The Diary of a Digital Marketing Apprentice: A Year On!

It has been a little while since my last diary entry, and since the last one, a truckload of stuff has happened, including my first anniversary as a Digital Marketing Apprentice at Destination Digital Marketing! In this edition of my “Diary of an Apprentice”, I will be going through my last year as an apprentice, the things I’ve learnt, events I’ve attended, plans for the future and my top tips for anyone looking to get into an apprenticeship in digital marketing. 

Welcome back to my Diary of an Apprentice blog, and for those who haven’t read any of my previous blogs…why? In all seriousness, this is where I document all things to do with my apprenticeship, including what I’ve learnt, tips and tricks, and so much more – so keep reading to see what has happened in the year since I started out on my journey as an apprentice.

Since starting at Destination Digital in October of last year, my baby marketing brain has been moulded into an adolescent brain during my apprenticeship. As Jiddu Krishnamurti said, “There is no end to education”, and as I near the end of my apprenticeship, I have certainly come to find this as I learn something new every single day, whether that be about digital marketing or life. My apprenticeship has provided me with experiences that school, college or sixth-form really can’t match.

So, let me take you back to the very start of my apprenticeship where I was a completely smooth-brained apprentice. During my first week, the first significant piece of learning took place for me, where I was taught all about different content management systems, including systems like WordPress and Shopify, and also shown how to navigate, upload and schedule content for publishing on these websites.

Looking back now, having learned these skills so early massively helped to set a solid foundation for my apprenticeship because, in my opinion, most of the marketing you do should point towards your website as this is where the magic happens and the sale is secured. If I wrote about everything I’ve learnt during my apprenticeship, I think I would break our website, so I think it’s best I avoid doing that and keep it short and sweet!

My Favourite Moments During my Apprenticeship

During my time here at Destination Digital I have been lucky enough to experience and attend many different events and connect with so many wonderful business people from all corners of the country and all walks of life. Th below are just a few of my favourite moments and events during my apprenticeship!

The Chesterfield Business Expo

My first taste of networking was early on in my apprenticeship, where on my third day in, we made our way over to the Casa Hotel in Chesterfield for the wonderful Chesterfield Business Expo (not before a quick client meeting in a Costa Coffee across the road!). It was a great opportunity to be introduced to how professionals interact with each other in a business setting, a skill which is hugely important for my role, as marketing is all about communication.

Christmas Team Day out

A personal favourite of mine when it comes to events I’ve attended has to be our 2023 Christmas Day Out, which could have been because of the copious amount of food we had at The Cosy Club Durham, or maybe the beautiful Durham Cathedral. Either way, this was high up on the list! 😍

FSB Networking in Bakewell

Every month, the team here at Destination Digital hosts a networking event on behalf of FSB with our wonderful MD, Debbie, as compère! They are brilliant events with super knowledgeable speakers each month. At our most recent event we welcomed Ian M Travers, the founder of Thinking It Better Ltd. This was a personal favourite of mine, with a talk on how to deal with a busy mind and stop our thoughts getting in our way – a talk that resonates with most people in the world of work!

Our FSB events are highly recommended, so use the links here and here to sign up for the November and December events!

Top Tips When Trying to find a Digital Marketing Apprenticeship

Digital marketing apprenticeships are few and far between, making them highly competitive, so standing out is an absolute necessity when applying or being interviewed for a position. Below are my top tips from someone who was in the exact same position this time last year:

• Build a strong CV! This can be done by work experience in digital marketing or you can demonstrate key skills in other ways. So, for example, attention to detail and organisation are really important key skills when it comes to digital marketing. If you have these two things nailed before you even enter into a digital marketing job, you’ll be already be at great advantage!
• Familiarise yourself with what the company does, and keep in mind that digital marketing is a whole lot more than just social media – a mistake that could make you very unpopular during an interview 👀
• Make sure your CV is written well, with no mistakes – this is important because not only does it give a good first impression, but copywriting is a huge part of digital marketing, so demonstrating this in your CV will get you some extra brownie points.

Plans For the Future

I think it’s safe to say I have been incredibly fortunate to carry out my apprenticeship at such a wonderful organisation, with such excellent colleagues. With that being said, my passion and newfound knowledge are all pointing me towards carrying on with working in digital marketing and continuing to develop as a digital marketer – and I can’t wait to see what comes of my career in marketing!
 

Thank you for reading, and keep your eyes peeled for more future blogs! 👀

Contact us

If you’d like to talk to us about this news piece, or you’d like help you’re your digital marketing strategy, content marketing, SEO or anything else digital, please email us on info@destination-digital.co.uk or give us a call on 01629 810199.