When people hear the word internship, they often imagine sitting in a classroom, listening to lectures, and completing a few assignments. My experience through the ASPIRE UNNATHI Digital Marketing program has been different.

 The ASPIRE–UNNATHI program is a free, industry-aligned tech skilling initiative launched by the ICT Academy of Kerala (ICTAK) in association with Kerala’s Scheduled Caste Development Department (SCDD) exclusively for youth from the SC community . The ICTAK Aspire Unnathi program offers two courses: Digital Marketing with AI Adoption and Full Stack Development (MERN).

Certified Specialist in Digital Marketing with AI Adoption

The program provides an in-depth journey into online marketing, covering SEO, social media, email, content marketing, data analytics, and campaign optimization, equipping participants with hands-on skills to create effective strategies that enhance brand visibility, drive engagement, and maximize conversions across digital platforms.

Certified Specialist in Full Stack Development (MERN)

The MERN Stack training program empowers aspiring web developers to build dynamic, high-performance web applications using JavaScript, offering industry-aligned skills, a prestigious certification, and expertise in a flexible, scalable, open-source ecosystem that remains a top choice in today’s evolving web development landscape.

Getting Started With the ASPIRE UNNATHI Program

I joined a digital marketing course here. Our batch has 30 students.The journey started with basic skills and gradually moved into AI, marketing psychology, digital marketing, and practical assignments. Each session introduced us to something new, while the assignments helped us apply what we learned.

Before diving deep into Digital Marketing, we first built some foundational skills.Our initial sessions focused on Excel, taught by Remya Miss. These classes helped us understand how spreadsheets can support everyday professional work and data handling.And introduced how to professionally reply emails and digital disciplines of a working environment.

After that, Manoj Sir and Amal Sir from ICT Academy introduced us to the growing world of Artificial Intelligence.We explored tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity,canva,z.ai, and Gamma. However, the sessions were not limited to simply learning how to use these tools.We also learned about their working principles and prompting techniques.This helped us understand an important idea: using AI effectively is not only about knowing the tool. It is also about knowing how to communicate with it and get useful results.

Digital Marketing Started With Human Psychology

After the initial sessions, Neeraj Sir and Abhijith Sir from Brains Solutions began our Digital Marketing classes. Instead of starting with SEO or Google Ads, they introduced us to human psychology in marketing. We learned how factors like cognitive biases, scarcity, social proof, authority, fear, and urgency influence buying decisions. We also learned that people often make emotional decisions first and use logic to justify them.

Our First Practical Assignment

The concepts became clearer when we started applying them.One of our first assignments involved analysing famous brands and identifying the psychological principles they use in their marketing.We looked at examples related to social proof, decoy effect, bandwagon effect, reciprocity, authority, likes, fear, urgency, and scarcity.Instead of simply memorising definitions, we had to observe how these concepts appear in real marketing.That made the learning more practical.

Understanding Who You Are Marketing To

After learning the psychology behind purchasing decisions, we explored another key question: Who are we marketing to? We learned to identify the right customers through concepts like Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and Buyer Persona. This taught us that effective marketing is not about promoting a product to everyone. It starts with understanding the people who are most likely to need, want, and purchase it. Thus, before marketing a product, we must understand the people behind the purchase.

From Marketing Funnels to Social Media

After understanding customers, we learned how they move from awareness to purchase through the Marketing Funnel and AIDA framework—Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. These concepts showed us that effective marketing guides customers through different stages before they take action.

Understanding Social Media Marketing

We then explored Social Media Marketing, including intent-based and interest-based approaches. We learned how platforms differ in reach and engagement and why the same content can perform differently across platforms. We also understood organic and paid marketing, learning how brands build visibility through both regular content and targeted advertisements.

Our First Team-Based Marketing Project

Neeraj Sir divided us into six teams. Each team selected a product: travel bag, instant camera, baby mattress, baby lotion,sunscreen and  cooler. We studied the product, identified its benefits, and created marketing copies and posters. This helped us apply concepts like audience, hooks, messaging, and CTAs in a practical way.

Learning Copywriting Through Practice

 First we  learned copywriting and content writing. Content writing focuses on informing and educating, while copywriting aims to persuade people to take action.

