What It’s Like Being An Intern at a Digital Ad Agency

Working for a digital marketing and advertising agency sounds intriguing to many. The Ad Company is a perfect place to intern if you are looking to gain industry knowledge and if you have an interest in digital marketing, advertising, and writing. However, most people have the completely wrong idea of what digital marketing really is. Here’s to putting all of those fallacies to rest and learning the real work that goes into interning at a digital ad agency.

You do not sit on Facebook or other social media sites all day

You mean you don’t get to scroll through your Facebook feed all day and like funny cat videos all day? Bummer, I know. I cannot count the number of times I have been asked some variation of “So do you just mess around on the internet all day?” The short, sweet, and to the point answer is no.

If I am doing social media, usually I am using Hootsuite (link to hootsuite), WordPress (link to wordpress), or Hubspot (link to hubspot) to schedule my posts and interact with others. Interning at a digital ad agency takes social media to a whole new level. I learned how to create ads on social media, how to target specific qualified leads, and how to write valuable content. It isn’t just scrolling around aimlessly “liking” things you see. There is definitely a method to the madness that requires time and patience to learn.

You learn about your clients and what they do

When you work for an ad agency, the client base is diverse in what they do, who their target customers are, and what they desire from you when you work with them. This requires a heavy amount of searching through the major search engines, taking down information, and retaining all that there is to know about the industry your clients are in.

I have to admit, I didn’t ever think I would ever possess this much knowledge on stone countertops and lawyers when I chose to be a digital marketing intern. But I HAD to learn all of this information to allow myself to create quality content that is accurate and applies to the clients.

Your vocabulary blooms beautifully

I have loved writing my entire life. When college professors would assign papers and everyone in the room groaned “no” I would buzz happily in my seat saying “yes!!”. However, there was plenty of progress that needed to be made even though I was a strong writer in college.

I suffered from a bad case of the “that” syndrome. Next time you’re writing, take a second to look through your paper and see how often you use the word “that”. Often times, they are completely unnecessary and can be removed without harming your work.

There were many other writing tips and tricks that I learned while being an intern. Writing content for blogs and social media posts are easily became my favorite part of working for a digital ad agency. The ability to apply the research I gather and transform it into a well-executed blog, snazzy Facebook post, or interesting snippet to lure new customers to my clients websites is very enjoyable for me.

There is no “end” to your work

This probably sounds a little concerning if you are considering working for or interning at a digital advertising agency. There really is no end to the work, there is always more to do. More blogs to write, more social media posts to plan, and new information to be learned. I actually really liked that the work never ended. In past jobs, I would constantly be looking at the clock waiting for work to end. When you intern at a digital ad agency, this NEVER happens. I usually think I have more time than I really do and before I know it, it’s time to go home! Always having more work also teaches you how to be efficient at time management. Being busy is good, who doesn’t want work to feel like fun and pass by quickly?

Would I recommend interning at a digital advertising agency?

I firmly believe that you have to be the right type of person to work at a digital ad agency. It’s a great fit for me – I love to write, I am dedicated to my work, and I am able to think creatively and come up with my ideas. It also gave me the chance to learn the culture and vibe that is within digital ad agency life that I could never have received from college. If you have excellent time management skills, are a creative thinker, and are interested in marketing and advertising in the future, I highly recommend interning at a digital marketing agency.