Marketing Intern Cover Letter Example

If you’re looking for a marketing internship right now, you’ve got great timing. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)’s 2022 report, US employers expect to have boosted their intern hiring by 22.6% this year.

As the point of a marketing internship is to prepare you for a career in marketing, employers won’t expect you to have lots of formal work experience. However, they’ll look for:

• relevant skills
• knowledge of their marketing niche
• interest and enthusiasm in the industry

Writing a solid marketing intern cover letter allows you to explain how your education, hard skills (those you learn through training), and soft skills (character traits) have prepared you for the role. Here are 3 tips to remember when writing your marketing intern cover letter.

1. Structure your marketing intern cover letter correctly

Having the correct cover letter format is vital to making a good first impression.

First, a professional cover letter format is easier to read and encourages your target employer to give you their full attention. Furthermore, using the right cover letter format is a sign you have excellent communication skills, which are extremely valuable in the marketing industry.

Your marketing intern cover letter should follow the standard cover letter format:

A well-organized cover letter should include the following information to effectively argue you’re the right person for the job:

• a named contact person (or the name of the hiring department if you can’t find out)
• a professional introduction summarizing your expertise and your career goals
• body paragraphs explaining:
  • your relevant experience and education
  • your motivations for applying for the position
• a sign-off thanking the employer for looking at your resume and requesting an interview

2. Highlight your marketing expertise early on

As this is a marketing internship that you’re applying for, the employer won’t expect you to have much formal work experience. However, they will be looking for someone with sufficient industry knowledge.

Your cover letter is the best place to highlight your marketing knowledge because you can give more detailed explanations than on your resume, as well as explain how your experience is useful to the employer.

Be upfront about your marketing knowledge by quickly summarizing your experience in your first paragraph. Perhaps you’re a Communications major, an avid blogger, or have volunteered at a relevant NGO. Give the employer a quick overview of your marketing background.

Highlighting relevant skills is another way to demonstrate your marketing expertise to potential employers.

You should include relevant skills throughout your cover letter, but especially in your introduction. Doing so indicates that you have a good understanding of the role and its requirements.

Here's how you might show key skills in your introduction:

My name is Bethany McLaughlin, and I’m a junior majoring in Communications at the University of Florida. I’m thrilled that Konnectr is seeking a Marketing Intern and believe my excellent writing skills and expertise in social media marketing make me an excellent fit for the role.

Read the internship description carefully to determine what skills are useful for that specific position. The responsibilities and requirements sections are good places to start.

The company’s about page, recent press releases, and corporate news are similarly useful for identifying traits and skills that your potential employer may value.

Some common marketing intern skills for your cover letter include:

3. Emphasize your interest in the specific job

The point of any internship is to train incoming industry workers so they can gain practical skills and potentially join the company as full-time employees.

Therefore, employers look for internship candidates with a sincere interest in their organization and the right attitude to fit in well with the team.

Passion about the job you’re applying for is always a great selling point. So don’t wait until you maybe get an interview to let the employer know why you’re interested in the internship they’re offering.

In the second or third paragraph of your marketing intern cover letter, explain what inspired you to apply for the position. These reasons could be:

• an interest in a specific marketing niche
• the organization’s values and area of expertise
• passion about a product or service that the organization offers

Aligning your motivations for applying with the values, niche, or product or services offered by the employer is a great way of personalizing your marketing intern cover letter.

Tailoring your cover letter for each company suggests you aren’t sending out identical applications to multiple employers.