Marketing internship provides applicable work experience

Megan Nelson is a student at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, Indiana. She is an employee at Lake Land College (LLC) in Mattoon, Illinois.

The goal of my internship was to use online marketing to increase the college’s non-traditional audience, expand its brand, and get noticed on the Internet. Part of my assignments involved using avenues like Google AdWords to reach this goal. I spent the majority of my first two weeks researching Google AdWords and how it worked before I determined the best way to learn was to “dive in head first” and create one. I generated three text ads on AdWords and conceptualized a single video ad to reach adult students from start to finish. I also explored the possibility of advertising on Pandora Radio by gathering demographic information and creating a survey via SurveyMonkey.com  to help determine if that opportunity would be worth the investment.

During my time as the online marketing intern, I helped LLC  build a better understanding of AdWords and the benefits of using Google search. I was able to aid in the clarification and confirmation of who the target audience should be when we market on Pandora radio (adult students). I also firmly believe that the success I had in Google AdWords helped build a stronger online marketing presence that will influence future online marketing strategies.

While I accomplished many things for LLC during these past several weeks, I also made some accomplishments for myself. Over the course of my internship I was able to successfully analyze and determine target markets, develop online marketing, create ads while monitoring ROI, and write, cast, coordinate, direct, and produce a commercial. More than ever, I am confident I will be able to develop marketing not only for online but for print, television, and social media as well.

Hands on experience seemed to be the only way I was going to learn. It was the only way I could tackle that challenge and in it I found success. I’ve enjoyed this experience more than I had anticipated.  Now I realize what a valuable experience this was for me.  I have rediscovered my worth professionally and have a newfound confidence in myself that I did not have before I began this internship. And I had fun doing it.