What's your background with SEO?

"I've written SEO blogs for companies before. I have a good understanding of how search engines work."

While these two disciplines aren't usually considered together, social content typically ranks high on Google. In addition, all social media platforms have a Search functionality which can bring extra reach to posts optimized for search terms.

Do you have any questions for me?

"What's the job title of my direct supervisor? What kind of content are you producing now, and where do you see your brand voice headed in the future? What are some things you like and dislike about your existing social media presence?"

Here's your chance to investigate the role further. Some key questions that you might want to ask include who you'll be reporting the results of your social media efforts to: is it directly to a business owner or to a supervisor in the Marketing Department? It might also help to understand how they're managing their existing social media presence, and which parts of that effort you'll be responsible for.

Could you give an example of a post on Facebook that, while it might be very effective, might be against the Terms of Service?

"Images on Facebook are analyzed algorithmically for the amount of text embedded into the image, and the rules say you can't go over 20% of an image composed of text in promotional images. While we might want to caption our images or share a block of text in a photo instead of posting it as a caption to the image, we have to be careful to stay under that 20% rule by sequestering the text to the bottom-quadrant of the image."

Social media companies have started cracking down harder and harder on brands who use their platforms for commerce. Questions like this aim to understand whether or not you're familiar with the rules for posting on each platform. Stumbling on this question could be a red flag, since no brand wants to end up in Facebook Jail.

How would you take advantage of a news story related to our brand?

"Tactfully injecting yourself into a conversation about the news usually starts with being a trusted voice in the discussion. If our brand is relevant to the news story, we can contribute honestly without it coming across as a marketing gimmick."

Newsjacking is capitalizing on media coverage or social trends. In this role, the social media marketer acts in a public relations capacity to earn reach for free. If you're capable of showing a clear vision for connecting directly with journalists through social media, you can catapult your brand's reach.

What performance indicators should we watch to indicate an ROI on social media?

"I like to treat post engagements as 'microconversions,' which are often indicative of a user who is more likely to purchase our products in the future. If we keep a close eye on the engagement level of our social media profiles, we should see an uptick in sales, even if it's not possible to directly attribute that uptick to social. Of course, ads typically have a conversion action attached to them, so those are direct performance indicators."

ROI on social media is difficult to measure, since so many of the metrics offered by the networks in their analytics don't necessarily translate into revenue. Show that you understand the innate difficulty in tracking an ROI from social media, and offer solutions. Keep in mind that you might be asked to implement tracking for the performance indicators you mention here.

Which tools or platforms do you use in social media marketing?

"I like FollowerWonk and Moz for managing social media profiles."

With the meteoric rise of social media in the last twenty years also came a meteoric number of options for social media management. There are more options here than anyone could learn in a lifetime, so you shouldn't feel like you have to know them all. It may just be that the client is asking for a preference so they can purchase them or to see if you've used tools in the same category as the ones they have.

Describe your process for performing a competitive analysis on social media.

"I start by identifying potential competitors by looking at our own fans and followers and determining who else they follow. If I see the same name a few times, I investigate that competitor in greater detail. If they're posting content similar to ours, I can be fairly sure they're a competitor. I want to keep an eye on competitor posts for ideas of what's performing for their audience."

Your strategic analysis of the wider competitive media landscape is important to making sure you differentiate yourself. Talk about how you identify competitors, what you'd look for on their pages, and how you'd respond to it.

What would be the best ad unit to promote a collection of related products on Facebook?

"That'd be a Facebook Shopping campaign, formerly known as a Dynamic Product Ad."

Technical questions like this aim to determine how deep your understanding is of the available platform features. Even if you don't know the name of the ad unit - they change often - you can describe it. For instance, I'd be fine with an interviewee saying 'there's a catalog-style ad unit that has a scroll bar on it and shows a product shot, headline, and price for multiple products.'

Describe some differences between Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

"Facebook is ultimately a small-community platform. There are so many pages and groups, and the algorithm shows content similar to what the user interacts with, so it's really about starting and maintaining an active interest group. Twitter, on the other hand, is more topical and news-relevant. Both of these platforms target a wide demographic of users compared to LinkedIn, which targets job seekers, and Instagram, which targets a significantly younger demographic. Instagram differs from the other three platforms most significantly, since it's heavily reliant on a user selecting their influencers."

Answering this question correctly will show you can think like a marketer, rather than a user. Focus on the typical use case of each network, their respective audiences, and explain how you'd manage each network differently. If you want to prepare an answer for a question like this before you enter into the interview, note that the interviewer probably won't ask about networks that they don't use, so research the brand and see where they're active.

What's the best way to get noticed by influencers?

"First, I like to identify influencers we hope to target so that I can research what sorts of content they share. Then, I try to produce great, relevant content to them."

Influencers have a symbiotic relationship with brands. As marketers, we're constantly creating content so that they'll have content to share. Navigating the relationship between influencers and brands is a key component of effective social media marketing, so show that you understand how they think.

