An internship is a great opportunity for students to gain first-hand exposure to the professional world as it allows them to become acquainted with the working environment in the industry related to their field of study. During the internship, students can apply the knowledge they gained in the classroom in their work and it is a great way to explore different career paths upon graduation. Not only does it prepare students with practical experience in professional settings, but it can also give them a competitive edge in the job market. Soft skills such as leadership, problem-solving and teamwork can be developed through the experience. Additionally, during the internship, students get the opportunity to gain in-depth insights into the business, dive into the workplace culture and everything that once mentioned in the textbook.
The name of the programme International Communication Management suggests the international elements in the study; hence, the internship has to include some international aspects. Working as an intern in an internationally-oriented company, students will have a better understanding of a given field in a global context and can project themselves as professional individuals with a global outreach. During my internship, this element is addressed in internal communication with employees from different cultures and backgrounds and marketing campaigns with a focus on international organizations.
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The internship period helps students establish newfound confidence to rise above challenges and make well-informed decisions on which facet of communication or department works best for them down the line. Moreover, the opportunity gives students access to mentors that can help them navigate in the working environment. The students are not only helping out but also receiving assistance from the organizations they intern at. The professional feedback from the mentors will benefit the students’ career development in the long run.
This final placement report will go into details about my own internship experiences at Octagon Professionals, an employment agency based in The Hague, Netherlands. My position at the agency is a Content Marketing Intern, in which I support their Marketing department in developing and executing content marketing strategy. In this report, I will revise and reflect on the learning objectives I have set out for myself from the beginning and how I have developed my personal and professional growth along the way.
This report entails the following key aspects:
- Learning objectives
- Professional products and professional justification
- Reflection on competencies required and the development
- Reflection on personal and professional growth
- Future career outlook
Learning Objectives
At the beginning of the internship, I set a few objectives for myself based on the LOCO competencies which cover my tasks at Octagon Professionals. It is imperative for me to achieve the competencies as much as possible to show that I have successfully reinforced the lessons learned in the university into the professional settings.
I have stated my learning objectives in the first placement report. However, there are some adjustments to the objectives due to my in-depth understanding of my role at the internship overtime.
LOCO-competency 1: Analysing and researching
The tasks related to the LOCO-competency 1 are identifying trends and developments in the internal and external developments of the organization. The focus for Octagon is the presence of the company on digital channels. It is first fundamental to carry out a competitor analysis for Octagon Professionals to observe how the competitors are doing on their own channels. By weighing the pros and cons of the competitor’s digital channels, Octagon can thereby learn how to improve its own channels.
As in 2019, the proposition of sales and marketing at Octagon Professionals has changed. They have a more defined target segment after a thorough customer analysis, in which their potential customers are international organizations who have already decided to expand their business to the Netherlands. In 2020, they decided to execute the planning for marketing activities directed towards this target segment. They chose to invest in Content Marketing to reach and spread the message about their services to this target audience. This was where my role came in as a Content Marketing Intern and I worked closely alongside another intern/employee who was the Content Marketing Specialist.
Subsequent to defining the new market segment, it is critical for Octagon Professionals to have a research-based profile that illustrates their target customer. That is why they need to develop buyer personas to ensure that the marketing activities are tailored to customer needs. By understanding the needs of the target audience, marketing activities can do a better job of creating relevant content to address those needs as well as acquire new clients.
As this target segment is a new discovery for Octagon, it is crucial to conduct a competitor analysis to get inspiration and insights. The objective would be to observe their marketing activities and figure out what works for them and see if there is a way to apply their strategy to Octagon Professionals’ marketing strategy. Moreover, it would help Octagon to create a unique brand by figuring out how Octagon can differentiate from others.
My objectives would ,therefore, help analyse the buyer persona and competitor analysis. The competitor analysis would also support my research report and the communication advice report for my final paper.
LOCO-competency 2: Developing communication policies and advising on them
To contribute to the best possible realization of organization targets, a communication plan for Octagon Professionals will be developed. Taking into consideration the views and interests of the target audience, the relevant content for digital marketing would be tailored accordingly. Additionally, the financial consequences and brand identity as well as social and ethical context will be taken into account.
One of the objectives of Octagon Professionals’ content marketing is to raise brand awareness. During my research, I found out that video marketing is one of the useful tactics which help increase brand awareness and generate leads, especially for business-to-business companies. According to Sielaff (2020), 92% of marketers voted video as an important part of their marketing strategy, with 88% claiming that video gives them a positive Return on Investment. I am also confident in my scripting and video making skills which is a valuable asset in the content marketing strategy. That is why my objective would be to develop a video content marketing plan to leverage the brand awareness of Octagon Professionals. Through video marketing, Octagon Professionals can demonstrate their expertise and become a thought leader in the industry.
