was consistently surrounded by a work culture developed by the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). This system prides itself on planning for the future; both for the company and for each employee’s professional development. 

The most impactful thing to me about EOS was creating a strategic and measurable plan on where you wanted the company to go and how you were going to get there. This included creating educational and professional development goals every quarter. Even after school, you truly never stop learning!

3. Project Planning and Communication

As an intern, I was a part of a team for projects that counted for more than a grade. As a student, I’d often groan at group projects, because I wasn’t sure if I’d end up doing most of the work or if it would be a functioning team. 

As a RED66 intern, I was always part of a functioning team. I was kept accountable for due dates and project requirements. Additionally, I was expected to ask for help when I needed it, clarify questions, and communicate on project timelines and deliverables. As an intern, I consistently filled out project planners—these were consistently reviewed, so that I could produce the best content that I could. 

Putting the Lessons Learned From My Internship into Action

Would I recommend taking on an internship? Absolutely. 

My experiences that I learned on the job as an intern prepared me far better than any marketing 101 class. It provided me with so many experiences that I wouldn’t trade for the world. 

After completing my internship, I can go forth into upcoming roles with confidence and a fresh skill-set, a new perspective on what marketing is and what it's meant to be. As a marketer, I am part of something greater than myself and am solving world problems—one blog, email, and social media post at a time.