Internships are designed to impart a profession’s practical knowledge and experience to students or individuals looking to make headway into such particular fields. But why does anyone need a marketing internship? For the same reason, you would need an internship in Law, Medicine, or Investment banking to get familiar with the job’s demands, gain valuable experience, and become better equipped for a similar work environment soon.
So, how do you know if an internship in marketing suits you or if you are well suited for one? First, you need to understand what a marketing internship entails.
What Is A Marketing Internship?
A marketing internship is typically a temporary placement offered to young students (although individuals of any age can intern) to train aspiring marketers on standard practices of the marketing industry, like advertising, content creation, public relations, and social media posting.
Since the ultimate goal of most marketing campaigns is to increase brand awareness and engagement and increase sales, as a marketing intern, you’ll likely be undertaking clerical and administrative tasks related to a brand’s promotion and advertising.
Because every business needs some form of marketing, the possibilities are limitless for any up-and-coming marketer. Although a degree or soon-to-be-completed degree in marketing will be a plus for any prospecting marketing intern, most companies and agencies take on interns with relevant qualifications in similar fields, such as journalism, digital marketing, or business management.
Types Of Marketing Internships
Whether you’re pursuing a marketing internship as a prerequisite for a degree certification or just an experience to jumpstart your career in the industry, you need to pinpoint your strengths early on, as marketing is a wide and complex field.
Although it is advisable you seek out mentorship that would enable you to become a well-rounded marketer, there are a few marketing subcategories you may want to hone in on during your internship placement. They include:
- Product Marketing
- Public relations
- Advertising
- Social media marketing
- Brand design
- Sales
- Marketing Analytics
- Copywriting
The marketing and advertising industry certainly goes beyond these few classes. However, a strong fundamental understanding of these industry tenets bodes well for a marketing career.
Benefits Of A Marketing Internship
- Network Building: Making connections in a work environment can be invaluable for a recent graduate. From managers to co-workers and higher executives, you never know how many people you will meet during your internship who may help you or vice versa throughout your career. So endeavor to have a good workplace rapport and build bridges.
- Improved Communication Skills: Communication is key to any successful marketing team. An ability to ask the right questions, effectively communicate your ideas to a team, or simply confer a timely team meeting are skills an internship can impart to you.
- Self Discovery: Everything about marketing may excite you enough to want to be a career marketer. However, an internship can help you determine what marketing branch you’re naturally good at or find challenging.
- Knowledge Access: The standards and requirements of marketing agencies get altered and upgraded all too often. An internship lets you learn the trends and components that go into fashioning a marketing plan for your client. It allows you access to various tools used in modern-day marketing to analyze data and track brand performance.
- Business Skills: Hardly is there any profession where you’ll be more in tune with management concepts and proven strategies for creating a viable business enterprise like marketing. Hence, your marketing internship gives you valuable insights and experience to launch off as an entrepreneur should you desire a career change.