Summer Internship at Proactive

A summer internship at Proactive has been a transformative experience. I started on the 24th of April and will continue working here until I return to college this week. This internship has provided me with invaluable insights into the world of digital marketing, offering hands-on experience and the opportunity to develop both technical and soft skills for my career. 

In this blog I reflect on my time here and want to share with you what I learned, what I liked / disliked and how this experience will benefit me for my final year of college.

Top 3 Lessons Learnt

1. How to run a Paid ad campaign

I used Linkedin Campaign Manager, Meta Suite and Google ad manager to create, manage, and optimise digital campaigns. I set a budget and put down targeting criteria such as location, age and interest of the target audience for the ad to maximise CTR (Click Through Rate). The experience and skills gained from this have significantly enhanced my ability to drive strategic marketing campaigns within the clients brand guidelines and budgets, delivering a solid ROI from their marketing spend.

2. How to record data from analytical tools.

It was a struggle at first to navigate, but now I feel so comfortable using tools such as SEMrush, GA4, Google Search Console, and Meta Suite. I have firsthand experience analysing real-world data related to ad performance, website metrics, user demographics, and keyword statistics, including average monthly search volumes. Leveraging this data allows me to identify issues and uncover new opportunities for any project I am working on.

I can now gather data such as the number of users (new and returning) that visit the site, how high a client’s keywords are ranking, ad performance, and much more. 

3. How to optimise Meta titles/descriptions 

I have a high understanding of how Important SEO is in digital marketing. I have learned how to create meta titles and descriptions within googles character guidelines and how to make the title and description engaging to the target audience. I have also learned how to implement this data by accessing the backend of a website. Metadata is crucial for improving your website’s visibility on Google. By helping search engines better understand your content, effective metadata can lead to higher rankings. Additionally, it plays a key role in engaging users and increasing click-through rates.

Digital Marketing – Opportunities & Challenges

There was plenty to like about my internship as it related to my digital marketing role.

Likes
– Metadata. Making meta titles and descriptions is an area I enjoy, as it combines creativity with technical knowledge.
– Social calendars. Developing content calendars through consistent tone and voice has forced me to be more creative, which I enjoy.
– Analytical Tool Reporting. Seeing real world data and recording it has been very interesting and insightful for me.
– Audits. Doing audits for companies and giving recommendations enhanced my knowledge on the companies industry.

Dislikes
– Market research. While essential, I find market research can, at times, be somewhat tedious.
– B2B language. Creating B2B (Business to Business) social media posts was difficult due to the more formal and specific language required.

How has it benefitted me going into my final year of college?

Time Management: I’ve learned to stop procrastinating and manage my time effectively, which will be crucial for handling the workload in my final year.

Enhanced Research Skills: I now know how to construct better research for projects, ensuring any information I obtain is from a truthful / credible source.

Attention to Detail: Reading briefs carefully and understanding their requirements will reduce mistakes and improve my grades.

Analytical Tools Proficiency: The knowledge of analytical tools gained here will be invaluable for the Marketing Analytics module that I have in final year.

Legal Awareness: Knowing the importance of properly sourcing images and videos directly links to my integrated property law module next year.

Conclusion

This summer internship is the starting point to my professional career. I am grateful for everyone who helped me here over the summer at this fantastic marketing agency. I look forward to taking my learning here into my academic studies next month. Thank you, Proactive, for this incredible opportunity!

Naoise Burke