When I started at Media Link in October of 2015 I was a Junior, Marketing and Communications major, at Augustana College grateful for a chance to start my new internship.
Before working at Media Link, I had not worked in the marketing field. My knowledge of marketing was based on my schooling and personal research, and was nervous that I would not be prepared enough to begin working in the field.
I was right and I was wrong at the same time. My schooling did well on teaching me the overarching strategies and methods of marketing, but at the same time I lacked the details that I could only be taught while working at Media Link. The best example of this is when it comes to actually purchasing media. I understood the basics like markets, demographics, reach and frequency but I had never even seen a media sales kit from a station. I had never been taught the details of following through with actually making a purchase.
As time went on I started to realize that to learn about a very specific aspect of my field, such as media buying, you need to get real experience. While working with Media Link, I have been able to learn more about marketing as a whole, but also the details of actually going through all the steps of creating a marketing campaign for a real client.
Now I am no longer an intern, but a Marketing Assistant working part time while finishing up my last year of school. Now, I look at a media sales kit from a station or creating a new radio campaign for a client as just another day on the job. I still learn something new almost every day, but I am confident that I have a strong understanding of marketing and its many different aspects.
** This blog was written by Zack Wheeler, student at Augustana College
