Landing an internship can be a daunting task, especially in a competitive field like digital marketing. But with a strategic approach, a well-crafted email and a little luck, you can stand out from the crowd. Here’s the steps I took to secure my digital marketing internship by cold emailing:
Step 1: Identify a Target   Â
Identifying a company, or companies, is the very first step. This advice is tailored more for working in-house rather than with an agency, but it could certainly work for agency positions with some adjustments.
It’s crucial to find companies you’re truly passionate about. Whether it’s an agency that focuses on wellness, a fashion brand you love or a racing organization (like it was for me), a hiring team will love that you are bringing passion and an alignment of values. You can pick a few companies to email, but make sure your efforts are personalized to each company.
After choosing your company, choose a role. Because you’re approaching them, you shouldn’t just ask for spare crumbs and hope for the best. Know what you want and position yourself to get it; they’ll either find a role for you or make one for you. Think of it as mass marketing versus targeted marketing. Sure, you might miss some roles because of this, but the ones you do get will be ones that you actually want.
OK, you have your target (which is your role at this company) – now we need some ammo.
Step 2: Buy Some Ammo
Knowledge is a better weapon than a gun. Do an extensive amount of research: Know more about them than their current employees, and know at least two strange or obscure facts about the company. A good starting point for your research is figuring out who you’re emailing. This may be more or less difficult depending on the company. Mine was a little tricky because, even though they had a directory of roles, I could only find the name of the marketing director, not his email. I did find the email of the communications director, though. We’ll come back to how I addressed that in the next section.
Your next bullet, if you happen to be choosing a social media role, will be a social media audit. Do a deep dive of all their socials and find out what’s working and what’s not. Know what type of content performs well and not-so-well on each platform. Know what their following counts are and if there’s any discrepancies between platforms. Know what their engagement is like. And before you say it: Yes, I know, you can’t see their insights without being logged in. Here’s what I say to that: You could find that man’s home address and his best friend’s cousin’s Facebook. You can figure out what the company’s engagement rates are with significantly less work (and less damage to your mental health).
Once you’ve done your research, you’ll probably have already figured out an issue with what they’re doing. It might not be something they’re necessarily doing badly. It could just be something that they could be doing better. In my case, it was that they weren’t targeting Gen Z, and it is vital that they do so to retain enrollment for their driving programs.
Step 3: Load the Barrel
Develop your plan. Write it out somewhere as a reference. Make a note of the problem and figure out a few methods on how you would solve it. This doesn’t have to be crazy detailed and completely fleshed out, but figure out a couple methods and how you would approach it. The more detailed, the better. If you’re invited to an interview, you’ll be able to talk about it.But it can be tricky to do all of this from a completely external perspective. What’s more important than the tiny details here is the big idea and the viability of your solution.
Make yourself the hero. What makes you qualified to do this? Why would you be better at this than another candidate? What do you bring to the table that makes you special? Think beyond your skills and your talent. Go deeper than that. Find a genuine emotional connection to the company or a unique perspective that you can bring. In my email, I referenced my previous involvement in the car enthusiast community on social media and the fact that my dad raced with their organization when I was a kid. I showed that the position held sentimental value to me.   Â
Don’t lie about it, though. You might get fact checked if it’s provable, and I doubt you want your future employer to catch you in a lie.
Step 4: Shoot
With my loaded gun in hand, I wrote an email to the communications director. Now, as I mentioned earlier, I couldn’t find the email of the marketing director, who I was actually trying to reach. I didn’t want to risk coming off as ignorant or dumb, though, so I had to make sure to explain why I was emailing him instead of the marketing director. I also didn’t want to make it seem like I had no interest in talking to him. You’ll see in the email how I dealt with this.
I started by introducing myself, explaining my interest in the company and pitching my plan to improve their social media presence. I also shared my personal connection to both car culture and the company, which added a unique touch. A few details are removed for discretion, but here’s the email:
Hi [Communications Director’s Name],
My name is Riley Weymer, and I’m an incoming junior at the University of Florida with a major in advertising. I am reaching out to see if there are currently any opportunities for internships or part-time positions within the communications and/or marketing teams. More specifically, I am interested in getting involved with a role that would allow me to assist with social media management. My resume is attached to this email.
I understand [Company Name] does a considerable amount of their digital marketing through the online magazine publication and email marketing. I follow [Company Name] on social media and always enjoy seeing the posts on my feed, but I believe it would be incredibly successful in tapping into a younger market through a targeted approach with socials, particularly Instagram and TikTok. As a member of Gen Z and someone who is very active in the car enthusiast social media community, I feel that I have the ability to improve [Company Name]’s socials and reach the next generation of racers.
My interest in [Company Name] stems from my dad who raced with the organization around 2010-12. I grew up around race cars and at the track and inherited his love for motorsports. [Company Name] has always held a very special place in my heart because of him. As I develop into a professional, I want to work in automotive advertising and feel that my love of motorsports and my understanding of Gen Z social media trends would make me a perfect fit.
I know you largely work with [Company Name]’s online magazine, but social media management is directly related to communications, so I imagine that you are involved in this area. If not, I would love to get into direct contact with the marketing director, [Marketing Director’s Name].
I greatly appreciate your time and consideration, nonetheless.
Best regards,
Riley Weymer   Â
Step 5: Watch the Bullets Fly
Finally, I let my knowledge and passion for the field guide me through the rest of the process. I was confident in my abilities and the value I could bring to the table, which helped me present myself effectively. I wasn’t even nervous in the interview process because I knew I had done so much research and had a genuine passion and interest in helping improve the company. If they didn’t want to hire me after all that, then it wouldn’t be a good fit anyway.
Fast forward two months later, and I have my dream internship. I’m working under an amazing, understanding team and I’m getting opportunities to work on projects I never would have dreamed of being able to work on. One last thing: Don’t doubt yourself if you get an interview. If they believe in you enough to interview or hire you, then you should believe in yourself enough to do it.
By following these steps, I was able to secure an internship that aligns with my career goals and passions. Cold emailing can be intimidating, but with thorough research, a clear plan and a personalized approach, you can make a strong impression and potentially land the opportunity of a lifetime. You’d be surprised how much of an impact you can make on a potential employer by taking initiative and being bold enough to ask.
I’ll leave you with what the communications director said in the first meeting I had with him and my boss: “I have to give you kudos, Riley. You wrote your way into an internship.”