During my junior year at Texas State University, I began to worry about what I would pursue after college. I am an Advertising and Mass Communications major with a focus on digital media and was nervous that I was going into a career that I wouldn’t completely enjoy. When I started looking into internships, I wanted to try to work in an agency setting and get a feel for the office life.
After countless searches on the interest, I came across ROI Online’s website. The first thing that got my attention was ROI’s company culture. They care about their employees and celebrate their uniqueness. For a girl that hasn’t stepped foot in an agency, what’s more comforting than that?
The second thing I noticed, was how successful they were in what they do. They mean business and strive for success. So, I was sold, and I applied right away! 
Fast forward a couple of months, and this summer I had the opportunity to become apart of the ROI crew as a social media intern. Prior to this experience, I had worked on a couple of different social media accounts, but it was completely different from working in an agency.
Coming into this internship I was expecting every day to be somewhat the same. I thought I knew all I could about social media. I’m 20. Social media is supposed to be second nature!
Well, I quickly learned that was not the case.
At first, it was hard. There was a lot to learn and I wanted to make sure I got the most of my short amount of time here. But, thanks to the team and social media manager Sarah, I was able to start taking on more responsibilities. This quickly became something I looked forward to doing every day.
I learned so much about social media management and have now decided that this is the career path I want to take. I could go on and on about what valuable things I learned, but I’ll just share with you some of the most important.
Here are 4 things I learned about social media management:
1. Strategy Is Key
During my time at ROI, I have learned that creating a strategy for content is crucial in ensuring that your client’s social media runs smoothly.
Not only is it great to have a strategy for the months ahead, but it’s also essential to create an entire strategy for your brand as a whole. Sticking to your brand strategy helps ensure consistency across all your platforms.
2. Content Builds Loyalty
The content you put out is how you will reach potential customers. So before you throw something together, ask yourself what makes your business different from any other?
Your “why” is what you want to put out there for people to see. Make this unique to your specific business. Having great content increases awareness, generates traffic, builds your brand, and increases retention on your social sites.
One helpful strategy I learned for planning is creating content calendars. Before I learned about creating monthly content calendars, I was posting and creating content on the spot and, at times, it would get very stressful. Having a month's worth of content lined up and ready to go will help make managing social media a lot easier.
3. Stick To Your Voice & Tone
Coming from a background of posting social media content for a sorority, it took some getting used to having to write posts for our different clients. I was no longer able to write girly captions and talk about how much fun a sisterhood is. Instead, I had to transition to writing more business-minded content and creating messages that would appeal to our different client's demographics.
It is important to be able to write in the tone of voice of your client’s brand or company. Just like you have your own unique style, your brand has a specific look and feel across all platforms. You have to ensure that all the content you create feels like it is coming from the same source.
4. Choose Your Platform Carefully
Choosing which social media platforms are right for your brand is key to how successful you will be in generating leads for your business.
I always thought that Facebook and Instagram were the most effective platforms for business because they’re the most common. I never thought sites like YouTube or Twitter would be very effective, but it turns out that many businesses are generating growth from these sites.
It’s good to familiarize yourself with as many platforms as you can. Different social sites help generate different types of leads. Learn to optimize your content in different platforms and see how that helps your business grow.
Social May Be Ever-Changing, But Memories Last A Lifetime!
I have so many takeaways from my time at ROI Online. This opportunity gave me real-life work experience and I now feel like I have so many skills that will help me in the future.
Thank you to the ROI Crew for being so welcoming and willing to teach. I’ll definitely miss afternoon walks and all the jokes that I never understood but wish I did. You guys taught me so much and I will forever be grateful. 
Interested in interning at ROI Online? We’d love to have you!
We’re always looking for creative, enthusiastic individuals who are eager to learn. If you have experience with social media, graphic design, writing, development, or project management, send your application our way.
