By: Sara Houghton, senior, advertising
This summer I had an incredible opportunity to dive into the world of social media and copywriting through my content internship with Deksia.
Deksia is an advertising agency with locations across several states, including Iowa. As a content intern, I got to learn and grow my skills in social media planning and management, content writing, and project collaboration across several teams.
Going into the internship, I had heard great things about how much hands-on experience previous interns had gained at Deksia, and my experience absolutely met and exceeded my expectations. Within a few weeks of practicing and working up to my first client-facing assignments, I felt like a full-fledged member of the content team. Some of my tasks included planning and writing monthly social media calendars, writing blog posts and newsletters, scheduling content, and pulling monthly data reports to analyze social media performance.
One of the things I loved about this internship was the opportunity to write a vast variety of content. Working in an agency setting, I was able to write for eight different clients in industries ranging from custom home building to concrete surface preparation to gardening. This gave me the opportunity to learn how to write in different client voices and research industries unfamiliar to me.
I also learned so much about how an ad agency works and how different teams collaborate on client projects. I worked with nearly every team at some point, whether I was meeting with the design and photo/video teams to plan a monthly content calendar, getting client feedback from an account manager, or incorporating SEO direction from the digital team for a blog. Getting to be a part of these collaborations was a great way to develop my professional skills in addition to the technical ones.
While it’s difficult to choose, my favorite project I worked on was a monthly newsletter I wrote for a gardening products client. Their newsletter shares resources and seasonal tips for gardeners, and often includes fun lines to share their expertise. I had way too much fun with this assignment, and it was so cool to see my blurbs about “hangry veggie plants” in need of a snack and a “raining slugs and snails” seasonal situation going out to tens of thousands of people.
Coming in a close second on my favorite projects list was the opportunities I had to work on some short form video projects for Deksia and a silicone drinkware client. I again had way too much fun running around the office with my tripod and mini microphone, and I loved cutting together the clips and seeing my ideas come to life.
I’m so thankful for both the Deksia team and the Greenlee School for making this a fantastic internship experience. Everyone at Deksia was welcoming and supportive, and I received great feedback and encouragement that helped me to grow.
I also felt like I was well-prepared for the internship thanks to the Greenlee School. Classes like P R 321 and student organizations like Cardinal & Gold helped me to develop a base of skills that were great to have ahead of time. Receiving a Greenlee 499A scholarship also helped me worry less about finances and focus more on making the most of my time as an intern.
As I near graduation in the spring, I’m grateful to be taking all I learned from this internship with me. I’m excited to continue pursuing a career in content writing and digital marketing.
Thanks again to the Greenlee School and the Deksia team for making this summer possible. I couldn’t have asked for a better internship experience.
Editor’s note: Edited for length and clarity. Greenlee 499A internship scholarships support students who have a primary major in advertising, journalism and mass communication or public relations and are completing their required 400-hour internships. The application is available each spring.