As a Spanish and Political Science student, it may come as a surprise to some that I am involved in a club that delves into journalism and media marketing. I, along with many Her Campus community members, do not envision ourselves pursuing a career in blog-style writing or marketing. So what is the appeal of Her Campus to college students like me?
Along with writing, one of the modern-day skills that Her Campus helps foster is media marketing. This field is a relatively new one for our generation. As Gen Z college students, we are among the first to have gone through our schooling as social media has become increasingly personalized and targeted. We are now in an era where you can open a social media app and be bombarded with targeted ads. As such, we are also faced with the question of whether or not this type of marketing can be used for good. Throughout my time in college and with Her Campus, I have come to realize that, ultimately, marketing can be utilized for good, and its skills are broadly applicable if we can foster them.
From our organization’s perspective, the intentional marketing of physical products is an area in which we have had the opportunity to be involved. Primarily through trying out different beauty brands and marketing them both on social media and in person, our organization has had the chance to explore what it entails to market products effectively. From sharing products with club members to hosting table promotions for our broader Holy Cross community, Her Campus engages in in-person marketing while also offering fun giveaways. In addition, creating and consuming our own online content allows us to see the other side of the marketing we are bombarded with on our social media feeds daily.
As for the applicability of this skill, learning how to communicate a message via marketing effectively translates to any field. I plan to pursue a career in law or public policy, and with this dream comes the need to engage in extensive communication and critical thinking. Even our “blog style” articles, which are fun and often lighthearted, carry messages. Our words and the messages we convey, whether in person, in text, or in visual formats online, all communicate our ideas to other people. In essence, marketing is sharing something with someone else, an aspect of our basic humanity.