Diploma Programme (DP) graduate Harriet Boston sheds insight into her journey to a career in marketing. This is her second story in our graduate voices series.
By Harriet Boston 
“I quickly realized that I loved having a role that could be both creative and analytical in so many aspects and wanted to pursue a career in this field.”
Although I am a digital marketing specialist and love my job, I fell into digital marketing by complete mistake. Whilst studying the Diploma Programme (DP), I didn’t have a clue about what Digital Marketing was and what it could entail. My bachelor’s degree in business and management included two internships, the second of which I did at an online travel agency as a content writer in the marketing department and was my introduction to digital marketing.
Digital marketing for beginners
Content writing is a common starting point for many digital marketers and is a great creative outlet. Not only does it involve writing a lot of blogs but it also includes all the other content you read on websites. However, when I started email marketing, I realized that I loved looking at data as well.
For example, each week I would send out newsletter emails and look at all sorts of numbers; how many people opened my email, which item had the most number of clicks and how many flights were purchased as a direct result of my email to name a few. I quickly realized that I loved having a role that could be both creative and analytical in so many aspects and wanted to pursue a career in this field.
Jack of all trades
“Skills relating to the online world are becoming more important to learn”
Digital marketing encompasses a variety of activities such as online advertising (on social media or search engines), email marketing, blogging, social media posting and much more. It might not be something that we are taught in schools, but skills relating to the online world are becoming more important to learn.
It is widely reported that the average American is exposed to anywhere between 4,000-10,000 ads per day. That’s insane! Not only does someone need to make these ads but there also needs to be a whole strategy and support system in place in order for online companies to perform and grow. In a digitalizing world, learning skills such as those used in digital marketing are highly valuable; the more you can do, the better!
My IB education definitely helps with my digital marketing role particularly because I have worked in several countries and industries in a short space of time. It not only made me aware that I have to be constantly questioning what I am doing and why but also that the online world is global, so being able to have a broad perspective is a great asset.
Reflection
“Reflection is so important, both on a personal level and also a professional one.”
In true IB style, I decided to reflect on the past few months after my first IB graduate blog. As part of a description about myself, I wrote that my dream was to become a freelancer digital marketer whilst travelling the world and have my own spinning studio. I surprised myself in writing those dreams, because it had been a long time since I had been prompted to think about what I really want to achieve.
Reflection is so important, both on a personal level and also a professional one. It’s easy to let time pass by without pushing yourself to learn new skills or tackle new challenges. I realized that nothing was stopping me from starting the journey of achieving those goals so, I took action; I am now a freelance digital marketing specialist in my spare time, currently with 2 clients (and growing). I also have a weekly shift at a spinning studio where I am learning what it takes to run a studio so that in the future that dream can also become a reality.
I would like to thank the IB, particularly the alumni relations team, for continuing to trigger my development. Even 6 years after graduating, the IB has helped me realize goals I didn’t even know I had!
Harriet Boston is an IB graduate of Plymouth High School for Girls, Plymouth, England. She studied her International Business Bachelor’s degree in Utrecht, The Netherlands, studied abroad in South Korea and now lives in Canada working as a Digital Marketer specialising in working for start-ups. She loves spinning and dreams of launching her own spinning studio whilst working as a freelance Marketer and travelling the world. Connect with Harriet via LinkedIn.
To hear more from Diploma Programme (DP) graduates check out these IB programme stories. If you are an IB grad and want to share your story, write to us at alumni.relations@ibo.org. We appreciate your support in sharing IB stories and invite you to connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter and now Instagram!
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