Q&A with MCA Marketing Coordinator, Leigh Partington
Being a marketing coordinator involves wearing a lot of hats. Just ask MCA Marketing Coordinator, Leigh Partington! She collaborates with MCA co-owners Cynarah and Caitlin on strategy for social media marketing and PR while also overseeing social media engagement and writing copy for blog posts and newsletter campaigns. As a result, she has a great perspective of what it takes to keep a marketing agency and its clients up and running.
Leigh took a break from her busy day to answer questions about breaking into marketing, common misconceptions, and a bit of her personal journey.
Q: Why did you choose to study marketing?
Leigh Partington (LP): I studied Communications and took all the marketing/PR classes that I could at the University of Washington. These classes were interesting to me because I had taken a few years of Psychology and a marketing class at a community college while in high school, and the psychological side of marketing became super interesting to me. Seeing how a different font, model, or slight word change in a slogan can heavily affect if someone wants to buy your product or not was crazy! I also decided to stay outside the marketing major because I was more interested in the social/emotional connection that PR and marketing can have with consumers rather than the more statistical, math-y side. This is what was really highlighted in the Communications classes I took. They emphasized that people are just as important as profit, which was something that resonated with me.
Q: What’s a common misconception about social media marketing?
LP: That it’s easy. People tend to think all it takes to make a good social media post for a business is to post a photo and boom! Instant success! But there’s so much more that goes into social media marketing. You need to create a brand voice, have a consistent color and font scheme, connect with your consumers, and engage with other brands/people in your field! Behind every business' great social media presence is a smart, dedicated social media manager!
Q: What is your favorite part of the job?
LP: I love working with such a diverse range of clients! It’s fun to engage different parts of my brain by creating content and writing for a variety of different fields. It also means you create authentic connections with people all over the place who you never would have met otherwise.
Q: What advice do you have for someone just entering the field of marketing?
LP: Be patient. It can be really hard finding someone who will take a chance on you fresh out of college with little or no professional experience. Also, don’t be shy about reaching out to people you know working in the field, especially if they work for a business or company you’re interested in! You never know where an email reaching out could lead.
Q: Dream type of marketing campaign or business to work for?
LP: I love staying up to date with what’s on the runway and what patterns and colors are trending. The history of clothing and fashion has also always fascinated me. Because of this, my dream company to work for would be an original fashion house, specifically Yves Saint Laurent or Prada would be a dream! I love Prada because they are one of the oldest family-owned fashion houses and have been incredibly influential. I love YSL because of the super fun history surrounding the original founder, Yves Saint Laurent. I was also able to go to the YSL museum in Paris when studying abroad and it was such a unique, amazing experience that made me fall in love with the brand!
Do you have a question for Leigh? Tag us on Instagram @mca_marcom!
