Social Media Intern
My Role
At Ellie Day Bridal I was tasked with running the social media accounts of the online business. It was requested that daily posts for both Facebook and Instagram would be created. To streamline the process, I used Hootsuite, a social media management platform, that enabled me to plan posts weeks in advance.
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For the posts I was given a series of photo shoots to draw images from. Posts containing images from the shoots were to be created for every Wednesday and Saturday. In addition to the photo shoots, motivational quotes were to be posted on Mondays. On the remaining days - Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday - I was instructed to find images items which are usually associated with weddings such as veils, shoes, and bridesmaid dresses which had a bohemian feel to them.
In addition to running the social media sites of Ellie Day Bridal, I was instructed to complete some research for her new start up company, Birdie Love Club. She wished to start a social media plan that would draw attention to the site while she was still in the prototyping stage. This did not get very far past the planning stage, but it was interesting to discover how posts for a sporting goods store would differ from a bridal shop.
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Since I was tasked to run the social media platform of Ellie Day Bridal, I was able to gain some insights as how to run the social platforms of Facebook and Instagram. We discovered at the end of the summer that the daily posts I had been creating had not done much to increase traffic to her social media sites. So it was decided that for the last few months of the year, I would generate posts only for the photo shoots which I had been given. The Monday Motivational quotes would be kept as well.
Learning
Not all of my internship was concerned with social media. When I met with Ellie, we discussed a variety of topics which are part of running a small business. Some of the topics we covered included fabric choices, web domain acquisition, and maintaining a brand image. When we were discussing possible designs for Birdie Love Club, she stressed the importance of learning how to balance practical garment elements, such as a pocket, with more fanciful design elements such as the fabric to the left.
Broadening Horizons
Although I had some previous knowledge that many professional designers end up designing for a variety of markets, I was able to witness firsthand as to how that played out. When we started discussing Birdie Love Club more, it was intriguing to see Ellie seamlessly switch from discussing bridal to sportswear in just a few sentences. She also was well versed as to what her customers wanted from her designs.
During my internship, I was able to develop my social media branding skills. This was really useful as I do not have much experience working with social media. The generation of posts for Ellie Day helped me to understand learned some of the basics behind a social media campaign Although I was unable to use my other design skills, I still learned a lot from my time spent at Ellie Day Bridal.
Skills
My ultimate career goal has always been to start my own small business. Working with Ellie has given me some powerful insights as to how a small business is run. This has helped to strengthen my resolve to become an entrepreneur. On the other hand, through my experiences with the social media platforms, I discovered that I have no desire to become a manager of social media for any company.