What I Learned as a CWS Intern

On May 31 at 8:30 am, I walked into the CWS building for the first time, ready to begin my summer as a marketing intern.

I vividly remember sitting in my first strategy meeting with the marketing team. People were throwing around letters and words that I’d never heard in my life, things like:

• “Is that optimized for SEO?” (S-E-what?)
• “Do we have a CTA on there?” (Crap Ton of Ads, maybe?)
• “What do we need for the landing page?” (Are we working with an airport or something?)

My experience with digital marketing was limited, but I came ready to learn. Good news: I did! Here are the top 3 lessons I learned from working at CWS this summer:

1. Inbound Marketing is the Cat’s Pajamas

As soon as I got here, the CWS team tasked me with getting inbound certified. Through that process, I learned how inbound marketing is really the only effective way to do marketing in the internet age. Instead of pushing irrelevant ads in customers’ faces, inbound marketers create valuable content to solve their problems!

Here at CWS, I’ve done a lot of internal inbound marketing –– providing relevant content for our customers by writing blog posts, building landing pages, and creating offers.

2. There’s a Better Way to Update Your Website, And it’s Called GDD

I’ve worked for a few companies who have done massive traditional website redesigns. It’s a headache for everyone (even the intern). While at CWS, I’ve learned how ineffective these massive overhauls really are. Instead of leaving your website static for years, then sinking a ton of money into it, the Growth Driven Design (GDD) method uses hard data to continuously update your website.

CWS puts a strong emphasis on continuing education for its employees, so I also completed a GDD certification course. Now, I’m a certified GDD expert!

3. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

When there’s hourly foosball games and bi-weekly meetings with beer, you know CWS is a special place to work. But the strong community atmosphere stems from more than our Chief Happiness Officer’s commitment to fun and flexibility. CWS team members are truly willing to sacrifice their own time and energy to help their coworkers.  

As an intern, I have a lot less knowledge capital than everyone else. But despite my inability to help them in return, my coworkers are totally willing –– even eager! –– to set aside their own work and take time to teach me.

Confucius once said, “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” Since arriving at CWS, I’ve learned just how much I don’t know about digital marketing –– which excites me! I have so much room to grow and learn. As I head back to Taylor University this fall to wrap up my degree, I look forward to jumping back into the world of digital marketing after graduation.