Craft Internship Projects That Boost Teams & Future Talent

Hosting a marketing technology intern offers a remarkable chance to shape future talent while delivering tangible benefits to your team. A well-structured internship goes beyond routine tasks, providing meaningful projects that support organizational goals and foster professional growth. Thoughtful planning ensures both the company and the intern gain lasting value from the experience.

One highly effective strategy involves assigning projects that fall into the important but not urgent category, those foundational tasks that often get sidelined amid daily fire drills. While the core team handles immediate priorities, an intern can focus on building systems and conducting research that pave the way for future success. Early collaboration with colleagues during project design helps refine these assignments, making them more relevant and impactful for everyone involved.

A prime example is developing a martech inventory or stack documentation. Maintaining clear, up-to-date records of marketing technology platforms is essential, yet it frequently takes a backseat to more pressing demands. An intern can take the lead here, engaging with marketing stakeholders to gather crucial details like cost, usage, integration capabilities, and performance metrics. This documentation not only aids in evaluating platform ROI and guiding renewal decisions but also helps identify stakeholder needs before they become urgent. For the intern, it offers invaluable exposure to various teams and technologies, illustrating how different tools work together to achieve business objectives.

Another high-impact project involves researching competitor martech stacks. Understanding what tools rivals use can reveal gaps, opportunities, and emerging trends. Interns can spearhead this effort by identifying competitor platforms, spotting missing categories in your own stack, and gathering public insights from case studies or industry events. This kind of analysis supports smarter vendor discussions and more informed procurement decisions. Useful resources include tech profiling tools like BuiltWith, subscription links in marketing emails, and platform-specific job postings. Beyond building research and critical thinking skills, this project gives interns a clear view of how technology influences competitive strategy.

Evaluating the competitors of your existing martech platforms is equally valuable. It helps avoid tunnel vision and ensures your team stays aware of alternative solutions. This is especially useful when power users operate within a single vendor ecosystem and may overlook broader market developments. An intern’s fresh perspective can uncover enhancement opportunities, validate platform choices, or quickly assemble a shortlist for stakeholder requests. Resources like G2, Capterra, or aggregated stack data from services like CabinetM can support this research. Unburdened by institutional bias, interns often spot possibilities that seasoned team members might miss.

Integrating interns into daily operations provides a realistic look at martech careers, showing how strategy and execution intersect. While special projects build specific skills, involvement in routine workflows offers complementary experience. A hybrid approach, mixing standalone initiatives with hands-on team participation, often delivers the most rounded development.

It’s also essential to align intern projects with your company’s broader internship program, which may include structured activities, leadership meetings, or group projects. Balancing these commitments ensures interns can engage fully with both their assignments and the larger organizational experience.

Investing in intern development is one of the most rewarding ways to cultivate the next generation of marketing technology talent. With careful planning and meaningful projects, these experiences can yield significant returns, sometimes even leading to a valuable full-time team member.

(Source: MarTech)