Levelling up: how I used an apprenticeship to boost my digital skills
Amy Hunter is a digital marketing assistant at Studio Giggle, a creative studio specialising in designing and producing animated and filmed content for events, based in Bristol.
Amy recently graduated from our Digital Marketing Academy with a distinction. We talk to her about her experiences during the programme, how she has applied her new knowledge to the business, and what the future holds.
“The course has given me the confidence and knowledge to help take our company to the next level”
What led you to the Digital Marketing Academy?
I graduated with a degree in history and that wasn't really opening many doors for me, but I luckily managed to find my way to Studio Giggle in 2019. I was always interested in PR and marketing and I'd done some work experience and some internships. I joined Giggle in a marketing assistant role, but it was very basic - writing blogs, posting on social media and there was very little planning. I didn't have any formal marketing qualifications and I wanted to be able to take my career to the next step so along came the Academy.
What have the key achievements been?
I've learned a lot! I've learnt how to create a campaign and structure things in a way that I never had before.
I've applied all this to my work. We launched a new product this year and a big part of my role was marketing that. As a result of the apprenticeship and the knowledge I’d acquired, we were the top-ranking result on Google! Google My Business was coming up when people searched for relevant key terms as well, which is a really big development and something I'd never even thought could be possible. Our social media engagement also improved.
We then got lots of new business. In January and February we received an unprecedented amount of new business enquiries. Normally we might get one new business enquiry per year, as the majority of our work comes from repeat business from our existing customers.
The course has given me the confidence and knowledge to help take our company to the next level and I’m already planning more campaigns now, which was never something I would've thought about beforehand.
How have your coaches and trainers been throughout the programme?
I had great support from the Working Knowledge team. Glenda hosted our masterclasses and she was so nice and always willing to help - there was never a problem that she couldn’t help us with. My mentor, Peter, was always there if I had any extra issues as well, and would always quickly get back to me. Nathan for the end point assessment was so, so great. He helped me to see what I needed to do to improve and that has really benefited me too. The wider Working Knowledge team were also a great help.
What was your favourite part of the apprenticeship?
I really enjoyed finishing it because that allowed me to apply all my new knowledge within the company and see the results. Looking back at where I was when I started in March 2020 and to where I am now in my marketing there's such a big leap, which has been really nice to see.
Where can you see your career taking you?
The last year has taught us with COVID that it's not easy to think that far ahead, but I'm really enjoying where I'm at right now. It's a really great time for Studio Giggle and so that's something that I definitely would like to stick around for and really market the hell out of what we're doing because I think it's great!