Insights of a Technical Marketing Automation Intern

Insights of a Technical Marketing Automation Intern 

Jens, you know, the IT expert, Formula 1 fan with a passion for swimming and a great sense of humor in the BeBold team? He is our enthusiastic Technical Marketing Automation Intern. But what does such an internship look like? We asked him! The man behind the name, who is Jens Baeten? What are three words which describe you? Autonomous Tech-savvy Helpful

What does your internship involve?

Before starting my internship, BeBold proposed me 4 possible assignments, and I chose the project that immediately seemed super interesting: the development of the BeBold Recommender. This is a web application that recommends marketing automation tools. Finding a suitable tool requires a lot of time and knowledge nowadays, so an app that automatically offers the right tool based on the customer’s needs is the perfect solution. This way, employees save a lot of time while still offering customers the appropriate tools. Win-win!

What does your day as a Technical Marketing Automation Intern usually look like?

There’s only 1 thing that is the same every day: I arrive at 7:30 in the morning, which means I’m always the first one at the office. Yes, you can call me an early bird. Other than that, my days look pretty different. During the first month of my internship, I analyzed what the application should look like and what functionalities it should contain. After my analysis, I could really get to work on developing the app. It took me some time and effort, but I succeeded! Creating a web application doesn’t stop with its development. The app also needs to be tested and improved, something I focused on during my last month, including writing a report!

Why did you choose to do an internship BeBold?

I study IT & Business, so an internship where marketing and IT are connected seemed very interesting. BeBold offers this combination, so let’s call it the best of both worlds. I am very happy that I ended up here!

Which part of your internship gives you the most energy?

Coffee! And also the fact that I can work autonomously. I choose how to tackle my tasks while my mentor Vone is always ready to help and give feedback. I decided myself how to make the web application and what it would look like.

Which important learning did you get from your internship?

Besides the technical part, design is also very important when developing a web app. As a developer, you have to empathize with the role of the customer to create the most user-friendly version. In addition, future-proof development is also an important aspect that I learned since the app needs to last forever.

What is your definition of marketing automation?

Marketing automation is the automation of marketing strategies where you provide personalized communication to customers, and this is possible thanks to obtaining user data most legally.

What does the future of marketing automation hold?

This can turn out to be both positive and negative. On the one hand, there are various laws regarding data collection. If we no longer have access to that data, personalized communication will be much more difficult. On the other hand, we need to be optimistic, the future of marketing automation looks bright. Companies in this virtual world will implement more and more marketing automation, or at least consider it anyway.

What are companies that are not yet engaged in marketing automation missing out on?

Companies that haven’t implemented marketing automation are really missing something because it’s one of the most efficient ways to attract people to your business. Personalization plays an important role these days and gone are the days of impersonal communication hoping people will come to your business.

What’s your future goal?

That’s a difficult question! I’m an eternal doubter so I change my future plans every week. A job in the IT sector as a developer or business analyst is something I would like. Or maybe I’ll go back to school for a few more years. A master’s degree in computer science to doctorate afterwards would also appeal to me. We will find out in a few months what it will be. My motto in life: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that is why it’s called the present”. So for now, I’m just enjoying my last day at BeBold and then we’ll see what comes my way!