During the Spring 2024 semester, I served as a social media intern for LeMarr Pest Control. This opportunity was one of the most enriching experiences of my early professional career, as I was able to take the knowledge that I have obtained through my coursework about various media channels and apply that knowledge to LeMarr Pest Control’s social media platforms. This semester-long position offered me critical insight not only into the field of social media management but also into the larger pest control industry.
Analysis of the Internship
I can confidently say that my spring internship with LeMarr Pest Control exceeded my expectations. It especially exceeded in three specific areas, which were preparation, flexibility, and creative freedom.
Before I began engaging with their Facebook page, which is their main social media platform, my supervisor made sure that I was prepared with a wide range of knowledge regarding their company as well as the larger pest control industry. I learned key information, such as what areas they service, the services that they provide, and their timeline for treatments. I also learned about the various pests that they encounter and why it is important to treat them swiftly.
The pictures that I have included throughout this reflection give insight into the different types of pests and how they can infiltrate your living spaces. The first picture is from a bee-removal job. These bees made a rather large home inside a client’s wall, and unfortunately, the only way to get them out was by removing part of the wall. The second picture is of a large swarm of termites on the floors of a client’s home. These pests are especially destructive and can wreak havoc on wood fixtures in your home. They are also so small that they may go unnoticed, allowing a large amount of damage to occur. The final picture is of a raccoon that we captured in the attic of our own office. Even a pest control company needs its own services every now and then! Being informed of these pests and actually seeing the damage that they can do better prepared me for developing content that was both useful and informative to potential clients.
The next area in which my internship greatly exceeded expectations was flexibility. During this internship experience, I was also a full-time student, and my supervisor was very flexible regarding my academic schedule. Because of this, I never felt overwhelmed and was successfully able to balance my academic and professional endeavors.
This internship also granted me a great deal of creative freedom. After learning about the company’s values and services, my supervisor gave me a timeline of when certain pests would be emerging in homes. With that, I was able to design my own campaigns and content for the company’s social media platform. This freedom greatly increased my confidence regarding my ability to write and design content that appropriately reflected the company’s values.
Overall, this experience with LeMarr Pest Control greatly increased my confidence in the field of social media management, while also giving me the opportunity to learn about an industry that I was previously unfamiliar with.
“What would you do differently in a future work experience?”
Based on my experience with LeMarr Pest Control, there are two things that I would do differently in a future work experience. The first thing that I would do is to further increase the company’s presence on community Facebook groups. Although my main responsibility was maintaining and creating content on their Facebook page, I noticed that many times on the local community pages, potential clients would be looking for recommendations for pest control companies. Being a small business that does not have the marketing capabilities of a corporate entity, I think increasing the company’s presence on these pages would increase traffic to their main business page as potential clients would have a direct link to their page and would not have to actively seek them out.
The second thing that I would do differently would be to work to expand the number of platforms that they have a business presence on. LeMarr Pest Control only has a Facebook page, and while this is a great way to interact with current and potential clients, I think expanding their presence across platforms would greatly benefit a company like LeMarr Pest Control. Many people often have profiles on multiple social media platforms, and by increasing the number of platforms that the business has a presence on, you would be increasing the chance that a potential client sees your content.
SMART Goals
These were the three SMART Goals that I had set for myself at the beginning of my internship:
By the end of my internship, I want to significantly increase my knowledge about the products and services offered by LeMarr Pest Control.
Increase, and hopefully double, engagement numbers (likes, shares, and comments on individual posts and total page likes) on the company’s Facebook page by the end of my internship.
Successfully design and implement a social media campaign on my own by the end of my internship.
Looking back on my experience, I can proudly say that I was successful in achieving all three of my SMART Goals. I am leaving this experience with a significant amount of knowledge regarding the products and services offered by LeMarr Pest Control. Regarding engagement numbers, I did not increase the number of likes and comments on individual Facebook posts, but I did reach my goal of doubling the number of total page likes. After reviewing recent engagement analytics and comparing them to what they were at the start of my internship, I am proud to say that I have increased the reach of the company's content by 500%, which greatly exceeded my original goal of doubling it. After being adequately prepared regarding the company’s services, I was given the creative freedom to write and design content and campaigns on my own. Because of this, I achieved my third goal early on in my internship.
“What’s next for you professionally?”
Upon writing this reflection, I still have to complete the summer and fall semesters before I graduate. With that being said, I have given a great deal of thought to what is next for me professionally. I am extremely interested in continuing in the social media management field, as I greatly enjoyed my experience in that position during my internship. In addition to this, I also feel that my classes and coursework have prepared me for experiences in any media-related field, so I intend on keeping my options open when it comes time to apply for positions.
“How will you prepare/take action based on what you've learned during this internship?”
Upon completing this internship, one of the most important lessons that I intend to take action on in future professional endeavors is to fully understand the company’s values and services. By doing this during my internship, I was able to create content that current and potential clients could look to as trusted advice. When dealing with pests that can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to your home, it is important to be able to trust the company that you are enlisting to treat the problem. By implementing these same objectives in a future endeavor and learning everything that I can about a company, I can be sure that the content that I create is trustworthy and overall increases brand awareness and loyalty.
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