Digital marketing intern, Joe Benson, reflects on the lessons he’s learned during his time at Swim Creative. From learning new vocab, to the relationship between creativity and data, read how Joe dove into digital marketing.
I used to think advertising was throwing a sign up on a street corner and hoping to bring in more customers.
But, through my time as a digital marketing intern, I’ve learned that advertising is much, much more than that — it’s creating campaigns geared toward a specific audience. It’s optimizing the campaign throughout its lifetime and ending with a better understanding and insight of how to market to that audience in the future. It’s meeting the clients’ wants, needs and goals. And, it’s a whole lot of fun.
Heading into this internship right out of college was an eye opener, to say the least. On my very first day, I dove headfirst into the deep-end of digital marketing.
At the surface was a lot of… new vocabulary. Impressions, sessions, conversions, CTR, CTM, CPC — you name it, I didn’t know it. All of these critical components of online advertising were foreign to me at the start.
How could I have studied marketing for four years to come into this internship so blind? When I was in school, I didn’t realise that I was just dipping my toes into the pool of modern marketing and advertising. I didn’t know there was so much more than SWOT tables, the 4 P’s and marketing plans.
My degree gave me the direction I needed to find the area of marketing that most suited me, and my experience at Swim has given me the experience to transform that area into real-world job skills. That area is digital marketing.
What interests me most about digital marketing is the harmonious relationship between creativity and data. When we run a campaign for a client, we’re able to combine our creative minds, along with industry data and previous experience, to utilize the budget to the fullest. On top of that, we’re able to track specific metrics in real-time, which gives us credibility when making recommendations to clients.
Now, my motivation stems from the possibilities. The digital landscape is constantly changing — there are always new ways to reach customers and there are always better ways of understanding data. As someone who enjoys change and new challenges, having to constantly stay up-to-date on trends and new insights makes waking up every day for work a lot easier.
Swim has been an awesome place to start my career. The open and friendly work environment made it easy for me to ask questions and feel like a part of the team. Swim is a full-service agency for clients who need anything from creative work to web development. Because of that, not only have I been able to expand my abilities as a digital marketer, but also learn the roles of everyone at the office.
I never planned or expected to be in the position I’m in today. Being more of a right-brained thinker, analyzing and reporting on data seemed like the last thing I’d end up enjoying. But here I am, happy to be doing work I enjoy and happy to be a part of the Swim team.
-Joe Benson, Digital Marketing Intern, Summer 2019