About me
Hi, I’m Kya. I am a senior at Kennesaw State University. I am double majoring in Marketing and International Business with a Spanish minor. I was the Marketing Intern for the Fall 2021 semester at Mediacurrent.
When I applied for the Marketing Intern position at Mediacurrent, I had no idea what Drupal was. I had very limited knowledge of coding or content management systems. I applied on a whim because I had never worked in the tech industry before and I wanted to try it out. I thought to myself, “I would be a Marketing Intern. How much tech knowledge do I actually need?” I was in for quite the surprise, but this was the absolute best decision I have ever made.
About the position
I am the first Marketing Intern at Mediacurrent, so this was a huge learning experience for both myself and the Mediacurrent Marketing team. During my time at Mediacurrent my tasks have included:
- Curate and schedule weekly content for social media posts
- Train on Pardot and Salesforce and develop and execute 3 emails
- Curate news and social media feeds for social and public relations
- Assist in the production of 1 webinar
- Review, give feedback, and publish 3 blogs
- Complete 5 design assets using our branded templates
- Assist with partner co-marketing
- Complete a chatbot tutorial and create a playbook
- Complete a publication to our website through Drupal
I got a taste of everything. I was able to learn so much from voice and branding to webinar planning and execution, to chatbots, and I even got to learn a little bit about Drupal.
I created many social media posts for Mediacurrent ranging from blogs, video series, webinar announcements, and team culture events. My favorite graphic I created was the show-and-tell teaser for a video we’re creating. The marketing team asked our coworkers to show us a picture of something in their lives that is meaningful to them. It was awesome getting to read the story behind everyone’s submissions!
Show & Tell Teaser
When it comes to Drupal, I was eager to dive in and learn more because I didn’t know anything to begin with! I was given the task of creating a page on the Mediacurrent website showcasing what our specialties are. This task was entirely hands-on learning, but I absolutely loved it! Being able to see the front-end result of a page I created was amazing. This task definitely gave me the chance to better understand how the editorial experience works on Drupal.
I was also able to complete the Drift Conversational Marketing Certification! This course helped emphasize what I learned in my internship. It explains how chatbots work and why they are helpful. Check out our Industry Insight series on social media to see how chatbots can help you!
Drift Conversational Marketing Certification
Other Learning Opportunities
In addition to the things I knew I would get experience with through the position, I learned plenty more. Mediacurrent is heavily focused on accessibility when it comes to user experience. During my internship, Mediacurrent partnered with Kennesaw State University and donated a contribution that would help grow an accessibility lab. It was really touching seeing Mediacurrent donate to the school I attend! All of Mediacurrent’s interns attend Kennesaw State University and they truly love the partnership with the school.
I also had the opportunity to learn about accessibility! A great tip I learned was when you are linking a website in your text, the linked section should be more than just “Read now” or “Learn more” because when an accessibility tool reads the links, the automation reads that text separately, not the content around it. If someone refers to the links separately, you want them to have context.
Not Just an Intern
My favorite part about this internship was that I truly felt a part of the company. Oftentimes, people look at interns as “the coffee person” or “the copy machine”. The Mediacurrent team strives to make each team member feel at home and appreciated.
Our company, like many others, uses Slack to communicate. On my first day, I looked through all of the different Slack channels and joined a few that sounded interesting. My three favorite “fun” channels are pets, food, and travel. My team from all over the world can share pictures of their pets, food they make, or travel recommendations. When you work for a virtual company, sometimes you may worry that you aren’t building relationships with anyone. Fun messaging like this is what truly keeps us connected.
My dog, Brownie
I was also able to give input on different ideas I had, and my managers really loved my ideas! I have quite a bit of experience with social media marketing when it comes to Facebook and Instagram. I wanted the Mediacurrent Instagram account to radiate the brand as soon as you click on it; because of this, I was able to change the highlight covers on Instagram. I also tested different methods of utilizing hashtags on each social media platform to see which method would receive the most engagement.
Because I was an intern during the Fall semester, I was able to take part in many fun holiday activities. They planned an entire spirit week for Halloween - spooky zoom backgrounds, pumpkin carving parade, and a pet costume contest!
During this semester as a Marketing Intern, I didn’t feel as though I was “just an intern”. The Mediacurrent team welcomed me in and made sure my ideas were heard.
Wrapping Up
All in all, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Mediacurrent. I have learned more than I ever thought I would on email marketing, chatbots, social media, and Drupal. Mediacurrent has made me feel at home this past semester, and I am ecstatic to continue my journey at Mediacurrent beyond an internship as a Junior Marketing Associate. I am very excited to see where my last semester in college takes me and what the future holds!