LOCO-competency 3: Planning and organizing
It is crucial to implement a concrete plan to execute all the ideas for content marketing at Octagon Professionals. The student organizes and plans the communication policy of the organization and the means of communication to be used, taking into account the organization’s policy cycle.
For digital marketing at Octagon Professionals, the means of communication for all the content has to be taken into account. As Octagon has different stakeholders and different channels which communicate different messages, the student would need to develop a plan to utilize digital marketing channels. When it comes to content marketing, a plan for holiday content on social media is relevant.
Moreover, nowadays, different communication channels such as Facebook or Instagram have a feature called “Stories”. The feature allows users to upload content and display their visual for 24 hours. This is a nice way to engage with different target audiences on different platforms. Therefore, my objective is to help create a communication plan for the stories feature across Octagon Professionals’ different platforms.
LOCO-competency 4: Creating and producing
The vital part of content marketing is creating and producing content to elevate the presence of the brand on digital channels. In order to achieve communication goals and reach various target groups, various communication means need to be implemented. I am responsible for creating copyright and audio/visual content for different digital channels of Octagon Professionals.
The professional products in this task would involve writing articles providing information and advice for different target groups. Another professional task related to content producing would be designing infographics and featured images for content. The student is also in charge of updating the activities and events of the company for stakeholders on social media.
As mentioned in the LOCO-competency 2, with the video content marketing plan in mind, my objective is also to create and make the video content possible during my internship.
Professional Products and Professional Justification
My position at the Marketing department at Octagon Professionals is Content Marketing Intern. I help design and prepare visuals for promotional presentations. I assist in research, development and creation of content to share on different communication channels of Octagon and other day-to-day responsibilities.
To guarantee the quality of the placement, it is important that my tasks align with the LOCO competencies. Thereby, in this chapter, I would present my professional products which identify with the LOCO competencies set by the International Communication Management programme. In addition, I would also give an explanation for the objectives of the products and justification of the result. The evidence for the products would be included in the Appendices.
LOCO-competency 1: Analysing and researching
Product: Competitor Analysis Content Marketing (Sufficient)
Since Octagon Professionals offers a wide ranges of services to suit every human capital needs of their clients, there are many competitors who compete against Octagon not only in the industry but also every single services. To get an overview of the strong players on the market, competitor analysis is useful to get some insights to improve the current strategy of Octagon. Especially, content marketing is relatively new in the Marketing strategy of Octagon, so it’s worth to identify their content marketing strategies and find out what they are doing right to create Octagon’s own strategy which can improve upon the competitors. By performing a competitor analysis, Octagon can uncover the content marketing trends as well as market and sell more effective.
The tricky part of doing competitor analysis is to retrieve data and make my own interpretation on the information I got. From then, I can outline the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors in comparison with Octagon Professionals content-wise. Eventually, I need to make a conclusion on the opportunities and threats for the content marketing strategy at Octagon.
At first, my competitor analysis did not live up to the professional standard which can be useful for the company as it was just a quick perusal of their social media presence. However, after the critical feedback of my supervisor, I strived to do better and got into a more in-depth analysis. I can see that I was able to give advice on the overall content marketing strategy.
LOCO-competency 2: Developing communication policies and advising on them
Product: Video Content Marketing Strategy (Sufficient)
Video content marketing is about producing content but in the format of a video. Video marketing is central to the outreach for new audiences, increasing engagement and educating them with valuable information. According to HubSpot (2018), more than 50% of the consumers voted for videos to be the most preferred content tactic. Therefore, video marketing is undoubtedly necessary for Octagon Professionals if they want to see an upward trend in effectiveness in driving awareness, leads and enhancing credibility.
With my strength in video-making, I would like to contribute more video contents to the overall content marketing strategy at Octagon. I went over many thought leaders and advertising videos from different brands to seek inspiration on how Octagon can use video content to promote the brand.
I have proposed the ideas for video content marketing. However, the COVID-19 situation has posed many challenges in getting employees to become involved in the video marketing project. Even though the strategy is put on hold for the time being, I believe it will come in handy in the future.
LOCO-competency 3: Planning and organizing
Product: Video Marketing Plan for “Remote Coaching for Business” (Advanced)
Due to the Coronavirus, many enterprises were following the measures of the government and encouraging their employees to work at home. The pandemic has renewed emphasis on remote work globally. New challenges have been introduced, as the majority of Dutch traditional companies are accustomed to the office setting but not to supporting the remote workforce. As a result, the productivity of the employees in the home office setting has been a major concern of business leaders, which also includes the existing clients of Octagon Professionals. As an employment agency, Octagon realized the needs for a Remote Coaching Program for Businesses to help their clients and their teams to thrive during unprecedented times. This is also an opportunity for Octagon Professionals to raise brand awareness by utilizing video content marketing to introduce this service. The target group for this campaign is employers in the Netherlands who are trying to engage their employees in the remote work settings and boost the productivity of the remote team.
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