Hannah Dervin

STR 330
Dr. Xu
3 October 2023

Informational Interview Report

Summary
The rise of the digital world has caused numerous changes in the marketing industry.
Companies are having to adopt new ways of communicating their messages and
reaching audiences, which has created a whole new sector of the industry: digital and
social media marketing. In this report, I will be discussing my findings from an
informational interview I conducted with a Marketing Manager professional. This will
highlight the value of not only learning more about the industry, but also networking and
connecting with professionals in the field, such as Becca Schmiegel.

Background
I chose to interview Becca Schmiegel, the current Marketing Manager for Visit Indy.
Previously, she was the Digital Marketing Coordinator for three years at the same
company, which is more aligned with digital and social media marketing. In that role, her
duties included creating and managing content for all of the organization’s social media
accounts, tracking impressions, engagement and other analytical insights on the
company’s social media posts, facilitating user-generated content, and more.

Her current position is more editorial content-focused as she manages the Visit Indy
website. She promotes various events and opportunities around the city, showcases
community members’ stories, consistently updates the site to keep it engaging and
current, and more. Both of these roles include digital marketing and highlight the many
different ways in which it can be used. I gained a lot of valuable insight into the digital
and social media marketing industry, which is seen in the three key pieces of
information I gathered from the interview.

Keeping up with Trends

The first takeaway I got from the interview is that staying up-to-date with trends is
crucial. I asked her about what advice she would give to someone looking to work in the
field, and she said to stay on top of trends. Whether it’s a feature update, new platform,
current event, social media meme, etc., it’s important to stay informed on what is
popular and what new things are happening. This allows for you and your team to better
tailor to the needs and wants of your audience, while also learning more yourself. She
also stated that it’s important to not overdo it and in terms of social media content
trends, only participate in those that make sense for your company and adhere to your
brand image. In addition to keeping up with trends, keeping up with data analytics is just
as important.
Understanding Data Analytics
Another takeaway from the interview is that understanding data analytics is key to digital
and social media marketing. In this field, you need to be able to interpret numbers from
impressions, shares, reach, etc. and apply them to your communication and marketing
strategies. This helps you learn the differences between the platforms and figure out
what types of posts on each platform performs the best. She also said that data
analytics are what help prove the posts are working and that the account is growing,
which is a vital part of the process. Being able to use those numbers to show the impact
of your content is just as important as remembering your purpose for doing it in the first
place.

Creating with a Purpose

Lastly, caring about what you are promoting and who you are helping is essential to this
industry. Oftentimes, people forget their “why”, especially in the digital world where
there are millions of opinions and personal stories being shared every second, which
can cause your attention to shift. Remembering your purpose and actively caring about
your initiatives is extremely important. It’s also valuable to have a deep understanding of
your field, as well as your audience and community as a whole. This will come across in
the content created and show audiences the level of care and commitment your
organization has.

Action Steps
Because of these takeaways, I now have a better understanding of what all goes into
digital and social media marketing, as well as what one may expect when looking into
working in the industry. After conducting the interview and analyzing my findings, I now
want to connect with even more people and learn more about the field. I have an
interview later this month with a communications staff member at a travel agency, so I
will be able to take these findings and apply them to that. They will help me develop
more specific questions to ask, which will help formulate even better takeaways than
from this interview.

Conclusion
Overall, this experience has been very eye-opening and insightful. I learned so much
more by conversing with a real-life professional in the field than I would have from a
textbook or website. After learning the importance of staying updated on trends,
understanding data analytics and having a purpose, I will be able to apply it in the future
and use it to help develop my skills. I will also be able to hone-in one what exactly I
want to do for a future career and learn more about what my likes, dislikes, strengths
and weaknesses are when it comes to this topic. I’m looking forward to advancing my
skills and knowledge, as well as hearing from more professionals in the industry who
can offer even more guidance.