Here at I-COM, we believe in the strength and breadth of the institutional knowledge we have within our talented team. Working at I-COM provides an opportunity to tap into that knowledge base, and benefit from decades’ worth of experience of what it’s really like to work, deliver and thrive within a fast-paced digital marketing landscape.
Work experience placements provide us with a unique opportunity to share that knowledge with the next generation of budding marketeers. With that in mind, we were delighted to welcome Tilly Mai Smithurst for a work experience placement at our office in Manchester, where she worked alongside our team for three days, learning the ropes and getting properly stuck into the rhythms and responsibilities of agency life.
Here, Tilly explains in her own words what it’s like to work for I-COM, and what she learned during her placement…
This week, I've been doing my work experience at I-COM in Manchester city centre. The marketing industry interests me, so I came to I-COM to gain experience and see how things are done. I also wanted to understand the different factors that I-COM needs to run smoothly and according to plan. I-COM was happy to offer me a work experience placement.
During these days, I've had the opportunity to expand my knowledge of digital marketing and develop skills I never knew I had. This experience has shown me that communication is key when working in an office to ensure that things are running smoothly. It has also shown me what a true working environment is really like.
Monday
The work experience started on Monday - this is when I met Ryan, who I was working with. He broke down what digital marketing is and simplified it in a way I could understand. After this discussion, I met everyone in the office, and they made me feel welcome. Later on that day, Ryan set me a task of choosing my top three favorites and creating three potential ways that those brands could promote their business. I really enjoyed this task, because it meant I could be creative; I made fictional advertisements, including billboards and Instagram posts.
After I finished that task, I was then asked to review those same three brands' websites and analyse them for things that I thought they could have done better, and things that needed to change. For example, on the Vivienne Westwood website, I stated that I thought the photos of models in the clothing could have had better lighting, because this could potentially give the customer the wrong impression of the clothing's colour.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, I was set a task by Mercedes to upload a blog onto the I-COM website, and then three more blogs for Manchester Digital. I really enjoyed this task, because I gained new skills.
After this task was completed, I was set a task by Tyriq on competitor analysis. This meant I had to choose one brand, and then two more brands that were competitors of my first choice. From there, I used the website Ahrefs to find out the monthly traffic, and I also had to analyse the top-ranking organic pages and the top-performing organic keywords. After I had done this, I had to compare all the statistics I had gathered; the brands' monthly traffic, for example.
Wednesday
Wednesday was my final day of my work experience here at I-COM in Manchester. For my final task today, Chloe set me the task of creating an email banner. I don't like picking favourites, but this one was my favourite task overall, due to the fact that I could use my own interests!
My first step was to create a mood board of the things that I wanted on the email banner, so I inserted images of Westwood's famous tartan print, as well as her shop in Japan with the neon-lettered sign, which I thought looked unique. My second step was to choose an image to use as the main photo, so I used the tartan print, which I thought was iconic to the brand itself. The final step was to create text welcoming new subscribers to Vivienne Westwood’s mailing list, and to give them a brief backstory of Vivienne's life and how she became successful.
Overall, my time at I-COM has been amazing! I would definitely recommend this experience to any young person who is creative or even just interested in the marketing side of businesses. I have learned a lot about myself, met new people, and experienced a real working environment. I-COM has shown me that working in an office is a really enjoyable experience, and that working at a desk doesn't have to be dull. Thank you, I-COM
Thank you to Tilly for being such a diligent and enthusiastic professional - all the best for the future!
If you’re interested in organising a work experience placement with I-COM in Manchester, we’d love to hear from you. Explore our careers page, or you can also learn more about our agency and our team, and how our employee-owned model helps to define everything we do.
For any other enquiries, call us on 0161 402 3170, or use the contact form to get in touch.