Things to Expect From a Social Media Internship

In the booming internet era, millennial students are more inclined toward social media internships. As a perfect combination of an adult who can understand work ethics and is youthful enough to stay in the loop with the internet trends, it is obvious that a social media internship seems to be an exciting start for your career. Social media has now become such a huge part of our lives that it will stay for the longest and any business that is not on social media will be losing a huge potential market growth. Not only is social media marketing trending, but the careers related to the field are also trending. 

When I first began my unpaid social media internship, my cash-strapped friends were not impressed. “So all you have to do is tweet and stuff? That is so easy,” they poked.

Don’t worry. I set them straight.

Like most college students, my friends are pretty savvy when it comes to social media because they grew up with these developing technologies. But what they failed to understand was the difference between using social media for fun, and using social media for business. One requires a device with Wi-Fi. The other requires research, strategy, creativity and analysis.

My last marketing internship is further proof that the art of social media management is no finger painting. So to validate my intern responsibilities, and prepare students starting their first internship experience, I’ve developed a list of things to expect from a social media internship.

You need to do research – This shouldn’t be news to anyone, but not including it on the list would be a serious offense. As a social media intern, you want to know everything you can about your brand, your competitors, your target audience … the list can go on and on. Be thorough. The more you research, the better insight you have to grow your social media following and interactions.

You need to build connections – In order to grow the brand’s social pages, you want to follow other pages that have similar interests or relate to yours in some way. Reach out to them, share some of their posts and try to have them share your own posts. If you don’t have a huge following on social yet, having a connection that does can go a long way to reaching a larger audience.

You need to stay updated on news – You want your social page to be a place people visit to find interesting posts, not just advertisements touting how great your company is. Keep updated on the news, quirky videos and things that are trending that can connect or relate to your brand. Knowing your audience and knowing how to share engaging content is more complex than you might think.

Start with goals to guide your activities – Just like you would never send out a random press release or distribute a generic brochure, you don’t want to aimlessly post on social media channels. You can burn a lot of time and worse, lose the interest of the friends and followers you have. A social pro will help map out what you want to accomplish, recommend the best channels to accomplish those goals, and design content with a voice consistent with your brand. This is the chance for your brand’s personality to shine through!

Growing your base takes time – Social media happens organically – it can’t be forced, and while technically you can buy friends and followers, people can sniff out phonies in no time. You want to attract and cultivate people who care about your service or product, and who will engage. Depending on your brand and the goals you’ve set out to meet, your target audience might be 1 million people…or it might be 100.

Feed and nurture your followers and friends – Most of us have been on Facebook at one time or another and know about friends who are either over posters, under posters, or who post annoying content. A social pro will help develop bright, engaging content so people want to follow, comment and share.

Changes are the only constant – As you probably found out the hard way, LinkedIn just did a major overhaul that pleased a couple of users but frustrated everyone else. Like all technology, just when you get used to something it’s likely to change. Social media experts are able to more easily track these “upgrades” and anticipate what’s coming.

Be prepared for negative posts that try to distract or upend your message – I’ve worked with clients who demanded that their social media channels be taken down at the slightest whiff of crisis. To me, that’s like rearranging chairs on the Titanic. Today, many crises play out on social media. And because of that, you have to communicate through those channels as well. Instead of pulling the plug, make sure that dealing with negative responses is anticipated in a social media policy and plan. That goes for dealing with internet trolls as well who post contrary, inflammatory or distracting content. With a plan in place, you’ll be ready when they inevitably appear.

How to Start a Career in Social Media

So, what does this mean for you, job seeker? Whether you're a starry-eyed college grad with a semi-useful degree or a burnt-out exec with a Twitter handle, the world of social media has something for you! I'll share a few things I've learned over the past few years, but full transparency here: I'm still slightly overwhelmed by some social media networks. So, maybe take everything I'm about to say with a big ol' grain of Himalayan sea salt.

1. Beef up your personal brand

If your social accounts are ghost towns, you've got your work cut out for you. This is 2024 Employers are Googling you, and they expect to see active social channels before they hire you to run theirs. (I was told once by a recruiting firm that they were instructed only to contact people with 500+ LinkedIn connections.)

