Art Museum Taps a Marketing Major as Its First Social Media Intern

Aditi Sandhir, a sophomore attending Rutgers Business School, prepares to launch a video-focused campaign to draw more people to the Zimmerli

Aditi Sandhir discovered the Zimmerli Art Museum as a first-year student.

A Rutgers University-New Brunswick student and a member of the Rutgers Business Governing Association, Sandhir attended the group's annual Make-A-Wish gala at the Zimmerli about a year ago.

The venue made a lasting impression.

"I was just amazed," said Sandhir, now a sophomore attending Rutgers Business School, where she is majoring in marketing and considering a second major in supply-chain management. "I did not even know that Rutgers had a museum. When I walked inside, it spoke to me, and the energy was so positive. I knew I could see myself just getting involved in any way."

As the Zimmerli's first social media intern, Sandhir is now very much involved in creating a digital campaign to draw more people to the university's art museumat 71 Hamilton St, New Brunswick, N.J.

"It's a lot more than just posting content on social media," said Sandhir, who is the director of events for the Rutgers Future Business Leaders of Americaas well as a supply chain co-representative and marketing committee member of the Rutgers Business Governing Association.

Zimmerli staff noted how art museums at fellow universities had interns in their marketing departments - "specifically interns for social media, digital platforms and public-facing internship roles," said Benjamin Cafaro, the Zimmerli's digital asset specialist.

"We have an amazing population of students to tap into for that role, and with the increasing use of social media as a primary means of marketing for most organizations, a lot of students are interested in learning more about that side of the field," added Cafaro, who supervises and mentors Sandhir. "So, we figured now is the time to strike, and we couldn't be happier with how the role has developed and how Aditi has performed in the job."

In her yearlong internship role, a paid position Sandhir learned about after following the Zimmerli on social media channels, she analyzes "some of the numbers and the metrics," including views and profile visits, and edits "a lot" of video content.

The whole point of it is to educate our Rutgers community and the New Brunswick community about the museum.

Aditi Sandhir

Sophomore at Rutgers-New Brunswick

"We do try our best to make our content fit with the tone of the museum," she said. "Something that I love about my position is getting to work on editing content and getting hands-on experience with Adobe and all this cool software."

A big part of the 19-year-old's internship involves a project, namely a video-focused social media marketing campaign she developed called "Talking Art," something Sandhir has been working on since the summer.

"The whole point of it is to educate our Rutgers community and the New Brunswick community about the museum," Sandhir said of the campaign, which she pitched to the Zimmerli's communications department.

She opted to go with a broad marketing approach rather than focus on an exhibition or an event "because I feel like the museum has dedicated content for that," Sandhir said. "As a student, how do I want to see the museum advertised? How do I want my peers to know about it and to engage with it? How do I want members of our New Brunswick community to engage with it?"

She added, "It's in the title. I want to talk art with different people, and I want to talk about the importance of museums, especially the Zimmerli and how it caters to such a wide, diverse audience."

Sandhir also sought to create connections with the audience, "so I thought of short-form interviews," she said. "I think those do really well on socials. It's slightly informal, but it speaks to your audience."

She has spent the fall semester collecting interviews, attending events at the Zimmerli, engaging with visitors and talking to staff.

Sandhir spent much of the fall semester editing her collection of video interviews of Zimmerli staff and visitors.

The plan is to start posting the short-form content in February on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook followed by posting elements of the interviews (images and quotes) on social platforms such as LinkedIn, Threads and Bluesky.

"Aditi brings a fresh perspective to our marketing team," said LouAnne Greenwald, deputy director of the Zimmerli. "Her enthusiasm for the museum's creative work is inspiring, and her campaign will reflect the way that art can be a catalyst for bringing people together and sharing diverse perspectives."

Sandhir, who was participant of the 4WARD Career Pathways Programoffered through the Office of Career Exploration and Success, is appreciative of the opportunity.

"This is my first internship, and I've been putting my best foot forward," she said. "But it's also my way of bridging my passion with art and the creative side with my business skills and my marketing major, too. It means a lot that I've gotten to work at this intersection and it's the perfect opportunity for me. It means a lot that I get to work on improving myself as a student, but then I'm also posting this amazing content for the museum and to promote all the incredible things that they're doing."

"She's really made this role into something that's very connected with Rutgers and represents I think what Rutgers University wants out of an internship, and we couldn't be happier with that," Cafaro said.

An Edison, N.J., resident, Sandhir commutes to Rutgers-New Brunswick with her older sister, Sakshi, who is pursuing a master's degree in biomedical sciences at the School of Graduate Studies.

"We commute every day to Rutgers," Sandhir said. "That's my favorite part of the day - just listening to the music and talking."