Creative Strategist – Paid Intern

Pearmill

About The Position

The role in a nutshell: You'll join Pearmill's creative team and help come up with ideas for ads that run on social media — the kind that get millions of dollars of spend behind them and are seen by millions of people. You'll think up copy, visuals, and video concepts designed to stop the scroll and make people pay attention. You'll use AI every step of the way — to research, brainstorm, build concepts, and bring ideas to life faster than you thought possible. You'll see the numbers behind your work: how many people watched, how many clicked, how many bought. You'll work on real brands — startups and mid-market companies across healthcare, consumer products, fintech, kids' products, B2B software, and more. These are companies changing the way people see the world, and you'll be making the creative that introduces them to their next million customers. Summary: This is the entry point into creative strategy at Pearmill. You're deep in the work — researching, contributing ideas, learning how performance data drives creative decisions, and supporting Strategists on day-to-day account work. You'll be in the weeds on several accounts, and over time you'll develop your own creative POV and start owning more of the concepting process. Like the Creative Strategist, this role sits at the intersection of media buying and creative execution. You'll start learning how to read performance data from the Growth team and translate it into creative ideas — and how to take those ideas and frame them clearly enough for designers and motion artists to build. Building this translation muscle early is what separates a great Associate from someone who just makes ads. This role also has a client-facing component. You won't be leading client calls, but you'll be on them — listening, learning, and gradually contributing. Over time, you'll start presenting specific pieces of work or walking through creative concepts with increasing confidence.

Requirements

Creative thinking and strong visual or conceptual instincts
Eagerness to learn — especially at the intersection of creativity and data
Interest in performance marketing, paid social channels, and metrics (hook rate, CTR, CPA) — you don't need to be an expert, but you should be curious about what the numbers mean
Strong communication skills — written and verbal
Comfort working across teams and asking good questions of people in different disciplines
Growing confidence in client-facing settings — willingness to speak up and present your work
Ability to take feedback and implement without losing momentum
Cultural awareness and a natural habit of paying attention to what's happening in social media
Comfort with AI tools — you should already be using AI in your creative process or eager to learn. At Pearmill, AI is part of how we work every day

Responsibilities

Mine the Meta Ad Library, TikTok Creative Center, and competitor channels for inspiration and competitive intelligence — use AI tools to speed up research and surface patterns you might miss manually
Assist with trend analysis, competitive reviews, and creative audits
Stay plugged into culture, trends, and what's happening in social creative — maintain a swipe file of strong references
Support Creative Strategists on day-to-day account work across several accounts
Help build briefs and creative frameworks under the guidance of your Strategist or CD
Regularly contribute ideas — every idea should have a "why" behind it
Use AI as a daily creative partner — brainstorm hooks, generate copy variations, explore visual directions, and iterate on concepts faster than you could alone
Study what's performing on your accounts and form hypotheses about why
Learn how creative performance is measured — get comfortable reading hook rate, hold rate, CTR, and CPA and understanding what each metric tells you creatively
Learn to recognize winning ad elements (hook type, format, visual approach) and build pattern recognition across rounds and accounts
Use AI to help analyze performance data and draft summaries — the faster you can turn numbers into creative insights, the more valuable you become
Sit in on meetings with the Growth team to understand how media buying decisions connect to creative performance
Work alongside designers and motion artists — start learning how to give feedback that's actionable and clear
Coordinate with Production team when accounts involve UGC or creator content
Join client calls to observe how creative is presented and how feedback is handled
Begin contributing in client meetings — presenting individual concepts or walking through specific pieces of creative
Learn how to communicate creative thinking clearly to non-creative stakeholders