In today’s world, social media is a powerful platform used to increase brand engagement and awareness. Therefore, hiring a reliable and competent social media marketing manager is of the utmost importance. How do you do that?
We’re here to show you how to hire the best talent. By following our interview guide, you’ll know exactly what green and red flags to look for in a candidate. Streamline the exhausting interview process and get the best fit now!
Technical Questions:
Technical questions are designed to judge a social media marketer’s knowledge and expertise in their field. Let’s walk through some examples.
Interview Questions:
Here are three examples of what you can ask in a social media marketing manager interview:
Q) What is your experience with social media analytics tools and how do you use them?
An ideal candidate will answer this with some level of eloquence and know-how of analytical tools like Google Analytics, Sprout Social, or Hootsuite. While tools play a secondary role, the outcome they produce is very important. The applicant should be aware of which tool is used to research, strategize, schedule, and plan social media campaigns or posts.
Q) What are the key metrics for measuring ROI on social media?
The best response would display the candidate’s knowledge about social media sales, lead generation, customer lifetime value, and more. It is important to understand converting sales from likes, shares, comments, and website visits.
Q) What do you know about SEO and how is it important to social media?
The applicant should be well-versed in what search engine optimization is and what content is favoured, overlooked, or value-adding. It is important your candidate knows how to utilize search engine rankings as social media increasingly becomes dependant on it.
Other possible questions can include:
- What has been your experience working with advertising platforms such as Facebook Ads and Google Ads?
- Have you worked with influencer marketing campaigns? What is your approach to identify and collaborate with influencers?
- How do you use A/B testing to strategize for greater brand reach?
Skills Judged Through Technical Questions:
Analytics and Data Interpretation:
A social media marketing manager should have a good control on media analytics tools like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, or Zoho Social. They need to know how to measure success by tracking social media metrics, identify trends in consumer behaviour and SEO strategy, and analyse which content to create. From this, they should know how to identify areas of development.
Lead Generation:
Through lead generation, the ideal applicant will know how to drive revenue and sales for a company – and measure it. They must know how to identify a target customer base through which customised marketing campaigns can be launched to further increase brand awareness.
Content Curation:
Most importantly, a social media marketing manager is creative and adaptable to changing trends which are supported by the algorithm and SEO. As a highly visual medium, the applicant should know how to create aesthetically pleasing content that matches the brand palette and appearance. Through this, they should know how to increase brand awareness consistent with the brand identity that differentiates the organizations from competitors.
Red Flags to Look For:
Poor Understanding of SEO
Any social media marketing manager should have basic level understanding of SEO functioning and principles. Social media presence is increasingly dependent on search engine optimisation and rankings. Hence, candidates that harbour a poor understanding indicate an inability to drive effective social media campaigns.
Minimum Awareness of Social Media Management and Analytics Tools
To successfully carry out a social media campaign with productive results, the ideal applicant must be aware of social media management and analytics tools. A lack of experience with these tools displays a potential inability to effectively manage campaigns. While candidates are trained in the company’s preferred analytics tools through onboarding practices, they should have a basic understanding beforehand.
Inability to Adopt Changing Trends into Brand Visibility
Lastly, social media is a fluid medium with ever changing trends and form of content that both people and the algorithm favours. A social media manager must display their ability to keep up with trends and practices. If not, it reflects little creativity, flexibility, and ability to create strong social media moves.
You Can Also: Use our Job Description Generator and seek candidates with the most relevant technical skills.
Behavioral Questions:
Nowadays, behavioural questions are a common part of many organization’s hiring guide to gauge the quality of interaction between the applicant and real-life situations. Let’s discuss some potential questions.
Interview Questions:
Q) Can you describe the last time you collaborated with a team over a social media campaign? What was the dynamic like and what were the results?
A strong candidate will produce an answer that is telling of their ability to communicate effectively with their co-workers. This question aims to assess the approach taken by the interviewee when working towards a common goal with a team. It will display their openness to different ideas, leadership skills, cooperation skills, and more.
Q) Tell me about a time you used your analytical skills to assess customer experience across multiple platforms, using it to better your social media presence.
The ideal applicant will depict a thorough understanding of consumer psychology and behaviour. They will have data to show for their nuanced recognition of what a specific audience desires and what tools are used to cater that, therefore increasing brand presence online. This can be done through assessing key performance indicators (KPIs).
Q) What is your approach to dealing with negative comments or difficult followers across social media platforms?
A favourable response will be one that reveals the quality of a candidate’s service skills and crisis management skills. An ideal response to the situation is one that is calm, diplomatic, and prompt. Any good social media marketer will quickly attempt to resolve and client dissatisfaction or filter out unnecessary negative spam.
You can also ask:
- Could you elaborate on a time where you had to pivot or drastically change a social media campaign? What was your approach to that?
- Can you describe your experience curating a digital marketing strategy for your brand? How did you plan it, and what were the results?
- Imagine yourself entering an organization that uses a completely different software to manage and analyse social media marketing. What would you do?
Skills Judged Through Behavioural Questions:
Customer Service:
Social media is the platform to display alert, immediate, and productive customer skills. Successful marketers respond to client complaints or questions swiftly and effectively. In case of an upset client, a good manager will understand their situation and offer the best possible solution favourable to both the customer and company.
