What Exactly Do Social Media Interns Do?

The vaunted “social media intern” can be found at companies across America.

Who wrote that embarrassing Instagram caption about the company? Probably some social media intern. Who came up with that clever retort that got 36,000 retweets? More than likely that new social media intern that was just hired.

We hear a lot about social media interns – but most of us don’t really know what they do all day.

Today, we’re going to explain what social media interns do, how they work, and whether or not you should hire a social media intern for your company.

What Good Social Media Interns Do

They Take a Holistic Approach to Internet Marketing

Many college kids think they’d be good social media interns because they’re “good at Twitter” and “have a lot of Instagram followers.”

In reality, good social media interns don’t specialize in one area of the internet. They take a holistic approach to online marketing and pay close attention to the constantly shifting sands of the industry – including SEO, content marketing, PPC, and more.

They’re Synchronized with the Goals of your Business

A good social media intern will understand what the business wants to achieve through social media marketing.

At a broad level, most businesses want “more engagement.”

But smart businesses define that term even further and talk about how they want more clicks, more page likes, more conversions, more customers, more calls…you get the point. Too many social media marketing strategies fail because the interns don’t know what their ultimate goal is, or how their job performance will be assessed.

They Spend Hours Looking at Analytics

A good chunk of a social media intern’s day should be spent looking at analytics.

Look at the analytics behind each blog post. Check out which demographics liked that post more than others. See the impression rate, engagement rate, and the types of comments received on the article.

Ideally, a social media intern will be able to analyze stats to turn them into positive weekly, monthly, and yearly growth for your business on social media.

They Know Your Demographic

Another common reason why social media marketing campaigns fail is a lack of knowledge about the demographic.

If you hire a 21-year old intern to manage social media campaigns where they need to connect with customers 60 years of age and older, then you’re highly likely to have a bad time.

That doesn’t mean you should discriminate social media interns based on age, gender, or race – but it does mean interns should receive some guidance on how to understand the target demographic.

They Competently Manage and Grow your Business’s Online Presence

Ultimately, a social media intern’s job description boils down to this: they manage and grow the online presence of your business.

A good social media intern should leave you free to focus on what you do best. Meanwhile, they should stay busy worrying about capitalizing on new marketing trends and technologies. If you can find someone who can repeatedly do that for your company, then you’ve found a good social media intern.

What Bad Social Media Interns Do

They Don’t Get Paid

You get what you pay for when it comes to social media marketing. And if you expect your boss’s brother’s kid to manage your entire social media presence for free, then you’re in for a rude surprise. Pay your social media interns unless you have some amazing college credit program.

They Avoid Data Analysis Like the Plague

Data analysis is the lifeblood of any digital marketing campaign. You won’t know how to judge your social media intern without data analysis.

Judging a social media intern’s value can be easy: by how much did website sales increase during their time? How many Facebook followers did you gain? How many Instagram likes did you get? There are hundreds of quantifiable data points. Bad interns will avoid this data, while good interns will embrace it.

They Damage your Reputation

Obviously, a social media intern’s goal is to improve your reputation on the internet over time.

Just like building respect in real life, however, building respect on the internet takes a lot of time – and destroying that respect takes just an instant. Every week, there’s a new story about some company getting embarrassed by their social media intern. Don’t pick an intern who will be your company’s next big mistake.

Does your Business Need a Social Media Intern?

Most companies don’t need a dedicated employee known as a “social media intern”. What they do need, however, is some type of social media marketing plan – along with an individual to put that plan into action.

For many companies, the most cost-effective option is to hire a social media marketing company. These companies – like Dallas’s Renew Marketing – provide social media services to multiple firms.

Social media marketing firms are an ideal choice for small to medium-sized businesses that understand the value of social media marketing – but don’t have the resources to dedicate a full-time employee to it.