Over the past 10 weeks, my internship with Fooda has been nothing like the stereotypical internship experiences portrayed on television shows that include coffee runs and filing papers. From my first day, even though my title was Marketing Intern, my thoughts and opinions were valued on my team.

One of my biggest day-to-day responsibilities included managing Fooda’s social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Yes, those hands holding all of the food in the Fooda Instagram photos are mine. Over the last 10 weeks, Fooda’s Instagram engagement increased by 157%. Along with managing Fooda’s brand presence online, I also used social marketing analytics to see which posts had the highest engagement and impressions to inform and alter our social media strategy.

Three major projects I worked on included:

• Analyzing results and identifying trends from a consumer survey
• Running an app contest to garner more downloads
• Overseeing a social media contest to bolster engagement

My first project was analyzing results from a consumer survey of over 20,000 participants. This included data analysis with pivot tables on user frequency and recency in excel, calculating Net Promoter Scores for various accounts and markets, and categorizing and flagging thousands of survey comments. We uncovered very useful data that helped the product team prioritize user features on the roadmap, as well as inform the marketing team on its consumer marketing communications strategy.

With the app contest, I was responsible for sending emails to more than 90,000 users and creating reports on the new users we acquired through our campaign. I also contacted the daily free lunch winners to give them the good news. By the end of the contest, our app user base increased by 23%, and the cost per user was only $0.11. With the user acquisition campaign, we are able to learn more about our customers and better the user experience.

Near the end of my summer internship, we decided to run a social media contest to grow our following. I was responsible for creating copy for the promotional emails, tracking the growth of our following, monitoring the hashtag #gofooda for user engagement, and contacting winners. With the new followers acquired from the campaign, we are able to develop a stronger brand recognition among our followers as well as have increased user engagement.

Aside from my day-to-day responsibilities, there were also smaller projects I had the opportunity work on, like a video shoot that will be used for future marketing material, brainstorms with the Fooda tech team, finding events for Fooda to attend, and finding journalists and bloggers in each of our markets who cover tech and food. All of these activities kept me motivated over the last ten weeks, and the time flew by.

My internship was unforgettable, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to intern at a place that I looked forward to going into work every day to collaborate with my coworkers. I was encapsulated by a marketing experience where I learned more than I could have ever imagined, and I’m lucky to have been able to work at a Crain’s Fast 50 company that is continually growing and expanding. I can’t wait to see where Fooda goes in the future!