First, here are some basics you'll want to have in place:

• Public accounts on at least 2-3 major social networks (for sure LinkedIn and Twitter).
• Clear, high-res profile photos (preferably professional headshots) on all public accounts. Use selfies sparingly, don't be cheesy, and make sure you're the only one in the photo.
• Complete bios with keywords sprinkled in. Don't know which keywords to use? Pull them from job descriptions for positions you want.
• Post regularly, and not only about personal things. Show you're paying attention to industry and world news. And please - talk like a human, not a robot.

Once you have the basics down, here are some ways to step up your game:

• Engage regularly online. Comment on other people's posts (if Instagram is your jam - people are forming comment pods now, which I think is both brilliant and a little ridiculous). Give shout-outs. Participate in Twitter chats. Attend meetups or other social media events in your area and connect online with the people you meet there. In other words, if all you're doing is pushing out content on your social channels, you're doing it wrong.
• If you have a passion (and a skill) for writing or photography, consider starting a blog or online portfolio to share your work. Then promote it on your social channels. This will also make it much easier for you to provide samples of your work when a potential employer asks for it (and many will). If you don't want the commitment of managing a blog or website, you can always publish on Medium or right on LinkedIn.

2. Leverage social job search features.

Would you believe me if I told you that I've gotten all of my post-grad jobs through LinkedIn and Glassdoor? (I know, how very Gen Y of me.) But in all seriousness, social job search is one of the best resources out there for job seekers, and recruiters are ALL over it since it's also one of the easiest ways to find talent. Here's how to do it:

• Follow companies you may want to work for on social, and follow people who work there as well (but don't be creepy about it).
• Set up job alerts on LinkedIn and Glassdoor - they will send you jobs that match your criteria. If you follow companies on Glassdoor, they'll also send you reviews of that company from employees and interviewees.
• Update your job preferences on LinkedIn to (secretly) let recruiters know you're open to new opportunities. And keep an eye on LinkedIn's jobs you may be interested in feature - these are also curated for you based on your criteria.
• Facebook is actually a great place to follow companies, and many companies have their own Careers pages separate from the brand page. Facebook is also experimenting with more recruiting features (such as job postings), so I predict that companies will increasingly adopt Facebook as one of their primary talent acquisition channels.

3. Join a local professional group and attend events.

Once in a while I get to attend monthly meetups with other social and digital marketers to hear from experts in the industry, and expand my professional network. And the best part is that it doesn't feel like "networking" (gross). I'm simply making online and offline connections with like-minded people who do similar work, and I've actually met several friends this way. We're all just figuring things out together. It's pretty awesome.

So, here's my advice: Find a professional group or association and start attending events. If you like what you hear and it's relevant to your work, get involved. How do you get involved? Ask them what they need, and do that. It's pretty simple, really. Introverts can do it, too, by the way. Many (if not most) of the people in my professional network are introverts. Regardless, I can almost guarantee you that you will get far more out of it than what you put into it.

4. Intern / Volunteer / Freelance.

This is the part where I tell you what you don't want to hear... But the reality is that if you don't have enough experience to get the job you want, you should really consider internships or volunteer/freelance opportunities. If you, like most of us, can't afford to do a full-time, non-paying gig, do it part-time or on the side, or try freelancing. I actually think these are great things to do even after you have the full-time job you want since it will amp up your resume, keep your skills fresh, expand your network, and potentially give you new perspectives that your 9-5 job may not offer. And who knows - you may even discover a passion for non-profit work, entrepreneurism or some other area that you never would have explored otherwise.

5. Get coffee with people.

Whether or not you're in the market for a new job, meeting one-on-one with people (preferably over coffee, because caffeine) is the best way to make a genuine connection as well as learn more about what they do and how they got there. It's the least icky kind of networking there is - as long as you're not meeting with people only to get something from them. If you're meeting with a potential mentor, you may not have much to offer them in return, but be upfront about why you want to meet with them. I think you'll find that most people are very receptive to meeting up, sharing their knowledge, and expanding their own network. You never know when a connection could turn into a friend, coworker or business partner down the road.

6. Just keep swimming (er, applying).

If all else fails, you can do what I did after college and apply to hundreds of jobs until you finally get a call back. And even though it may not be your ideal job, if there's a chance it will put you on a path that will lead to your ideal job - take it. Once you have even just a couple years of experience under your belt, you'd be amazed at the doors that can open.

Good luck out there! If you have anything to add to this list, let me know in the comment section.