“What’s Social Media?”
That’s the question my Grandmother asked me when I got the job as a Social Media Apprentice at BSA Marketing. A lengthy conversation later, I had explained exactly what fell under the Social Media umbrella and what working within it entailed. A few months down the line and I was starting “one of them modern, new-fangled jobs”. So Monday 5th rolls around and working life kicked off, with an early (for me!) 9:00am start. I don’t really get nervous or apprehensive, if anything I was slightly excited. I had a briefing from Duncan as to what my focuses should be over the coming weeks and months. This was followed by an introduction to the office, where I would be situated and how to work the coffee machine (which is alarmingly loud by the way). I started by researching some of our current clients in order to familiarise myself with the sort of people I will be working with. I collated a few bits of information on each client, checking out their Social Media feeds and websites. Next on the agenda was updating my LinkedIn account, naturally important when working within Social Media. I have also been tasked with sourcing useful sites from which we can find content to put onto our various Social Media feeds, quickly growing to appreciate how important interesting content is, as it is key to positive interaction. Also wanting to bring #Hashtags into the mix, I have been creating a list of relevant, trending tags for the growing list of accounts in my portfolio. The highlight of my week was undoubtedly attending a meeting with a client based in Rochdale. A brilliant experience for me, as I got to see exactly what happens in the real world. I tried to contribute with my thoughts when appropriate and I have since got to work on developing their LinkedIn presence and working with colleagues to create an action plan as to how to enhance their Social Media presence over the coming months. Even at less than a week in my activity is already having a positive effect on my first live client – Business Peak District (@BusinessPD). I have engaged with followers, grown the follower count, and our content listed on the front page of a local business blog. It’s been an enjoyable process also, connecting with local businesses and seeing what is happening around the Peak District area. The saying “Do what you love, love what you do” is perhaps the most apt thing I can say. I am working with Social Media and I’m most certainly enjoying it. There’s been plenty of novelty in my first week too, actually writing things in my diary, my own desk and computer, a new works email address. Most importantly however, I’ve had to plan my own lunches! I don’t think I’ll ever wish a weekend away but I certainly won’t be dreading Monday morning.