From Copy to a 30-Second Reel

We then created a 30-second reel for our products. We developed the script and screenplay while learning the importance of the first three seconds. I understood that a strong opening is essential to stop people from scrolling and keep them watching.

Learning How a Camera Works

Raunak Sir introduced us to the technical side of video production. We learned about camera basics, lighting, backgrounds, and shooting techniques. This gave us a better understanding of how social media videos are created.

Editing, Dubbing and Finalising the Reel

Amal Sir guided us through editing and dubbing. We also improved our posters using hooks, CTAs, product features, minimal designs, and attention-grabbing messages. Finally, we published our reel  and posters turning our classroom learning into an actual piece of marketing content. 

Moving From Social Media to SEO

After completing our social media project, we moved into Search Engine Optimization (SEO). We learned how people search online and how marketers can understand and target those searches.

Understanding Search Intent

We learned that keywords are not just words but reflect a user’s purpose. We explored four major types of search intent: Informational, Navigational, Commercial, and Transactional, along with Local Search Intent. This helped us understand how keywords connect with different stages of the customer journey.

Short-Tail and Long-Tail Keywords

We then learned about short-tail and long-tail keywords and how they differ in length, specificity, competition, and search volume. We understood that effective keyword research focuses on matching search intent and page purpose, not just search volume.

Our First Practical SEO Assignment

Neeraj Sir divided us into groups and introduced us to Google Keyword Planner. Each member selected a product and researched relevant keywords, their search intent, and related data in a spreadsheet. This practical assignment helped us understand what users actually want when they search.

From Learning Websites to Building One

After learning about domains, URLs, hosting, and website errors, we moved into practical website development. Neeraj Sir showed us how to purchase a domain and set up hosting. We worked with maattam.co.in and created our own subdomains, making website development feel more practical.

Finding a Real Business to Work With

We were challenged to find real businesses that needed websites or better online visibility. This taught us how digital marketing skills can create freelance opportunities by identifying business problems and offering solutions.

My First Real Business Project

Through this process, I started managing the website for Evergreen Decorations, a stage decoration and event planning company. Working with a real business helped me apply classroom concepts to an actual online presence.

Practical Experience With Google Business Profile

Neeraj Sir also guided me in managing the business’s Google Business Profile. This helped me understand how local businesses can improve their Google visibility by connecting their website, SEO, content, and local search presence.

Hands-On Website Management

We later gained practical experience with Hostinger and learned how to manage websites through a hosting platform. This helped me understand the technical side of digital marketing.

Understanding Webpages and Their Purpose

We learned that each webpage serves a specific purpose, such as introducing a business, explaining services, or providing useful information through blogs. From an SEO perspective, every page should clearly satisfy a specific user need and search intent.

Learning the Fundamentals of On-Page SEO

We then learned On-Page SEO, which focuses on optimising webpage elements for users and search engines. We covered titles, headings, content, keywords, URLs, internal links, images, meta descriptions, and user experience. We understood that SEO is not just keyword placement; pages must provide useful information and match search intent.

Discovering the Technical Side of SEO

The following week, Abhijith Sir introduced us to Technical SEO. We first learned about SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) and how search results appear to users.

Connecting Everything Together

At this stage, the concepts started connecting. Keyword research showed us what people search for, search intent explained why they search, On-Page SEO helped optimise the content, and Technical SEO helped search engines access and understand it. We realised that Digital Marketing combines multiple skills to attract the right audience and help businesses grow.

Going Beyond On-Page SEO

We then moved into Off-Page SEO, learning about backlinks and website authority. We understood that backlink quality and relevance matter more than simply gaining many links.

Managing Duplicate Content

We learned how duplicate content can affect SEO and how canonical tags identify the preferred version of similar pages. We also explored UTM tags for tracking website traffic sources.

Understanding Schema Markup

Next, we learned about Schema Markup and how structured data helps search engines understand webpage content. We also used a Schema Validator to check our implementation.

Discovering Core Web Vitals

We explored Core Web Vitals and learned how website speed and performance affect user experience. We also learned basic ways to improve webpage loading speed.

From SEO Learners to Website Builders

By this stage, we were creating webpages using basic HTML, while also learning content optimisation, SEO, and performance.

