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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Marketing and Social Media Intern

💰 $ - $

MarketingSocial MediaInternshipDigital Marketing

🎯 Role Definition

The Marketing and Social Media Intern supports the marketing team by creating engaging content, managing social channels, monitoring performance metrics, and assisting with campaigns and community management. This role is ideal for proactive, creative candidates who want hands-on experience across organic and paid social, content production, and digital analytics. The intern will learn cross-functional collaboration, content strategy, and execution while contributing to measurable marketing goals.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • University marketing/communications internship program
  • Student clubs or volunteer social media manager roles
  • Freelance content creation or small-business social media support

Advancement To:

  • Social Media Coordinator
  • Marketing Coordinator
  • Content Specialist
  • Digital Marketing Associate

Lateral Moves:

  • PR / Communications Assistant
  • Email Marketing Specialist
  • Community Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop, write, and schedule platform-specific social media content (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, X) that aligns with brand voice and campaign objectives, including captions, image and video assets, hashtags, and calls-to-action.
  • Assist in planning and executing multi-channel content calendars that coordinate organic social, blog posts, email newsletters, and promotional campaigns to support product launches and seasonal initiatives.
  • Create short-form video content (TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts) from concept through post-production—shooting, editing, adding captions and music—and optimize for platform-specific best practices and discovery.
  • Design on-brand visual assets and simple motion graphics using Canva or Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro) for use in social posts, ads, and stories.
  • Conduct social listening and community monitoring to respond to comments and DMs, escalate issues to the customer support or PR teams, and identify trends and customer sentiment.
  • Monitor daily and weekly social performance using native analytics and third-party tools (Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Later), track KPIs like reach, engagement, CTR, and conversions, and prepare concise performance summaries for the marketing team.
  • Support paid social activities by assisting with audience research, creative testing, setting up ad creatives, and compiling A/B test results under manager supervision.
  • Research trending topics, hashtags, memes, and competitor activity to inform content ideation and ensure the brand stays culturally relevant across channels.
  • Produce, proof, and optimize copy for social captions, newsletter content, blog snippets, ad copy, and landing page microcopy with a strong attention to tone and grammar.
  • Collaborate with design, product, and sales teams to gather creative assets, product images, promotional offers, and customer stories for integrated campaign execution.
  • Assist in influencer and creator outreach: identify potential partners, prepare briefing documents, track deliverables and payments, and maintain relationships in an influencer database.
  • Execute community-building initiatives such as live sessions, AMAs, contests, and user-generated content campaigns to drive engagement and brand loyalty.
  • Support SEO-driven content by researching keywords, optimizing social and blog content for discoverability, and coordinating with the content/SEO lead on backlinks and on-page best practices.
  • Help manage company blog and website CMS by uploading posts, formatting content, tagging, and ensuring images have alt text and meta data for accessibility and search optimization.
  • Compile campaign performance reports and post-campaign analyses that highlight learnings, conversion metrics, ROAS (when applicable), and recommendations for future iterations.
  • Assist with email marketing tasks: segment lists, draft campaign copy, build templates in Mailchimp or similar platforms, and report on open and click-through rates.
  • Coordinate photo and video shoots by creating shot lists, booking locations/ talent, prepping equipment, and handling basic on-set production support.
  • Maintain a social asset library and content archive with organized files, captions, usage rights, influencer contracts, and creative variations for easy reuse.
  • Support event promotion and activation by creating social event pages, designing promotional materials, coordinating live coverage, and collecting post-event content.
  • Perform competitor analysis and benchmarking to identify gaps and opportunities, summarizing insights into actionable recommendations for social and content strategy.
  • Assist with paid search or social budget tracking, updating spend sheets, and flagging any discrepancies to the marketing manager to ensure campaign pacing.
  • Help conduct user surveys and collect qualitative feedback via social channels to inform persona development and content relevance.
  • Participate in daily stand-ups and weekly planning meetings, prepare briefings for senior marketers, and take ownership of small projects from ideation to reporting.
  • Ensure all social content follows brand guidelines, legal requirements, and platform policies; coordinate with legal or compliance teams when necessary.
  • Support cross-functional projects such as product launches, seasonal campaigns, or cross-promotions by owning specific execution tasks and following up on dependencies.

Secondary Functions

  • Assist with ad-hoc data requests and basic exploratory analysis to help the team test hypotheses about content performance.
  • Contribute to the marketing team's content strategy by proposing new formats, distribution ideas, and optimization experiments.
  • Collaborate with business units (sales, product, customer success) to translate marketing needs into actionable content and promotional tactics.
  • Participate in sprint planning, project check-ins, and agile ceremonies within the marketing team to ensure timely delivery of content assets.
  • Help maintain marketing documentation, brief templates, and process guides to streamline future intern onboarding and campaign execution.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Social media platform proficiency: advanced familiarity with Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X, including stories, reels, live, and analytics features.
  • Content creation tools: Canva, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro or equivalent video-editing software for producing polished visual and video content.
  • Short-form video production: scripting, shooting on mobile, editing, adding captions, and exporting for platform-specific codecs and aspect ratios.
  • Social scheduling and management tools: experience or familiarity with Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Buffer, Later, or native platform schedulers.
  • Analytics and reporting: ability to use native analytics, Google Analytics, and spreadsheet tools (Excel or Google Sheets) to track KPIs and build simple dashboards.
  • Paid social fundamentals: basic knowledge of Facebook Ads Manager, campaign structure (campaign, ad set, ad), audience targeting, and A/B testing.
  • SEO and content optimization basics: keyword research, meta descriptions, and on-page optimization for blog and social discoverability.
  • Email marketing basics: experience with Mailchimp, Klaviyo, or equivalent—list segmentation, templates, and basic performance metrics (open rate, CTR).
  • CMS experience: familiarity with WordPress, Webflow, or other content management systems for publishing and formatting web content.
  • Basic graphic and motion design: creating templates, resizing assets, and understanding brand guidelines for consistent creative output.

Soft Skills

  • Strong written and verbal communication with meticulous attention to grammar, tone, and audience.
  • Creative ideation and storytelling aptitude with an understanding of narrative structure for social formats.
  • Highly organized with strong time management skills and the ability to manage multiple content deadlines.
  • Curiosity and data-driven mindset: comfortable testing hypotheses and iterating based on metrics and insights.
  • Adaptability and willingness to learn new platforms, tools, and emerging social trends quickly.
  • Team player with collaborative mindset and the ability to accept feedback and iterate on creative work.
  • Attention to detail in proofreading, caption accuracy, and asset formatting.
  • Initiative and self-motivation to propose new ideas and take ownership of small projects.
  • Customer-focused mindset for thoughtful community engagement and moderation.
  • Ethical judgment and discretion when handling user-generated content, customer data, and brand reputation issues.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Currently enrolled in or recent graduate of a Bachelor's program (or equivalent) in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, Advertising, Business, Media Studies, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Coursework or certificate in Digital Marketing, Social Media Strategy, Content Marketing, or Multimedia Production.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Marketing
  • Communications
  • Journalism
  • Advertising
  • Graphic Design
  • Media Studies
  • Business Administration
  • Digital Media Production

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 0–2 years of relevant experience; typically 0–1 internship or part-time role in social media, content creation, or marketing.

Preferred:

  • 1+ prior internship or semester-long project managing social channels or producing content for a brand, campus organization, or freelance clients.
  • Portfolio or link to samples demonstrating content creation (social posts, short videos, graphics, or writing samples).
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