Work Experience at Black Vanilla – 5 Things I’ve Learnt This Week

Hey there, I’m Katie and I’ve just finished a week of work experience at Black Vanilla. I’ve had a fulfilling week and learnt a lot about the PR industry – here are my top five insights from the week

The Importance of Research

During the week I have been assigned a number of research tasks. These included competitor and market research, as well as gathering information for press releases and articles that the team needs to write. I’ve learnt that research is super important because it gives you an insight into the client’s marketplace and provides invaluable knowledge for campaign planning. It also shows us what’s working well for our clients’ social media and websites.

 

How to Write an Effective Press Release

One of the things I was keen to master is writing a good press release. Writing and amending press releases to be sent out to the media was one of my first tasks here at Black Vanilla and I feel like I’ve progressed with them as the week has gone on. One of the main things I’ve learnt is to make sure the release is relevant to the particular media you are sending it to. As well as this, it’s important that the introduction includes all the main points (who, what, where) and the release is easy to read (no waffling!).

 

The Variations of Copywriting in PR

Before my experience at BV, I wasn’t aware of just how many variations of copywriting are involved in PR. Throughout the week I have been writing press releases, website bios, blog posts and website copy.

 

Teamwork is Vital!

At Black Vanilla, teamwork is extremely important and I’ve really felt like part of a great team this week. As different projects came in, it was great to see the team working together to provide the best possible service to clients and everyone utilising their skills on the challenges that suit them best.

 

Being Thrown in at the Deep End is a Great Way To Learn

The week of my work experience was a particularly busy week for the staff at Black Vanilla so I’m glad I was there to give them a helping hand. Although it was busy, I think this was a really great way for me to experience what a real career in PR is like: dynamic, fast-moving and often chaotic because clients and the media frequently need to get things done urgently! Everyone pitches in to get the job done.

 

I have had a great week here at BV, it was inspiring to work with like-minded people who have an obvious passion for communications.