My first month as a digital marketing apprentice

I began working as a digital marketing apprentice for Netmatter on 5th October 2015, and this month to sum up has been a whirlwind. Working with a great team of professionals that have made me feel nothing but welcomed into their company, I am thrilled to be a part of it and the opportunities they have for me. Working with managing director, Mike Greaves, line manager, Catherine Durham, copywriter, Rosy Barraclough and front end developer, Andy Woolford - it has so far been an absolute pleasure to learn from them. In this blog post I will be sharing my experience over the past month, what I have learned, and what I am looking forward to. 

Week 1- SEO, blog posts & Hootsuite

I was a little apprehensive to begin with, as anyone is on their first day... but with the welcoming package from Mike, that faded quite quickly. The first day consisted of many accounts being set up that I had never used before, so to be completely honest the whole thing was a little intimidating! I sat at my desk and read through the structure of my apprenticeship which my manager Catherine gave to me, to make sure I had an idea of what I would be incorporating into the workplace. Once I was more aware of my position in the company, my first task was then set up - creating my first ever blog for Netmatter.  

The blog topic was about SEO, and the basics; this was a good technique to use because I was able to learn the basics of the topic whilst in the blog related which is what I would need to familiarise with, as I was told it would be used a lot over the course of the apprenticeship. With the help from the sources of previous blogs Catherine sent me, I was able to get more of an idea of what was expected of me and then I went straight ahead and wrote my own blog. This process on my first week was repeated to cover a series of topics across SEO, covering all elements of it, so I was able to gain more knowledge of search engine optimisation in a blog format. 

The process of checking your own work is never fun, that's why with the helpful hands of Rosy Barraclough - expert in all things blog, improved my work piece by piece with constructive criticism on how to create a brilliant blog. I found this so useful as it's always good to have someone else read and check through your work before publishing. I thought I wasn't going to publish the blogs I had created, but as soon as they got the Rosy stamp of approval, she introduced me to Hootsuite - a software solution to manage social media, so, I published each and every single one of the blogs I produced on the Netmatter website and then promoted them socially via Hootsuite. This whole process seemed daunting to me at first, but as soon as it's up on a website and you see your own work I couldn't help but feel proud!

 Week 2- clients, Magento and Google AdWords exam

After I had completed my own blogs on SEO, I was made aware of the various blogs Netmatter provide for other companies and what their websites consist of. Then, a task was assigned to write on page content on cable, rubber cable, economy & premium cable protector for The Ramp People; at first I was a little sceptical, I didn't know anything about cable protectors. I was able to research into The Ramp People and eventually gain knowledge about each product, and what to include in the on-page content, so I drafted it and sent it over to Rosy (since Catherine was away in Iceland!). After that, before you know it I sent it off to the client for the final stages of approval!

Once I had finished my series of blogs about SEO for Netmatter, Mike and Catherine introduced me to Google AdWords. I had never used this before, and I only had a rough idea about Google algorithms as well, so my knowledge of AdWords wasn't the best; then they told me I am sitting an exam for it in November, which was definitely a little alarming to say the least!  A study guide was sent to my email account, along with mock exams to try out if I felt confident enough; I am still working on it and revising today! 

Week 3- the academy 

 My third week working as a digital marketing apprentice was not in the workplace, it was spent at the Reading academy, 3aa; a training provider in partnership with Netmatter, dealing with the actual unit side of the apprenticeship. I met lots of other digital marketing apprentices and was able to understand their different companies, it made me realise just how flexible digital marketing is and it can be applied to literally any business.

Unfortunately, it did feel like a little waste of week, let's just say the work that was presented at 3aa was more generalised, and was not as productive as the things I have learned at Netmatter. At 3aa, I completed a unit based on social media in business and understanding the business I work in. Even though it didn't feel like I had learnt a lot, it was required and it is needed in order to complete the qualification. 

The future 

I am excited about what opportunities Netmatter have for me, from the Google AdWords exam to future career options. I still don't know what the company has set for me as a job role, but that is the beauty of digital marketing - there are so many varied options and job roles that are needed. I am really pleased with my first ever blog posts and I have really enjoyed the whole process of blogging; it is definitely something I want to continue doing. So wish me luck on my Google AdWords exam in November and hopefully I will become an Adwords certified partner!