Overview

PROJECT SUMMARY

Main Street America (MSA), a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has a 40+ year track record of supporting preservation-based economic development nationwide. We do this in partnership with a network of Coordinating Programs: public agencies or private nonprofit organizations that operate at the state-wide, county-wide, or city-wide level to provide capacity building, training, and resources to local Main Street organizations.

Main Street America is seeking a Small Business Social Media Intern to support the creation and launch of our small business support TikTok account. The intern will be responsible for creating a detailed branding and content plan including microbrand name, imagery, platform voice, a roster of prepared videos, and a plan for six months of future content. The intern will set up our TikTok account including all administrative tasks and begin the posting schedule.

The intern will also work with our YouTube archives to organize and catalog existing video content. They will organize the content into folders and playlists by theme and topic to allow visitors to our channel to easily locate videos. They will also review existing video content for potential re-posting on TikTok or other social media channels.

Small business and entrepreneurial ecosystem support has become a significant program area at Main Street America in the past few years, including several grant programs and resources developed to support small business owners. In our 2022 Small Business Survey, we asked Main Street small business owners “Which of the following topics or tools are you most interested in developing or strengthening for your business?” “Marketing your business online/on social media” was the most common answer, with more than 50% of respondents indicating a “high/very high level of interest” in this topic.

Main Street America currently has a strong presence on legacy social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We have used these channels to reach small business owners in Main Street districts and engage them as advocates for place-based economic development and community preservation. As tenants of historic spaces, small business owners are dedicated advocates for the economic development of historic commercial district, and outreach to this audience is critical in sustaining and advancing the national Main Street Movement To reach younger viewers and engage the next generation of community economic development advocates, Main Street America needs to expand to newer social media platforms like TikTok. We expect the Small Business Social Media Intern to support the launch of this initiative and provide crucial insight into this new social media platform to help us engage young small business owners with the Main Street Movement.

National Trust internships are temporary experiential learning opportunities with no expectation of employment at the conclusion of the internship.

For this internship, the National Trust is offering a stipend of $4,000 to help offset expenses. The period of the internship would be from approximately 6/5 to 7/28, for approximately 28 hours per week (some flexibility of schedule available)

DUTIES

  • Research trends and audience interests on TikTok within the themes of small business ownership, entrepreneurship, economic development, and community preservation.
  • Create a unique microbrand identity to represent our Small Business Support channel.
  • Set up Main Street America’s TikTok presence including branding, taglines, voice, and administrative tasks.
  • Work with staff to plan, film, edit, and publish a series of videos featuring Main Street America’s small business support resources.
  • Create a six month daily content plan that staff can implement following the intern’s departure.
  • Sort through Main Street America’s YouTube channel and sort existing videos into theme based folders and playlists.
  • Examine existing YouTube videos as potential sources for reposting on TikTok and create a list of videos that would be suitable for re-posting.

EDUCATIONAL VALUE TO THE INTERN

The intern will gain experience under the mentorship of respected social media marketing, economic development, and community preservation professionals in an educational setting at one of the nation’s leading community economic development non-profit advocacy organizations. The intern will also have the opportunity to participate in educational programming offered via the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s organization-wide internship program.

Students may also be eligible for college or graduate school academic credit at the discretion of their institution.

Specifically, the intern will gain knowledge in the following areas:

  • Social media marketing with an emphasis on video
  • Creating a microbrand for an organization
  • Creating a content strategy
  • Creating and planning a content calendar
  • Organizing and cataloging existing content
  • Researching and defining a target marketing audience
  • Crafting voice and material to meet audience interests
  • Working within a diverse marketing team and coordinating content along a range of projects and priorities
  • Place-based economic development
  • Small business and entrepreneurship ecosystems

At the end of the project the intern will have produced 1) a detailed content and branding plan for Main Street America’s small business TikTok outreach; 2) a functioning TikTok presence complete with a name, branded imagery, voice, and cohesive feel; 3) a revamped YouTube presence that organizes our archived videos into browsable, searchable folders and playlists. They will be able to share our TikTok and YouTube handles on their resumes and in their portfolios as evidence of this work.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Experience using social media platforms, especially TikTok and YouTube (personal experience is fine).
  • Experience with Canva.
  • Experience planning, researching, drafting, and editing creative media and marketing projects (videos, graphic design, podcasts, blog articles, etc)
  • Basic analytical and problem-solving skills, including issue identification and prioritization. Basic project-organization skills.
  • Excellent attention to detail.
  • Ability to collaborate and achieve results with supervision, including ability to interact professionally with key internal and external stakeholders as needed. Public contact and ability to work successfully in close proximity to others required.
  • Strong organizational skills required, with ability to prioritize, multi-task efficiently, and meet deadlines in a timely fashion.
  • Ability to adapt and be flexible in a dynamic work environment. Ability to work effectively with frequent interruptions required. Able to handle frequently changing and/or unscheduled tasks with accuracy.
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills. Friendly and professional demeanor on the phone and in writing, with ability to speak and write clearly in English. Bi- lingual language skills a plus.
  • Ability to work effectively with culturally diverse colleagues; connections to or experience helping to engage culturally diverse audiences and partners a plus. Bi- lingual language skills (especially English/Spanish) a plus.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office products required, including Outlook, Word and Excel.
  • Ability work effectively in a remote environment, maintaining productivity and communications to meet deadlines and goals, is required.
  • Bachelor’s level studies (or equivalent years of experience) required; current or rising juniors, seniors or graduate students preferred. Studies or demonstrated interest in related subject matter preferred [social media, marketing, communications, community preservation, economic development].