Marketing Intern

iSmash Charleston; Charleston (SC); Hybrid; USD 17,000 - 22,000; Part time

Job summary

iSmash Charleston is seeking a Marketing & Growth Intern to help develop, test, and execute creative ideas that drive awareness and bookings for our experiential venue.

You will commit approx. 10–15 hours per week with some remote work and time at the Charleston location, tabling at events, building partnerships, and creating social content while measuring campaign success.

Responsibilities

• Develop guerrilla and grassroots marketing campaigns in the Charleston area.
• Be in the community, tabling at events and approaching local businesses to form partnerships.
• Create content for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and other platforms.
• Identify and recruit local micro-influencers and brand ambassadors.
• Build promotional partnerships with local restaurants, bars, gyms, and colleges.
• Develop campaigns targeting students and young adults.
• Market birthday parties, bachelor/bachelorette events, corporate outings, and group events.
• Create referral programs, contests, and campus marketing initiatives.
• Use QR codes and promotional codes to measure campaign performance.
• Track leads, site visits, social engagement, and bookings; present ideas to management.

Job description

About iSmash

iSmash is an experiential entertainment business offering rage rooms, paint splatter, and axe throwing. Customers come to iSmash to have fun, celebrate, relieve stress, and enjoy an experience that is very different from traditional entertainment.

We are looking for an energetic and entrepreneurial college student who wants real-world marketing experience and the opportunity to directly impact the growth of a local business.

The Opportunity

This is not an internship where you will spend your time making copies or simply observing meetings.

As a Marketing & Growth Intern, you will help develop, test, and execute creative marketing ideas designed to increase awareness and generate actual customer bookings for iSmash Charleston.

You will have the opportunity to see which marketing ideas work, which don't, and why.

What You'll Do

• Develop creative guerrilla and grassroots marketing campaigns throughout the Charleston area.
• Be out in the community in person — tabling at local events and door-knocking Charleston-area businesses to build partnerships face-to-face.
• Create content for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and other social platforms.
• Help identify and recruit local micro-influencers and brand ambassadors.
• Build promotional partnerships with local restaurants, bars, gyms, apartment communities, colleges, and entertainment businesses.
• Develop campaigns targeting college students and young adults.
• Help market birthday parties, bachelor/bachelorette events, corporate outings, and group events.
• Create referral programs, contests, special promotions, and campus marketing initiatives.
• Use QR codes, promotional codes, and other tools to measure campaign performance.
• Track key results including leads, website visits, social engagement, and - most importantly - bookings.
• Present new marketing ideas directly to iSmash management.

Who We're Looking For

An ideal candidate is:

• A college student studying Marketing, Business, Entrepreneurship, Communications, Advertising, or a related field.
• Creative and comfortable generating new ideas.
• Familiar with social media and short-form video.
• Outgoing and comfortable approaching local businesses and potential partners.
• Organized and able to work independently.
• Interested in entrepreneurship, consumer marketing, events, or entertainment.
• Comfortable experimenting, learning from results, and adjusting quickly.
• Someone who would rather do marketing than just study marketing.

Prior professional marketing experience is not required.

What You'll Gain

• Hands-on experience growing a real consumer business.
• Portfolio-worthy marketing projects.
• Experience with social media, partnerships, promotions, customer acquisition, and marketing analytics.
• Direct exposure to small-business and franchise operations.
• The ability to measure the connection between marketing activities and actual revenue.
• Significant responsibility and freedom to test your own ideas.
• Mentorship from experienced business professionals.

Schedule & Compensation

Approximately 10-15 hours per week, with flexibility around class schedules. Some work may be completed remotely, with periodic time spent at the Charleston iSmash location and in the local community.

Paid internship. Compensation will be discussed based on experience and availability.