10 Things I Learned Interning at a Marketing Agency

After over a year at RedMoxy, it is strange to think about my time coming to an end. Not in a dying sort of way. It’s more of an end of era. I thought my final salutation would be a list of things that I learned interning at a marketing agency.

10 Things I Learned Interning at a Marketing Agency

1. Relationships Matter

In class, I learned about how word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful forms of marketing, and yup, that’s pretty true. Marketing is a really competitive agency, so building personal relationships with clients is essential for a marketing agency to thrive.

2. Good Writing Gives an Edge

I took a lot of English classes in college, so writing has become somewhat effortless over the years. Over the course of my college years interning and working with various clients, I have found that good writing gives an edge. Any company can always use a second set of eyes to look over something, and having someone on a team who can be that is really helpful.

3. Textbooks Only Get You So Far

You can have all the vocab memorized and know the basic strategy to tactic breakdowns, but none of that matters if you can’t apply it. Interning gave me ample experience putting the book and real-life experience together.

4. Extra Projects Lead to Extra Learning

Asking my boss for more to do and/or seeking out my own projects often ended up leading to the biggest learning experiences. There were a number of times when I would finish a project and step into my boss’s office to get a new one. If she wasn’t prepared for me to be done already, she’d explain to me what I was working on, showing me a new side of the company and the work we do.

5. It takes a Village

Marketing is very collaborative. Often projects need second opinions from various marketers, but then they also need to be reviewed by the client as well. Marketing isn’t a simple A to B. Often, projects go through half a dozen revisions before a final cut arises.

6. You Can’t Market Without PR

Effective marketing involves a lot of PR and knowing how a message will affect a variety of publics.

7. Company Culture Matters

I truly believe that working in an environment that is comfortable makes for happier employees and better project outcomes. Some people work better with hard and fast deadlines and some work better in a more relaxed environment. Some like to keep their work and personal life separate, some like the two intermingled. But, company culture determines your comfort which plays a part in how much you care about the company and its success.

“Mind over matter” plays a role of course, but let’s be real. We are human, and we all want to be happy.

Oh, and if you are wondering, I love RedMoxy’s company culture!

8. Company Bonding is Important

I’ve worked at companies who didn’t put eggs in the “company bonding” basket. There is nothing necessarily wrong with this approach, but as a “newbie” entering a company of people who knew each other company bonding matters. “Company bonding” was really helpful for me to feel like I belonged in the company. 

Work culture trends are moving in this direction as well. We’ve seen companies move away from cubes and such. This is another one of those things. People aren’t keeping jobs for life the way they did half a century ago. Employees are asking for more, and I believe that that sense of belonging and purpose really play into it.

9. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Being at the bottom of the totem pole for the last year meant that I had to do a lot of the data-entry grunt work and seemingly menial tasks that I did not always particularly enjoy. While I would never look back and say “that was so fun,” those tasks really helped me feel like part of the team. If I was doing those things, that meant my boss was not. She would be doing something else that took her particular area of expertise. You gotta work with what you have to be a well-oiled marketing machine.

10. Dogs Make Work More Fun

Bring your dog to work one day. It will make people happy.