case studies of successfull student internships in digital marketing

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JEMSS ResearchInternship Case Studies

Colin Telford, Managing Partner, The Candidate, UK

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.


Case StudiesEach partner university helped to create a series of case

studies, identifying the benefits for students and employers as part of the JEMSS project research

This offered the JEMSS team a valuable insight into how internships could work for SMEs

It would also help shape the direction of the MOOC, book and course for the project


Bulgarian Interns:


Polish Interns:


UK Interns UK Interns:


Lithuanian Interns:


Greece Interns:


MOOC students

Fred ZimnyNetherlands

Elisa FerreroArgentina

David Parry United Kingdom

UK MOOC Case Studies:


Background• Example Courses:• Digital Marketing & Social Masters• PR & Advertising• Journalism, Mass Comms & Business Admin• Spanish Philosophy• International Business Masters• Business Administrator

• Example Internship Details:• 10 month placements, 5 days p/w paid (BLG)• 3 months, 5 days p/w paid (BLG)• 10 week term time placement, 30 hours p/w, unpaid (LT)• 2 month placement, summer, final year, unpaid (LT)


Companies• A range of company types:• Advertising agencies• Global corporate organisations• SME’s at local and national level

• Sectors:• Media, marketing & production companies• Healthcare• Retailers• Professional Services – Law• Travel


Objectives• Objectives:

• Hands on experience, the real world!• See the impact of social media and advertising• Understand client’s, manage projects• Work as a team in a professional environment• Understanding customer behaviour• Experience and add to the passion• Use the internship as a thesis topic


Tasks• Tasks included:

• Part of a rebranding campaign• Creation of interactive videos• Managing Google & Facebook campaigns• Media plan creation and budget management• Deploying strategies, optimisation• Writing up actions from meetings, presentations etc• Real life social media management• Event organisation• Creating brochures, maps, marketing materials


Learnings• Professional:• Understanding their host company’s customers• SEO & Social Media techniques• New emerging digital marketing techniques• Application of academic theory• New software, marketing & media terminologies• Research methodologies• Understanding and impacting ROI, analytics

• Personal Development:• Importance of accuracy, impact • Confidence and responsibility• Organisational skills• Increasing their professional networks• Negotiation, conflict management


FastWebMedia Video Case Study

- Manchester, UK, based advertising agency- Intern host and partner of Salford Business School

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2toHQwsmZI





Placement selection

• Advice for interns:

• A company with active campaigns or marketing plans• A company that can invest time• That offers a good mentor – gives valuable feedback • Have a willingness to learn, open minded• Talk to your colleagues and clients, learn!• A springboard for a part time job or after studies - opportunities


Placement selection

• Advice for employers:

• Interview for your students, chose the best for your project• A plan for the placements, project, timescales etc• Agree objectives that you are both working to• Select a chosen mentor or manager• Don’t overload, assess capabilities• Allow for errors, always check work – its all about learning• Introduce them to clients, suppliers, help them grow their

network• Think about employing them part time / after studies


Client feedback“Aivaras proved himself very well during the placement period and became a member of our team. We are happy to have him here. He proved in very short time that he can work in this company..”

“ We benefited a lot by doing this internship. First of all, it was the first time that we had interns and it helped them to learn how to intake new employees and prepare

for the new hires. We already have a very good relationship with the university and it will help to recommend Goodvidio as a good prospective employer for the future.

We will definitely maintain further contacts with the university in order to provide the intern for future internships.”

“We benefited a lot from this internship. It made us open the door to academic field for future links. This internship was concrete and successful and because of that, we managed to develop all the procedures and skills to offer more internship. We are willing to have future contact with interns to do an internship with in this field.”


‘I know that knowledge I acquired will be valuable for me in future, which is why it gives me confidence in myself’.’

Intern feedback‘I gained a wealth of digital marketing knowledge. I got to know websites from their inside, how to develop the informational content for websites, and which are metrics to measure website’s success’

‘I would recommend this MOOC to anyone who runs a small to medium sized business, any professional marketers and communications specialists. Throw yourself in to it – use all of the resources and enjoy the interaction with fellow students – it’s a great community to be part of.’

“I improved my general knowledge in the field of social media, content marketing and Google adwords. Also, the interaction with the staff was excellent. The Co-workers were welcoming and easy to talk to. My collaboration with the staff was a pleasant experience. I benefited from social media and digital marketing since it was their main focus.”


And much more

case studies of successfull student internships in digital marketing

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