Entering CMS and WordPress

We were introduced to CMS and WordPress and learned how to install WordPress manually. This helped us understand how websites are built and managed behind the interface.

The Moment Website Development Became Real

We moved from analysing websites to building one. Everything started connecting:

Keywords → Content → On-Page SEO → Technical SEO → Performance → Website Development

This helped me understand Digital Marketing as a combination of marketing, technology, content, SEO, and user experience.

Making the Website User-Friendly

We explored WordPress themes and plugins and learned how they affect website design and functionality. We also focused on making websites easy to navigate and useful.

Starting the Real SEO Journey

After building our websites, we started focusing on Topical Relevance and Topical Authority. We learned about pillar topics and content clusters and understood how related content can build a website’s overall relevance. We then selected niches and created blogs around them.

Understanding How Google Finds Our Pages

We were introduced to Google Search Console and learned the basic process:

Crawl → Index → Rank

We understood that creating a webpage does not automatically make it appear on Google. Search engines must first discover, understand, and index it.

Seeing SEO Through Real Data

Search Console helped us analyse actual website performance and search visibility. This made SEO more measurable and practical.

Our First Official ICT Academy Assignment

We received our first official assignment from ICT Academy of Kerala: submitting our completed website. We had to bring together everything we had learned, including domains, hosting, WordPress, keywords, content, SEO, performance, and Search Console.

Learning the Value of Deadlines

The assignment also taught us the importance of planning and meeting deadlines. Completing the work on time became as important as knowing how to do it.

Understanding Website Architecture

We then explored website architecture and learned how different pages and systems work together. Concepts such as website architecture, database architecture, and matrix model architecture helped us understand websites as complete systems rather than individual pages.

Two Days of Practical Backlink Building

We spent two days learning link building practically. We searched for relevant websites accepting guest posts, researched their requirements, and prepared outreach emails.

Learning Backlink Outreach

This taught us that link building requires more than SEO knowledge. It involves research, outreach, communication, content creation, and follow-up. We also understood the importance of building genuine relationships through SEO outreach.

When AI SEO Changed the Way I Worked

One of the biggest shifts came when we explored AI SEO. We moved beyond traditional SEO and started understanding how AI systems process and retrieve information.

Understanding RAG and Vector Databases

We learned about RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and vector databases. These concepts helped us understand how AI systems retrieve information based on meaning and similarity.

Learning Semantic SEO

We explored Semantic SEO, which focuses on meaning, context, relationships, and concepts rather than simply repeating keywords. This connected closely with our learning about Topical Authority.

Understanding Topical Authority

We explored topical relevance, coverage, flow, topical authority, website authority, brand authority, and author authority.

SEO Through an AI Lens

Keywords, semantic SEO, content clusters, and topical authority helped us understand search and content depth. RAG and vector databases showed how AI retrieves and connects information. Modern SEO is about building content ecosystems that search engines and AI can understand and trust.

Using AI Tools

We explored NotebookLM and Napkin AI for research, organisation, and content creation. We learned to use AI as a support tool while controlling the strategy and final output.

Google Analytics & Tag Manager

Google Analytics helped us understand users, traffic, behaviour, engagement, conversions, and page performance. GTM helped manage tracking tags and connect our websites with Analytics for data collection.

Practising SEO

We started publishing blogs and followed:

Keywords → Competitors → Content Brief → Write → Publish → Search Console → Improve

Seeing our pages appear on Google helped us understand that SEO is a continuous process of researching, creating, measuring, and improving.

Moving to Paid Advertising

We learned Meta Ads and Google Ads. Meta focused on audience targeting, while Google Ads focused on search intent.

Campaign → Ad Set → Ad

This helped us understand how paid campaigns are structured and managed.

Maattam AI Campaign

During our Maattam AI internship, we promoted an AI video creation course. We researched ICPs such as teachers, homemakers, business owners, filmmakers, and digital marketers. My group focused on teachers.

We created 30+ ad creatives and launched the campaign. The results showed that many enquiries came from homemakers and filmmaking enthusiasts, teaching us the importance of real campaign data.

We then applied the funnel:

TOFU → MOFU → BOFU

We used awareness, retargeting, trust-building, and a free webinar to move prospects toward conversion.

