Profile picture of Clare Millar digital marketing trainee
I finished my Masters Degree in Animation at Ulster University in September 2020, but with lockdowns and restrictions due to covid, there weren’t as many jobs available. Around the same time, my niece had started her own Masters Degree in Digital Marketing and I became interested in the subject after seeing the work she was doing. When I saw a Facebook ad for a Digital Marketing course through SERC, with an 8 week paid work placement, funded by the Department for the Economy, I jumped at the chance to learn new skills and gain industry experience. I was lucky to be given the opportunity to work with Christine at Watson & Co Chartered Marketing, (Founder of  TrainingMatchmaker.com) and hope to bring my background experience and skills in graphic design and animation into a digital marketing role.

Learning Goals

I’ve been tasked with creating a learning list, goals I want to achieve within the 8 week work placement, using tools and resources such as trainingmatchmaker.com and makeitclick.com. I want to learn as much as possible about digital marketing, but would like to focus on the more creative side of things, for example creating content for social media, like videos and motion graphics.

Social Media

The first thing on my list is learning how to use and get the most out of the different social media platforms. Although I know about the different platforms, I’ve only really used Facebook, as a way to keep up with friends and family, and LinkedIn for my more professional profile. I found several resources on TrainingMatchmaker and Google Digital Garage to help with this.

Creative

I want to focus on the more creative side of marketing, creating videos, motion graphics, photography etc. Although limited compared to the likes of Photoshop, which I’ve used for over 20 years, Canva is still a very useful resource being used by content creators. Learning how to use this tool and get the most out of it will be of benefit when working with future clients, helping them by creating custom templates and elements. I also have an interest in photography, though never to a professional standard, and I would like to be more active, creating my own set of stock photos for clients to use, especially local business. I have a good DSLR camera, but I’d also like to get the most out of the camera on my mobile, for when I’m out and about and want some spur of the moment shots.

Digital Marketing

In order to better understand the type of creative content needed, I need to understand how marketing works, what the customer or audience wants and expects to see. Although the basics were covered in the SERC course, I feel there is so much more to learn. I hope to be proficient in all social media platforms, but knowing which ones are best suited for each business, their functionality and algorithms, and what content and format is best served is important.

Other Learning Goals

After discovering education sources like edx and the free courses available online through Harvard University, I’ve found a number of subjects I would love to enrol with. Unfortunately there are just not enough hours in the day to take on everything I want to do, but I plan on coming back to these courses after the 8 weeks and beyond in order to continue learning.

Profile picture of Clare Millar digital marketing traineeAbout Me

I recently graduated with a Masters Degree in Animation at Ulster University, and before that I did my degree, also in Animation. I started as a mature student, fast approaching 40, proving you can teach an old dog new tricks, and it’s never too late to make changes. I started out in print, doing my City & Guilds in Graphic Communications and working as an apprentice, running a press and printing everything from business cards to magazines and posters. I then side stepped into the art department, which eventually led me into web design, where I worked for about 12 years. Although I’m coming into a new career quite late, I feel I have the background skills, old and new, and the drive to bring it all together in digital marketing.

About SERC

South Eastern Regional College is a further and higher education college, offering a range of full-time and part-time courses at different levels, helping thousands of students join the work force and build the Northern Irish economy. The Digital Marketing Graduate Programme offers 8 weeks paid industry placement and an OCN Level 4 Digital Marketing qualification. It gives you the skills, knowledge and understanding to integrate digital marketing and social media with business planning.

About my 8 week placement

The skills and tools that I am tasked by my placement provider to learn and practice and gain a competence or increased competence in and to build a portfolio of use ‘for business’ are as follows:
Research / Auditing
ispionage
Facebook pages to watch
Facebook insights
Instagram Insights
Twitter insights
LinkedIn insights
Google my business insights
Google analytics
Mintel
SEOptimer
Ubersuggest
Answer The Public
Yoast
Hashtagify . me
Google Trendsv DaysoftheYear
Mobile friendliness test
Google Alerts
Content
Wordpress
Blogging
Headline Generator Tools
Google Maps/Local Guides
Scheduling:
Trello
Hootsuite
Buffer
Facebook Scheduling
Visual:
Canva
Trace
Video:
Quik by Go Pro
Loom
Giphy
Photo Editing
Social Media Platforms:
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Pinterest
Twitter
Google My Business
LinkedIn
Tik Tok
Snapchat
ClubHouse
Bebo
Work Communications:
Google Meet
Zoom
Microsoft Teams
Calendly
Doodlepoll
Events Listings:
Eventbrite
Google My Business
LinkedIn
Facebook
NIBusinessInfo
whatsonni.com
website
PR
Advertising
CRM
Email Marketing:
One to One Email Marketing
Mass Email Marketing
Email Tool Options
Mailchimp
Processes:
TypeForm
Google Form
Microsoft Forms
Online Book & Pay Meetings
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Clare Millar