What did I learn during my work experience at a digital marketing agency?

As you may know by now, I have spent this past week completing work experience at a digital marketing agency. But you may be wondering, what did I actually learn? Here, I will tell you everything I learnt that you may not know either since I had no idea about them before this week.

Firstly, I wasn’t aware of how much had to be done when creating a website. From all of the text boxes, image borders and spaces between images, each thing has to be carefully considered and placed in a specific spot so it creates the correct effect and if it was placed differently, it may be a totally different outcome. For example, one thing I struggled was the spacing between images and text and only after searching for a while I found that you can alter the padding (the empty space around an image or text) or add spacers which just create an empty space that can be altered. Similarly, each piece of text can be changed colour or size, but you can also alter the size or colour of all the text in a website to ensure everything matches.

Another thing I learned this week is how to use designing software, such as Canva which I used to design my logo, Instagram post and LinkedIn post. Before, I had heard of Canva but never used it to edit or create so it was a brand new piece of software. Even though it was completely new to me, it was very easy to pick up and only took me less than a day before I knew where all of the tools and features were. I also didn’t know how you could find and use a template, instead of starting from scratch (even though I did start from scratch) which could be very helpful for inspiration or a starting point if you are struggling. Furthermore, you can change the canvas size to whatever you are making, so for example on my Instagram post, there was a specific canvas size so if it was posted on Instagram, it would be the correct size and your design would not need to be rescaled.

A third thing I learned this week was how complex some of the software is when creating websites for companies. For example, I learnt that when you want a dropdown menu or animations of text boxes and images, specific code is required to allow it to move this way. To be honest, I always just assumed the software had an option that did it for you, instead of it being so complicated in coding. In addition, when doing the design, the software used has so many different options for specific functions and a lot of creativity is required to achieve a nice looking outcome with these complicated tools. I also learnt that it isn’t all about this designing part, but lots of planning, editing and ideas have to be put in and either given to the business or then designed, so the designing isn’t all of it.

Overall, my work experience had allowed me to learn a lot about digital marketing agencies and how it is a lot more complicated than it sounds, and lots of effort has to be put in. I hope this has also educated you, like how my experience here has educated me, and allows you to see the complexity of even small functions.