The Digital Revolution Brings New Careers for the Next Generation
Posted 07/05/12
At age 22, Amanda Pensack is the founder of Roxy Digital Group and works as an independent social media consultant in Boston, Mass.
After graduating from Elon University in 2011, Pensack found herself contemplating whether to pursue a career in advertising or public relations. She soon found herself working as an intern for a PR agency but came to discover that she disliked the traditional aspect the agency had to offer.
“I was really more into the digital roles of social media,” said Amanda Pensack, “I ended up leaving the agency to pursue my own freelancing business, where I would do side projects for companies that needed social media work or graphic design work.”
Pensack now plans to take on a new job at WSOC-TV news station in Charlotte, N.C. Her goal is to continue expanding her own business, while taking on the new duties as social media and digital producer at WSOC-TV.
Pensack would not have found success if she had remained in a traditional PR job. She feels that in order to succeed as a PR professional one must be very ambitious.
“A PR person must be really driven and put in tons of effort into everything they do, even if it is a small task. They need to have that passion and dedication to keep going even when things are not looking so good. It is really important, especially in PR, to be optimistic because it is a very fast paced environment and you need to be able to keep up with it,” said Pensack.
Through the use of her internships and working at her own company, Pensack has witnessed firsthand how PR has changed during the Digital Revolution. Pensack says that the ever evolving aspect of the digital revolution is what makes her job exciting.
“There are so many different outlets out there that people really haven’t explored, but that are up and coming such as Pinterest and Instagram. There are so many different ways of expressing your company’s interests and branding them through social media,” said Pensack.
Pensack feels that it is very important that companies have a social media strategist working on their team in order to get the most out of social media. As more social media strategists are hired by companies it is important that they view their clients as separate entities when creating a social media presence.
“You need to discuss with your client what the client’s goals are and how you can meet those goals digitally and through social media. The goals for each client are going to be different, so the platforms you use for each client are going to be different. The platform I find is the most effective for small to midsize businesses is Twitter. Facebook is best used for big Fortune 500 businesses,” said Pensack.
As Pensack begins her new career as a social media and digital producer at WSOC-TV, she is very optimistic about the future use of social media as a tool for PR.
“I think social media will continue to develop. If it is used correctly it can help a company bring in more business and help brand the company. If you don’t have a presence digitally and you’re not following what is going on I think you are at a huge disadvantage,” said Pensack.
Veronica Jenssen 