As my final semester of college comes to an end, I’ve had the chance to reflect on all the opportunities I have been given along the way that exceeded just my education. While I have had prior internships, HMG Creative was a unique challenge for me that I will be forever grateful for. Working with HMG, I got exposed to inbound marketing, a topic that I had not yet covered in school or working for other agencies. Not only has HMG connected me with the digital industry, it has motivated me further to pursue a career in this field.
As an advertising major, very rarely did I have the chance to write freely. My papers throughout school have all been research-based, with little room for creativity. At HMG, I’ve been tasked to write weekly blog posts, with no limitations on the topics. While challenging at first, writing these blogs reminded me how much I actually enjoy writing and helped me find my own authentic voice. It also gave me the opportunity to write about subjects in the industry that I wanted to know more about, for example, Secure Websites, The Dark Web, Voice Search, Chat Bots, Augmented Reality, and even the iPhone X. Now, more than ever, I am confident in my writing skills and feel more educated in the industry, having a better idea of where it is heading.
Another topic I got to explore during my time at HMG was web development. The Internet’s ambiguous nature has always fascinated me and I’ve always desired to know more. Why do websites show up on search pages? What do certain codes stand for? How do sites know I’ve visited them? With web development being HMG’s expertise, I was introduced to the basics of WordPress. It was my job when writing these blogs to indicate keywords, tags, and ensure SEO was being activated. WordPress is a great tool for people with all types of experience to use because it is easy to understand and gives you tips on how to increase your SEO by telling you which keywords and phrases to highlight throughout the blog post. My understanding of the Web has increased greatly and I’m excited to see how it continues to evolve.
Social media has been a major focus in all of my internships and I was excited to learn even more about it here. I got to explore Hootsuite and use it as our content management tool when posting to Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and Twitter. I got the privilege of working with Emily to create a content calendar for the semester, including a holiday marketing strategy. This was one of my favorite projects to work on because we got to be the most creative with our tactics. Emily has been a great influence on my career and taught me a great deal about crafting content that truly resonates with an audience.
I am so thankful for all the opportunities I’ve been given here at HMG and am sad to be leaving this innovative agency. Working here has impacted me in so many ways by giving me the confidence I need to start in the professional world. As I embark on my new journey, I will carry all of the lessons, tools, and advice given to me by the wonderful employees here at HMG Creative!