Adaptability to Unfamiliar Environments and Situations:
Social media is an evolving landscape which requires extreme adaptability and flexibility. The ideal social media marketer will be able to adapt to new trends, software, tools, and technologies. Moreover, they will be a quick learner and willingly work to stay updated on the latest industry developments.
Problem Solving:
Problems and crisis situations can quickly arrive with a platform as superfluous and dynamic as social media. Whether it’s issues with the advertising, campaigns, or customer satisfaction, a skilled candidate will tackle it by strategizing, remaining rational, and thinking critically.
Red Flags to Look For:
Overemphasis on Vanity Metrics:
A major red flag is a candidate’s hyper focus on vanity metrics. While emphasizing on likes, shares, and followers are important, a brand’s true presence is reflected through other factors. These are engagement rates, sales conversions, and website traffic. Social media marketing is a multifaceted job, which requires a focus on driving tangible business results and increasing brand identity.
Lack of Industry Knowledge
Connected to the previous red flag is a lack of industry knowledge. A social media marketer can only increase reach and recognition if they know what adds value and is appreciated by a wider audience. It is concerning when an applicant is not up to date with the latest platform updates and practices. It demonstrates a lack of curiosity and innovation.
Inability to Handle Constructive Criticism or Negative Feedback
With good customer reception comes negative or constructive criticism. A good marketer will display a level of professionalism and composure when dealing with negative feedback. More importantly, they will be open to the new avenues of thought and suggestions to make the company better. If they don’t reflect this openness, then it can be a red flag.
Soft Skills:
Soft Skills are important to build relationships, lead teams, overcome obstacles, and maintain a loyal brand following. Here are some interview questions to see if a candidate has the relevant soft skills for the role.
Interview Questions:
Q) How do you prioritize your tasks and responsibilities when managing multiple social media accounts?
The ideal answer highlights a candidate’s organizational skills and time management abilities. They should mention their plan to tackle several deadlines and responsibilities. This can include anything, from month schedules, calendar organizations, to-do lists, or social media management tools that help in streamlining workflow.
Q) Can you explain the process through which you build and sustain relationships with influencers, celebrities, and brand ambassadors?
A good social media marketer will detail an outreach plan that displays their communication and networking skills. Influencer marketing is highly valuable, so building meaningful connections with potential ambassadors is important. The candidate should mention a research process that helps identify influencers that align with the brand and the approach to sustaining relationships.
Q) Tell me about a time where you faced conflict within a team at work. How did you navigate it?
The best possible answer will showcase an applicant’s conflict resolution and teamwork skills. It’s important to have both since disagreements are a natural part of working with different identities. The candidate’s answer should reflect an open mindedness and diplomatic nature which is able to listen to different viewpoints and solve conflicts seamlessly.
More options for interview questions are:
- Describe a time when you had to take ownership of a mistake or failure at work? How did you approach the situation?
- What do you do when working with someone that has a different communication style and work ethic than you?
- What is your way of motivating your team members to accomplish goals and meet deadlines?
Since there are a plethora of soft skills, use our Interview Questions Generator to curate even more options to asses every kind of skill.
Skills Judged Through Soft Skill Questions:
Communication Skills:
A social media marketing manager needs to be a good communicator, through both written and verbal mediums. They work in person with cross-functional teams and operate on social media with clients, followers, partners, and investors. They must be clear and articulate while having a good grasp on the audience they are talking to, and how to adjust their tone and message accordingly.
Teamwork Skills:
Likewise, an adept social media marketer holds great collaborative skills which allow them to work with integral teams that make social media campaigns come alive. This can include content creators, designers, and data analysts. They must know how to foster an engaged, inclusive, and positive work environment and team.
Management Skills:
As a social media manager, the applicant will often be leading a team of specialists and fellow marketers. Therefore, they should have strong leadership and decision-making skills which help them manage their team and workflow better. They must know how to inspire and support their department while equally allocating resources and responsibility to meet deadlines.
Red Flags to Look For:
Unable to take accountability:
Professional mistakes are both possible and normal to make. The key is knowing how to take accountability of one’s failure, following up with a prompt solution. If a candidate cannot provide examples of times they were unsuccessful or how they corrected a wrong, it can show an unwillingness to learn from previous mistakes and take ownership.
Poor time management abilities:
Social media marketers have tight deadlines to meet for high priority and high budget campaigns or movements. Often, they will face several deadlines and tasks simultaneously. If their answers don’t reflect a keenness for organization, prioritization, and time division, it may be a red flag.
Lack of empathy in work style:
With a lack of empathy, social media marketing managers may neither build professional external relations nor maintain a motivated team. A lack of it displays an inability to connect with one’s audience, co-workers, or brand partners. This, in turn, is detrimental to the longevity and depth of a brand’s presence and overall voice. While IQ is important, EQ matters in today’s workplace just as much.
Conclusion:
Now that we’ve run through a list of key interview questions, you’re set to find the perfect social media marketing manager. Use this guide and improve candidate experience, bringing you one step closer to the dream candidate who can strengthen brand identity.
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