Six marketing lessons from marketing experts – an intern’s perspective

I‘ve been interning with The Marketing GP – here are my top five marketing lessons.

Hey there!

My name is Catalina. If you’ve been keeping an eye on social media, you will have seen that I’ve been interning with The Marketing GP and have been plunged into the marketing agency world. It’s just as fun as you would expect, but they also work extremely hard for our clients behind the scenes and it’s been exciting to be a part of that.

One of the great things about The Marketing GP is that they have both marketing generalists and marketing specialists. with this in mind, I wanted to share the top five marketing lessons I have learnt in my time with The Marketing GP!

But before I do – let me introduce myself! I am completing the third (and final!) year of my business degree – a double major in Marketing and Management (marketing being by far my favourite, obviously).

I have thoroughly enjoyed my studies and time at university, but I simply couldn’t wait to get hands on and practice what I’ve learnt. That’s where the Marketing GP came in.

I was offered an internship at The Marketing GP for the duration of my last semester, and I am loving the experience.

I have already learnt so much through my placement already! It has been fascinating discovering what marketing looks like in the real word – its dynamic, it’s creative and it’s always changing.

And one of the things I love about The Marketing GP is the range of marketing experts we have here. So, I thought, why not pick their brains for their number tips so you can learn too!

Lesson 1: When it comes to copywriting, just start.

Copywriting is something I have had a lot to do with since day one.

At first, I was very nervous to start writing a blog or social media caption, as each type of writing is so unique. I also quickly realised that writing in the real world is different to writing something for uni. Therefore, this was uncharted territory for me, and I was hesitant to start.

Copywriter & Content Coordinator, Marcie has taught me a lesson that is easier said than done – just start. Too often copywriting is overwhelming, we get in our own heads wondering how best to structure the title and first sentence.

But being focused on this leaves you with little time to write the rest. A good approach is to map out your content ideas and then just start. Better yet, eat the frog and make it the first thing you do in the day.

Lesson 2: Build a happy relationship with white space

So far – I have had a lot to do with creating graphics for social media posts.

It can be very tempting to add lots of colour and elements on a post, but the graphic design assistant, Sarah told me otherwise. Contrary to what you learn in high school, we love white spaces!

In graphics, white spaces are a way to make your website – or whatever you are creating, look more minimalistic and simplistic. This means that you won’t confuse your audience by having too many elements and colours in one place.

Lesson 3: Embrace inbound marketing

Inbound marketing is something I heard a lot of at university and it was exciting to see it in the real world. To me, inbound marketing is one of the most important marketing approaches out there, because it is a ‘newer’ element of marketing

The main piece of advice that I learnt from Inbound Marketing & Sales Enablement Manager, Claire, is to use the different tools and software that are out there. The first item on that list is HubSpot.  

As a university student, it has been fascinating to see marketing software in use in the real world. I can definitely see where Claire is coming from when she says inbound marketing is key.

Lesson 4: Don’t be scared of journalists

It’s easy to forget when you are going in for a pitch of a media release that the person on the other end of the phone is just like you – human. They have deadlines, a boss to adhere to and goals to meet.

As our Communication Specialist Brodey would say, journos aren’t out to get you. If you help them, they will help you too.

Lesson 5: When it comes to ads, don’t assume

One thing I’ve quickly come to learn is that different audiences respond differently. This is something our Digital Marketing Specialist, Brittany reinforced. 

Just because a certain approach works for one audience, doesn’t mean it will be effective for another. For example, a marketing campaign that went well in Newcastle, may not do so well in Sydney.

This could be for a variety of different reasons, such as lifestyle, beliefs, attitudes, and even budgets.  This kind of advertising advise is key if you are a business that operates in different locations.

A way to combat this is by having multiple creatives within one campaign designed for differing audiences. Having different creatives will increase the chances of discovering what works best to convert each of the target audiences for your brand.

Lesson 6: Strategy is king when it comes to marketing

And last but not least, I approached Managing Director and Chief Marketer, Holly Martin for best piece of advice for me.

Holly taught me that it doesn’t matter which marketing tools or approaches you use if you don’t have strategy at the core.

This is why when we start with our new clients – whether it is for a new brand, website, inbound or marketing implementation – we always start with the strategy.

I have learned to identify who the target audience is before determining what to say. Then looking at the best tools to use.

That’s my six key tips from my internship so far!

There are some actionable tips there for any business owner, so I hope these helped you as much as they did me.