Discovering My Direction

The program exposed us to SEO, Performance Marketing, Content Creation, and Social Media Marketing. Practical projects and internships helped us identify our interests and career direction

Each team got the opportunity to choose a path they were interested in through their internship. This helped us practically learn informational blog writing, research-based blogging, and problem-solving SEO.

Working in different teams gave us a practical understanding of teamwork and professional responsibilities. At different stages, each of us had the opportunity to work as both a team leader and a team member. As team leaders, we learned how to coordinate tasks, communicate with members, manage responsibilities, and ensure that work was completed on time. As team members, we learned how to collaborate, share ideas, support others, and complete assigned tasks effectively. This experience helped us understand that different job roles come with different responsibilities and that every role contributes to the success of a project. Overall, working in teams improved our communication, coordination, leadership, and problem-solving skills.

Team SEO :

Team Content Creation and influencer marketing

Team performance marketing

 

One Day a Week for Becoming Job-Ready

There was another important part of our ASPIRE UNNATHI journey that I should not miss.Out of our five-day learning week, one day was dedicated entirely to soft skills.These sessions were conducted by Hima Miss, and they focused on preparing us not just to become Digital Marketing professionals, but also to become confident professionals in the workplace.

Developing Communication Skills

We worked on different aspects of communication, including:

• Communication skills
• Speaking skills
• Active listening
• Presentation skills
• Problem-solving skills

These sessions helped us become more comfortable expressing our ideas and communicating with others.We also learned that professional communication is not only about what we say.It is also about how we say it.

Learning Professional Etiquette

Hima Miss also taught us about professional behaviour and presentation.We learned about:

• Body language
• Professional appearance
• Walking style
• Workplace communication
• Email writing

Learning how to draft professional emails was particularly useful because email communication is an important part of almost every workplace.

Some of our soft-skills session background images are added here:

Preparing for Interviews

Another major focus was interview preparation.We worked on creating our resumes and preparing our self-introductions.We also learned how to approach interviews, how to present ourselves professionally, and how to answer common HR interview questions.The sessions became even more practical when Hima Miss conducted mock interviews.These mock interviews gave us an opportunity to experience the pressure and structure of an actual interview.Instead of simply reading interview tips, we had to sit through the process, answer questions, and understand where we could improve.

More Than Digital Marketing Skills

These sessions reminded me that getting a job requires more than technical knowledge.Knowing SEO, Google Ads, Meta Ads, or AI tools is important.But being able to communicate your knowledge, present yourself confidently, work with others, listen actively, solve problems, and handle an interview is equally important.This made the ASPIRE UNNATHI experience more complete.We were not only learning how to become Digital Marketers.We were also learning how to become job-ready professionals.

From Zero to a Digital Marketing Professional

When I look back, I don’t see six months of classes.I see a journey that started with almost zero practical knowledge and gradually turned into real skills, real websites, real content, real campaigns, real results, and real confidence.ASPIRE UNNATHI did not simply teach me what Digital Marketing is.It gave me the opportunity to experience Digital Marketing.It taught me how to learn, experiment, analyse, communicate, solve problems, work with deadlines, and continuously improve.And most importantly, it helped me discover the direction I want to take in my career.I am still learning.There is still a long way to go.But today, I have something I didn’t have when I started:the confidence to call myself a Digital Marketing professional and the foundation to keep growing.Thank you, ICT Academy of Kerala, ASPIRE UNNATHI, all our tutors, coordinators, mentors, and everyone who supported us throughout this journey.You didn’t just teach us Digital Marketing.You helped build us into Digital Marketers.And for me, this is not the end of the journey.This is where my professional journey begins.

Then came the world of Digital Marketing.Neeraj Sir from Photowant  and Abhijith Sir from Brains Solutions introduced us to marketing psychology, cognitive biases, ICP, buyer personas, marketing funnels, AIDA, social media marketing, copywriting, content creation, SEO,Meta Ads, google Ads,search console,GA4 and many other important concepts.Their approach made the learning practical.We did not simply memorise definitions. We analysed brands, created marketing copies, designed posters, planned reels, worked on products, researched customers, and applied marketing concepts to real situations.

