10 Social Media Marketing Interview Questions and Tips for Answering Them

The social media advertising industry is growing in India, with experts predicting that ad spending will reach 55.37 billion USD by 2032 [1]. Whether preparing for an upcoming interview or exploring a potential career, practising common interview questions can help you prepare for the hiring process and boost your chances of landing a position in this exciting field. 

What you should know about social media marketing interviews

Preparing for an interview for a social media marketing position is an exciting first step toward reaching your career goals. Whether you have experience in a similar role or you’re just breaking into social media marketing, remember that making a good impression is not only important but vital. Your first impression can significantly impact the hiring decision, so present yourself in the best possible way. 

Social media marketing is a unique industry. Consider the following key points before your interview:

• Have a portfolio ready. Portfolios are a great way to demonstrate your skills and show potential employers your best work, which can help differentiate you from other candidates. If you don’t have professional experience, get creative and show your ability to captivate social media audiences through Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, ShareChat, and other popular platforms in India.

• Get familiar with various platforms. Do some research beforehand to find out what marketing channels are being used by companies to show off their products, and start familiarising yourself with any you don’t already know.

10 social media marketing interview questions

In this section, we will review 10 questions you should anticipate at your following social media marketing interview and some tips for answering them. 

1. What is the scope of social media marketing?

What the interviewer wants to find out: Are you keeping up with the industry and serious about social media marketing as a long-term career?

How to answer: This is an opportunity to show your desire and excitement about a social media marketing career and the industry’s growth. Come prepared with some of your motivating factors regarding the position, along with some of the most recent stats and examples of how social media marketing makes an impact.  

Similar questions the interviewer may ask: 

• What is social media marketing?

• Why have you chosen social media marketing?

2. What interests you about working for our company?

What the interviewer wants to find out: What do you know about them? Have you been able to prepare and research them?

How to answer: An interviewer expects you to research their company and have a good understanding of who you’d be working for. Take the time to familiarise yourself with the company’s products and services, website, and social media accounts. It can even help to research the people conducting your interview if you know who you will speak with beforehand. Your answer is an excellent opportunity to show you are prepared for the interview and share your excitement about the position.

Similar questions the interviewer may ask:

• How did you learn about our company?

• What can you contribute to our organisation?

• What made you interested in working for our company?

3. What do we do well Based on our current social media channels? What could we improve?

What the interviewer wants to find out: Have you studied our current work to evaluate the value you could add?

How to answer: When faced with this question, be positive but be honest. If you tell the interviewer that they do everything perfectly, they will be left struggling to see what skills you bring to their team that they don’t already have. Touch on what you like and be complimentary while noting opportunities for improvement, specifically in areas where you excel. Your goal in answering this question should be to show the interviewer how you can add value to the company.

Similar questions the interviewer may ask:

• Are you familiar with our work?

• How would you elevate our current portfolio?

4. How does social media marketing help a business?

What the interviewer wants to find out: Can you articulate the value and importance of this role?

How to answer: Do you fully understand the scope of your work and why it matters? Social media marketing goes beyond online engagement. It’s a significant part of establishing a brand's identity and cohesively tying that in with its products to drive sales. You must be able to creatively link your brand and its product through social media to maximise public recognition and profit. 

Similar questions the interviewer may ask:

• Why is social media marketing important?

• Explain how social media marketing allows companies to become more profitable.

5. How have you grown social media traffic in previous roles?

What the interviewer wants to find out: Do you have experience related to social media marketing?

How to answer: If you’ve succeeded in gaining high levels of social media traffic, make sure you can articulate clearly what your strategy was and why it worked. The STAR method, meaning Situation, Task, Action, and Result, is a helpful tool you can use to explain your experience to the interviewer where you describe each step, allowing the interviewer to follow along and fully understand the scenario and strategy you used along with the impact that was made. 

Similar questions the interviewer may ask:

• Walk us through your portfolio.

• Do you have experience in a similar role?

6. What metrics do you believe are most important when judging the success of a campaign?

What the interviewer wants to find out: How do you determine whether or not a campaign is working?

How to answer: When it comes to the success of a social media campaign, you want to create content that viewers can’t help but engage with. Whether it be likes, comments, shares, or site traffic, creating engaging content is where value is made for the company, and tracking these key performance indicators (KPIs) will allow you to determine whether or not your campaign has worked. 

Similar questions the interviewer may ask:

• How do you determine when it’s time to change a campaign?

• What are your preferred KPIs? 

7. What social media channels are you most comfortable with?

What the interviewer wants to find out: How up-to-date are you with the latest social media channels? 

How to answer: While having a working knowledge of many social media platforms is important, you can also add massive value by providing expertise in a specific category. If there’s a platform you believe you are uniquely good at, let the interviewer know.  You can add value in many different spaces with leading sites in India, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 

Similar questions the interviewer may ask:

• Which platforms do you think are best for businesses?

• What social media channels would you consider yourself an expert in?

• How do you expect this space to evolve in the coming years?

8. How do you handle negative comments brands receive via social media? 

What the interviewer wants to find out: How do you perform under pressure and cope with adversity? 

How to answer: This is an opportunity to explain your response to negative comments while supporting the brand. Many social media marketers use a multi-step process, including responding within 24 hours, apologising when appropriate, or elevating to community managers if needed. Documenting every response and action throughout the situation and creating an FAQ section to address customers' common questions and complaints can also be helpful.

Similar questions the interviewer may ask:

• How do you handle online reputation management? 

• What is your approach to negativity on social media? 

• What steps do you take for social media damage control? 

9. What is your most successful social media campaign?

What the interviewer wants to find out: Have you learned from trial and error what works and what doesn’t?

How to answer: Now is your chance to show off your skills. Rather than touching on all the different projects you’ve been a part of, pick the one that stands out above the rest and make sure you are prepared to explain what you did and why it went well, including the metrics used to determine its success. You can discuss your achievements without sounding arrogant by providing examples of the challenges you faced and concrete steps you used to get the job done. Using factual reasoning when facing this question will allow you to showcase your work confidently but humbly. 

Similar questions the interviewer may ask:

• What are some projects you are most proud of?

10. What is your least successful social media campaign?

What the interviewer wants to find out: Do you learn from your mistakes?

How to answer: Not every campaign can succeed, and that’s okay. What’s critical is that you can walk away knowing exactly why it went poorly and what you can do to have better results next time. Demonstrating to the interviewer that you learn from your mistakes will show you’re eager to learn and won’t back down from a challenge. 

Similar questions the interviewer may ask:

• What are some things you’ve learned in the past when trying to grow an online presence?

Next steps

Suppose you’re interested in expanding your knowledge of social media marketing. In that case, you can explore the field with various highly-rated courses on Coursera that can help take your skill set to the next level. For example, Northwestern University’s Social Media Marketing Specialisation course gets updated quarterly to keep you at the forefront of social media marketing. 

Completing the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate is another way to bolster your resume and build job-ready skills. It’s a six-course programme offered on Coursera that will help you learn digital marketing strategies you can use on every platform.