Welcome to my first ever blog post! Over on my instagram, my most frequently asked question is either "how did you get into marketing?" or "how can I get into social media?" so today I'm going to share my journey and some tips on how you can get there too!
Last summer I graduated from Edinburgh Napier University where I studied BA (hons) Business Management. I enjoyed studying business (mainly marketing) in high school, so when it down came to applying for university I was undecided between Business Management and Marketing Management. I applied for both and in the end decided to go forward with business, as marketing comes under that umbrella anyway.
Throughout my degree I always found myself choosing the marketing classes over any others for example economics, accounting and human resources. However, I was pretty set on becoming a primary school teacher so wasn't really thinking about career choices in this field (I know, random).
After graduating during the height of the pandemic and failing to get a place on a PGDE course in education, I decided to start applying for a grad role in marketing as I always had a passion for it in the back of my mind. While doing so, I also began to brush up on my digital marketing knowledge by completing some online courses. This not only fuelled my passion for marketing but also helped with my lockdown boredom after finishing my degree and suddenly having nothing to do. The more roles I applied for and the more online courses I completed, the more I began to realise just how much I enjoyed digital marketing, in particular the social media side of it.
This was when Marketing with Amber was born! 🥳
I was struggling to find instagram blogs to follow in the topic of marketing, so decided to set up my own to post the information I learned along my journey of university, online courses and reading industry publications. I had so much fun doing this that I decided to get into a routine of posting and make it my own little portfolio.
After many unsuccessful grad job applications and a few failed interviews, I joined the Girls in Marketing business pairing program where I got the role of Social Media Manager working for a small skincare brand. I have a huuuuge passion for skincare so this was super exciting for me and it finally felt like things were going well.
Running Marketing with Amber alongside my volunteer position taught me so much about both running a small business and social media marketing first hand. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to start freelancing a few months later after my confidence grew. This was a massive step for me and I was super excited about it!
I have now been freelancing full time for over 6 months and I love it! I've had the opportunity to work with brands in different industries like beauty, fitness, clothing, wellness and business. One of my favourite things about freelancing is getting to work with different brands and learn more about industries I perhaps wouldn't know much about before.
So, if you're looking to get into marketing but don't have much, or any, experience, here's some tips of how you can do so:
Study a marketing or business related course at university (however I know this isn't an option for some).
Undertake a placement year/semester at university if you're able to.
Complete recognised marketing certifications like HubSpot Social Media Marketing or the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google Digital Garage.
Create your own social media platform.
Volunteer with small businesses for experience in exchange for a testimonial.
Complete an internship or apprenticeship with a marketing agency.
Thanks or reading my first blog post, I hope you enjoyed it! I'm hoping to start posting these regularly so please let me know what you thought or if you have anything you'd love to read from me :)
Amber x