Raunak Sir introduced us to the technical side of video production, including cameras, lighting, backgrounds, and shooting techniques. Amal Sir helped us with video editing, dubbing, creative design, hooks, CTAs, and making our content more effective.Their guidance helped us understand that digital marketing is not limited to one skill. It combines strategy, creativity, technology, communication, and execution.

Under the guidance of our tutors, we moved into practical SEO.We learned keyword research, search intent, On-Page SEO, Off-Page SEO, Technical SEO, backlinks, website architecture, schema markup, Core Web Vitals, WordPress, Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Google Tag Manager.We built our own websites, published blogs, analysed competitors, created content briefs, monitored Search Console, and continuously improved our content.We also explored advanced concepts such as Semantic SEO, topical relevance, topical coverage, topical authority, brand authority, author authority, RAG, and vector databases.More importantly, we got opportunities to apply these concepts.I started managing the website of Evergreen Decorations, a real business, and also received guidance in managing its Google Business Profile.That experience helped me understand how the skills we learned in class could be applied to an actual business.

Later, we entered the world of Meta Ads and Google Ads. We worked on a real campaign for Maattam AI’s video creation course.We researched ICPs, created more than 30 creatives, launched campaigns, analysed the results, retargeted interested audiences, and applied the TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU marketing funnel in practice. The campaign results taught us an important lesson: sometimes the audience that responds best is different from the audience we initially expect. That is why data matters more than assumptions in digital marketing.

Technical knowledge was only one part of our journey. One day every week was dedicated to soft skills, led by Hima Miss. She helped us improve our communication, speaking, presentation, active listening, problem-solving, body language, professional appearance, email writing, resume preparation, self-introduction, and interview skills. The mock interviews helped us experience the pressure of an actual interview and understand how we could improve. These sessions helped us realise that becoming a professional requires more than knowing technical skills.We also need to know how to communicate, present ourselves, work with people, and handle real professional situations.

A Special Thank You to Everyone

This journey would not have been possible without the people who guided us throughout these six months

.A very special thank you to Mr. Umesh Omanakuttan Sir, our Program Coordinator. From the beginning until the end, he supported and guided us through the entire journey. His coordination, encouragement, and continuous support helped create an environment where we could learn, experiment, make mistakes, and improve.

Thank you, Ms. Meghana Dinesh, our Student Coordinator. You were much more than a coordinator to us. You became our friend, our support system, and someone we could approach whenever we needed help.

A heartfelt thank you to Remya Miss for helping us build our foundation with Excel.

Thank you to Manoj Sir and Amal Sir for introducing us to AI tools and helping us understand how AI can become part of our professional workflow.

A very special thank you to Neeraj Sir and Abhijith Sir for taking us through the world of Digital Marketing—from human psychology and marketing strategy to SEO, websites, analytics, and performance marketing.

Thank you, Raunak Sir, for introducing us to the practical side of video production and helping us understand cameras, lighting, backgrounds, and shooting techniques.

And thank you, Amal Sir ,for guiding us through editing, dubbing, creative development, hooks, CTAs, and content creation.

Finally, thank you to Hima Miss for helping us become more confident communicators and preparing us for interviews and professional life.

Every tutor brought something different to our journey. Some taught us technical skills. Some taught us strategy.Some taught us creativity. Some taught us professionalism. Together, they helped shape us into more confident and capable Digital Marketing professionals.

 

AUTHOR BIO

Aryamol R.

(Participant: Certified Specialist in Digital Marketing with AI Adoption) 

Aryamol R is an SEO Expert and Digital Marketing Professional specializing in search engine optimization, content writing, AI-powered marketing, content strategy, and digital branding. She helps businesses improve online visibility, increase organic traffic, and achieve sustainable growth through data-driven SEO strategies, high-quality content, and search-focused optimization.

Her expertise includes keyword research, search intent analysis, on-page and technical SEO, SEO copywriting, content optimization, competitor and content gap analysis, topical authority, internal linking, SEO audits, metadata optimization, schema markup, website architecture, and AI-assisted content strategy. She also analyzes performance using Google Search Console and Google Analytics (GA4) to identify ranking opportunities, improve Core Web Vitals, enhance user experience, and support business growth through measurable SEO results.

LINKEDIN : www.linkedin.com/in/aryamol-r-dm