Having a powerful marketing strategy is, without a doubt, critical to the success of any business. Traditional methods such as radio, newspaper adverts, television adverts, flyers and so on now coincide with digital marketing methods, including the use of social media, email marketing, blogs, paid searches, video marketing, and more. Due to the increased competition within the world’s vast array of industries, not only it is predicted that there will be as many as 20,000 new marketing jobs (including advertising, promoting and marketing management) by 2024, but this also means that marketing degree courses will become more prominent and – as a result - a lot of marketing students will be available for marketing internships in London and all over the UK.
Why should you hire marketing interns?
Unfortunately, many of the degrees on offer as mentioned above do not offer any real-world opportunities for their students to put their academic knowledge into practice. These students are therefore eager to try out their new-found skills in a real-world setting, meaning that they will prove valuable members of your team from the word go. They will also be able to undertake any administrative tasks that current members of your team need to complete on top of their main work goals, meaning that not only will your business productivity rise, but team morale and staff wellbeing will also increase. What’s more, as these interns will be knowledgeable about the latest research findings and trends in the marketing field, they will also be able to bring new and innovative ideas that could boost your marketing efforts further. So, if you work within a marketing agency or you are a business manager looking to increase the effectiveness of your marketing department or discover new ideas, there has never been a better time to hire marketing interns for your company than now.
So, first of all, how do you go about hiring an intern?
When it comes to hiring for marketing internships in London or the rest of the UK in the first place, many businesses will have several considerations to make. For example:
- Where and how do we find them?
- Where can we physically accommodate the intern in the office? Do we have enough space?
- How do we work with talented interns from remote locations? Do we need to reimburse their transport costs to work and back?
- What kind of health and safety legalities do we need to consider?
However, with the introduction of online internships, these considerations now no longer present a hurdle for businesses. Now, companies can search student pools in over 70 UK universities and commission their ideal candidates online with minimal effort and time from their desks. The intern can work on the projects from the comfort of their own home or campus, wherever they are in the country, but while still having the ability to collaborate with their line manager and team members as much as they would in person (this is a unique feature of ProjectSet, - please get in touch to find our more)!
So, once you have hired your intern, how can you be sure you are using them to your business’s best advantage? Read on for our 4 top tips
1) Make your intern feel part of the team
By hiring your interns online, you’ll gain multiple advantages, such as having the flexibility to connect with a large, diverse group of students across different locations, and choose from a wide range of marketing talents and abilities. This way, you’ll still also be able to offer these interns first-hand experience of remote working and project-based engagements, which will give them a true picture of how the marketing industry works. And, should you wish to get to know them better in the hope of them joining your team on a more permanent basis in the future, you can always invite them to join you for work socials! By making them feel like a valued member of your team, they are not only likely to produce higher quality work but will also talk about your business in a positive light, which will be a huge boost for your business’ credibility.
2) Give your team training delivery experience
Even if you are hiring an intern who is studying a degree in Digital Marketing, they will still need to learn your practices and processes to complete the tasks you set out for them. Although it is likely that your staff will be busy with their own work, take advantage of having an intern by offering your other staff the opportunity to train them in certain aspects of the job; even if this is just a short presentation on what they do in the company, this will demonstrate your level of trust in your current staff whilst giving them an opportunity to make the intern feel like part of the team, resulting in a boost in team morale and (therefore) productivity.
3) Give your intern the tasks that hold back the rest of the team
Within any marketing setting, there are typically a lot of administrative or fiddly marketing jobs that can hold your permanent team members back from completing the work they need to in good time. This is where you can really use having a marketing intern to your advantage; by giving them these tasks, you’ll free up the time your other employees are currently spending on more mundane tasks that they would rather be spending on their main role – a level of support that they will hugely appreciate – which will drive their engagement. What’s more, as interns value the opportunity to contribute, even in a small way, they’ll give their full attention to those tasks. And, if the tasks they’re completing are routine, they’ll have the confidence needed to complete them effectively with minimal guidance. Just be sure that you give them plenty of interesting challenges too so that they feel like they are getting the learning experience and variety they desire!
4) Ask your intern for their ideas
If your hired intern is studying a degree in marketing, they will very likely have learned a lot of fresh, new ideas during their course about a variety of marketing practices. As these students are likely to fall into the Generation Z category, they will be highly sophisticated users of social/digital media in particular and are therefore likely to come up with very valuable, honest, outside-in perspectives and ideas. So be sure to ask your intern for their thoughts in your project meetings - you never know what they might suggest that could mean a new direction and business growth for your company!
In summary...
There are plenty of innovative ways that you can take advantage of in the demand for marketing internships. Of course, before you can do so, it's essential that you find the right intern to join your company in the first place! As we mentioned above, at ProjectSet, we can connect you to a large, diverse talent pool that will enable you and your team to complete your marketing projects successfully. As a result of these interns being available online, you’ll be able to enjoy all the benefits in the top tips outlined above without the additional stress that comes with having them based in your office. And in the process, you may end up finding your next super-star employee as well as building up your brand by offering the intern a positive learning experience!
So if you are looking to hire for marketing internships in London or elsewhere in the UK, sign up for free here or get in touch with our team today.
