Goodbye and Thank You
Today being my last day at they, I thought I’d reflect on my time here and say thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Everyone at they integrated has been the most wonderfully inspiring group of people to start my career with. I am so grateful to you all for being such incredible mentors and putting up with my constant chatter (hehe).
I got started at they when I completed a four-month internship to conclude my studies at school. Once the internship was over, they gave me the opportunity to represent the company in a social media capacity as the Twintern. Coming into the position neither I nor they knew what to expect as it was sort of an experiment. The plan was to gain awareness via social networks, become familiar with the tools and practices and create a corporate presence online while providing me with valuable experience to take with me and expand on in my career. Prior to my internship in January, I had little experience with Twitter and used Facebook solely to post pictures and chat with friends. All that changed once I began my journey into the social world. I began managing theys online accounts, creating conversation, engaging, populating content etc. and fell in love with it. It helped that the company I was doing it for was so passionate and organic that it wasn’t hard to portray that with my own personality.
The experience they has given me is invaluable. I have gained extensive knowledge into multiple social networks, experimented with monitoring, measurement and listening tools, connected with incredible people from all over the world, and learned the marketing aspect of social media. Although I still have plenty to learn (every day is a learning experience) I now have a solid base to build on. For they, the experiment generated many hits to their website and built a wonderful community of creative and inspiring people. They now have a network of about 1200 people (and growing) that know about them and are part of their community to engage, learn, share and grow with on networks such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg and more. I can’t help but be pleased with the whole experience.
Being @theyinspire’d
What have I learned (that can be shortened down into this post)? When I first started I really didn’t know anything about social media marketing or community building. I didn’t know anyone involved in networks such as Twitter or LinkedIn and so they were not incorporated into my life (which now blows my mind that I was not involved before). It’s hard to come right out of school and into the world of advertising and before I knew it I was up to my neck in social media surrounded by mavens and guru’s and it was definitely intimidating. You really have to prove yourself, especially as a younger person. I quickly learned the importance of engagement and conversation but what I slowly began to figure out was community, which I have found to be one of the most valuable elements of social media - from a personal and a marketing perspective. I have learned that people can see right through a marketing push and can and will turn you off, but if you can learn to be genuine and build trust within your community people are more than willing to hear your message and spread it if they believe in it. I have learned that measurement can mean a lot of different things to different people and in different circumstances and that you need to find the right ROI (among other terms) to fit your specific goals. Whether that be website traffic, engagement, or a combination of things. Building a social community takes time and patience and nurturing and commitment, especially to market effectively to and it is forever growing, expanding and evolving. Social media is not a fad and it’s not going away. And I think the most valuable thing I have taken from the whole experience is that I never really knew where I was going to fit in in the advertising world until recently.
The best team out there.
I feel like this may have been the downfall to my experience. I have been spoiled with working with such incredibly talented, creative and genuinely nice people that I think my standards are very high for the type of atmosphere I hope to work in. Every one of the people at they and their clients are wonderful people and have all been nothing but eager to help me and offer me experiences. They are definitely a family that I have enjoyed learning from and a group of people I am glad I have been able to meet and create relationships with. And there are a million things I am going to miss about being a part of the they team but the experience is something I am going to have for a lifetime.
So what’s next?
Much to Shanes disappointment, I will not be consuming my life with World of Warcraft (although I must admit I will probably watch The Guild on occasion). I am going to continue to pursue a career in advertising focusing on social media and community management. And in the meantime, while searching, I’m going to work on building my personal brand and community online. I am going to (with help) set up my own web page and start a blog (which I am super excited about). I will also be working on some independent projects surrounding social media and charities and see where it all takes me. The last few months have really opened my eyes to a world of possibilities that I’d like to explore more of. So what’s next is wide open but thanks to they I have many new skills and experiences to take forward!
Once again, thank you so much to everyone at they for having me on board!
@charlotthrb
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