An internship at social media firm TikTok is what many marketing majors dream of and for NUS BBA Year 3 student Esabel Lee, it was a whirlwind dream come true.
As part of the Global Business Solutions team in New York, she helped clients achieve their advertising campaign goals. Her daily activities involved optimising auction ads and managing campaign performance data. She also worked on influencer partnerships, as well as liaising with cross-functional teams in Beijing, Brazil and Los Angeles.
Then she had a new responsibility. As TikTok grew, they were looking to localise operations. However, they did not have a specific team to handle small and medium businesses (SMB).
“I had to find a way to manage SMB leads wanting to advertise in the United States and Canada. By the first week, I created a new internal process to handle hundreds of inbound leads per week. As we established our SMB sales and account management team based in Austin, Texas, I was responsible for hiring SMB account management interns in New York,” recounted Esabel.
Her team of 25 people when she joined trebled to 75 nine months later.
Esabel Lee learnt a lot while interning at social media firm TikTok in New York.
The future of marketing
The New York experience is about connections. Esabel witnessed how TikTok creates relationships between users and brands. She saw how users express their creative and authentic selves on the platform. She believes that the future of marketing is one where businesses sell without selling.
Esabel recalled her module “Consumer Behaviour”, which she described as rather theoretical but most applicable in her work. “We interact with people on a daily basis, and this module made me more cognisant to consumer mindsets and habits, and how they come into play when we create content,” said Esabel. “Fundamentally, the basis of marketing is to connect with your target audience.”
Esabel (far right) at a Christmas party at TikTok in 2019.
The COVID-19 encounter
The internship, part of the NUS Overseas Colleges programme, would have been longer if not for the escalating pandemic. NUS students who were overseas were recalled back to Singapore. After she returned, Esabel went for a voluntary swab test and was found to be COVID-19 positive.
“Being isolated for five weeks in a room was not easy, though very necessary,” said Esabel. “The experience made me realise how lucky I am to have access to world-class healthcare and a great support system.”
Now recovered, Esabel was thankful for the support she received. Looking at the bright side, she felt that this crisis made people think for others and the community at large.
“I came out of it with a more positive outlook on everything. Taking interviews and even starting on my current internship at workforce management firm StaffAny, while isolated at the quarantine facility, made me more grateful that I had such opportunities available during these tough times.”
