Whether you have a robust marketing department or are looking to add your first marketing professional as a startup, hiring an intern to work in marketing is a great decision. A marketing intern can bring a lot to the table and offers an immediate impact to your business without the commitment and salary of another full-time employee.
Here are 5 ways a marketing intern can make it worth your while:
#1: A Marketing Intern Provides Social Media Insight
Social media is essential for any business. Whether you operate a landscaping company or design and sell shoes through e-commerce, you should have a social media presence. Here’s how a marketing intern can make it better.
A marketing intern will have deep familiarity with social media platforms and trends. These concepts are greatly emphasized in today’s marketing classes around the world, and there is even the ability to specialize in social media marketing at certain universities. This allows a marketing intern to walk into your company armed with information and insight into the latest shifts in social media.
Plus, many interns are heavy social media interns in their personal lives. Statistics say that anyone between the ages of 18 and 25 is accessing Instagram on a daily basis and is probably logging into Facebook three or four times a week, if not more. These platforms are inherently familiar to your new marketing intern, whereas social media might be a new skill for an older professional.
#2: Gain Fresh Strategic Perspective
A marketing intern comes to your business with a unique capacity to see your marketing strategy, assess it as an outsider and newcomer, and provide feedback. This can be feedback on influential aspects of your marketing strategy, such as the misuse of a color combination or pointing out that a particular piece of collateral doesn’t match your branding guidelines. If you empower a marketing intern with substantive work experiences and functional tasks, you are even more likely to see a rate of return in terms of fresh ideas and insight. This energy could truly jumpstart your marketing efforts.
To capitalize on this benefit of a marketing intern, you need to find a student or recent graduate with prior marketing knowledge. Ensuring an intern has this necessary experience is time consuming and difficult for a business. When a business needs top marketing talent, skills360 can step in and connect you with several amazing interns.
#3: Add a Cheerleader to Your Team
It probably isn’t in the formal job description, but your marketing department is inherently tasked with being the “group motivators” of your organization. As the individuals responsible for brand management, social media, and advertising, a marketing department consistently and constantly tells potential customers the benefits of your product or service.
Whether you hire a former cheerleader or not, a marketing intern has a knack for brining energy and enthusiasm to a marketing department. If you don’t have a full-fledged marketing department, or maybe an intern will be your first dedicated marketing professional, don’t worry. That energy is contagious and is certain to spread throughout an organization.
#4: Create Cost Savings Without Cutting Your Marketing Efforts
Startups and small businesses often struggle with the decision to hire a marketing professional. It is a task that can be handled by other employees in the office; for example, the sales team can undertake a marketing campaign as part of their sales efforts. Yet, you lose out on marketing knowledge by neglecting to hire someone specifically for marketing.
If your business is grappling with this cost vs. benefit analysis of a dedicate marketing professional, then a marketing intern is an excellent option. You can still operate your marketing department on a tight budget, dedicate financial resources to collateral and campaigns, and still see increased output from your marketing team. Simply put, placing an intern in your marketing department is a smart investment in your marketing capabilities, without the worrisome financial commitment.
#5: Push Specific Projects to Completion
Perhaps you wanted to start a new social media channel or create a new t-shirt design. Yet, other work is more demanding and attention is focused on more immediate deadlines.
These lingering marketing plans may live in the back corner of your mind and at the end of your to-do list, but they are having more of an impact on your business than you think. Marking these ongoing tasks as complete gives a morale boost to a team and makes room for new initiatives. The perfect person to take on these incomplete projects is a marketing intern.
Find Your Marketing Intern
Facilitating a marketing internship isn’t a priority for every business, but it should be. At skills360 we provide the resources, support, and expertise you need to successfully host a marketing intern and see a greater positive impact on your marketing efforts. Visit skills360.com to learn more.