Bronco Spotlight: Taylor Graham
Paid Social Specialist at Media Assembly
I create, monetize, and optimize paid social media campaigns for a client who owns multiple horse racing tracks. I am in charge of all the paid social media marketing for the different events that occur at these tracks. I also create monthly reports on the performance of these campaigns.
What is the most rewarding and the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging aspect is narrowing down all of the different targeting aspects and capabilities on the different platforms. There are so many combinations of audiences you can create, and it鈥檚 trial and error and a lot of optimizing based on the performance of the campaign. It鈥檚 a strategy game. But it鈥檚 also the most fun part of my job and so rewarding when you hit and surpass the goals, KPIs, and numbers you set.
What activities, resources, or people helped you prepare for your career?
I think three major things helped me prepare for my career. The first was my decision to study abroad in the Dominican Republic. Not only was this trip probably my most favorite college memory and one of the most life changing experiences, but it also gave me the friend group that became my family away from home. They were my rocks through most of college. The second was AdClub. AdClub gave me the opportunity to network with so many industry professionals, gave me exclusive interviews with companies only here for advertising and AdClub people, and attend career conferences. The third thing (or should I say person) was Dr. Scott Cowley. I took his digital and social media marketing class as an elective solely because I heard great things about the class and him from everyone I knew that took it prior. What I didn鈥檛 expect was to completely find my niche within advertising. I was completely absorbed by the material he taught, which led me to pursue paid social internships. After that, I took his advanced digital strategies class my final semester of college in conjunction with my campaigns capstone class. The combination of the two classes was a lot, but it more than prepared me for the full time career I have today.
What advice would you offer students to help them decide on a career path?
Find a professor that you connect with. Someone that will help guide you through your self-exploration. College is an amazing time to discover yourself, fall apart, and rediscover yourself again. I can鈥檛 tell you how many times I panicked as a freshman or sophomore trying to find my fit and thinking I never would. Having professors who really understand where you ultimately want to end up in your career is life changing. In my case, my professors either knew the steps I needed to take to get where I wanted to go, or they knew someone who would know those answers.