How would you handle a heated discussion between two customers on social media?

"In my experience, most heated discussions will fizzle on their own without the brand getting involved. In fact, it's often better not to take sides. Only comments that violate our rules/terms of service need to be actively handled."

Anybody who's worked in social media has dealt with toxicity in chat. Moderating a discussion without angering either customer is a critical inflection point in social media that is notoriously hard to handle. It's your responsibility to tactfully represent the brand, even during controversy.

Do you present yourself professionally, but with personality, across a keyboard?

"Absolutely! Want to check out my existing social media profiles?"

A social media marketer is the public face of the brand on social media. One of the things an interviewer will be researching during the interview is whether you can convey your personality professionally. In many cases, they'll snoop your social media profiles to see what sort of things you post. Red flags, like excessive partying, poor grammar, or drama, could be disqualifying, so keep your social media profile squeaky clean.

How have you encouraged community participation in a discussion in the past?

"I was a camp counselor at a summer camp during college, and I've volunteered in community outreach programs at the local YMCA."

One of the key responsibilities of a social media marketer is facilitating discussion. Unlike traditional sales, where customers typically engage primarily with the company, on social media, customers typically engage with each other. Demonstrating your ability to seed and moderate discussions is one of the most valuable skills for a social media marketer.

Have you worked in customer service before?

"I have a couple of years of experience in retail jobs with regular customer interactions. I also worked as a head receptionist for a veterinary office."

A social media marketer is the first point of contact for customer questions, comments, and suggestions about the brand's products and services. Experience in customer service, particularly in handling negative customer interactions, is critical. When I'm hiring a social media marketer, the first and foremost qualification is someone who makes friends easily.

Have you done video editing/production before?

"I've shot some videos with my phone and edited them. Sometimes I stream myself playing games with friends on Twitch on the weekends."

Nearly all successful social media marketers use video regularly as a part of their campaigns. With the astronomical growth of platforms like TikTok and Instagram, the ability for a social media marketer to create and produce videos appropriate for the platforms is a crucial skill. It's a huge boon if you can star in the videos.

Are you a designer/photographer?

"No, but I have experience with Photoshop and a few other design tools. I feel confident in my ability to create a basic ad when necessary. I do feel confident when it comes to any resizing of images, cropping, or touch up effects that will be needed."

Social media is a very visual platform, and visual assets are key to social media success. The capability to select stock photos and edit them appropriately for social media will be a key responsibility of the role. Basic photography and Photoshop skills will put you a cut above the rest.

How far in advance do you typically plan and create content on social media?

"I like to get an overarching idea for the general topics we'll be covering at the top of every year. Then, I prepare a specific content calendar about a quarter in advance. Finally, I aim to have posts scheduled about a month in advance so that there's some wiggle room and the pipeline of content never stops."

With a question like this, the interviewer hopes to grasp your forward-planning skills. Bear in mind that hiring managers are typically risk averse, so an answer like 'a week,' is too short to inspire confidence. Planning your narrative at least a month in advance means you can take a few sick days without the entire social media apparatus crashing and burning.

How do you organize upcoming content?

"Excel is my go-to for organizing upcoming content. I make a tab for every network, a row for every post, and columns indicating the stage of progress, from drafted to posted."

Social media marketers are often juggling hundreds of pieces of byte-sized content. It's usually not efficient to just dump them all in a folder on your computer. Explain how you keep track of the ever-growing continuum of content that's expected from your content calendar.

What's your background in analytics or statistics?

"Most of my past roles in marketing departments included some level of analytics. I keep close track of reach and engagement metrics and produce monthly reports of results."

Social media marketing is a data-driven role. Being able to report on data like reach, engagement, and conversion rate is crucial for the role, but some conversion rate optimization experience is expected. Conducting experiments on individual advertisements or posts can show immediate value and ROI, which is immensely valuable on platforms that are not traditionally ROI-driven. The stronger your background in analytics, the better you'll be at setting and meeting goals.

Have you worked in sales before?

"Yes, I've worked retail sales jobs for a couple of years where I practiced upselling often."

Often, social media marketers double as salespeople for a company's products. When a customer starts a conversation with a brand about a product, that conversation is likely to result in a sale. It should be the responsibility of the social media marketer to convert that interested buyer into an immediate sale, so a background in a sales-oriented role can be an important factor in a hiring manager's decision.

Have you built a content calendar before?

"In my last job, the Marketing Director would establish a strategic narrative every quarter that we would execute across multiple channels. I was responsible for conveying that narrative in social media and preparing and executing a quarterly content calendar to support it."

While a junior-level social media role typically doesn't manage their own content calendar, a senior level role will be expected to contribute to ideas several months out. If you've built and executed a quarterly or annual content calendar, even if it was for blogs, videos, or email marketing, your planning skills will easily transfer into social media. This is also a good jumping-off point for talking about your strategic process.

Have you used scheduling applications like HootSuite or TweetDeck?

"I've used HootSuite's premium edition to schedule posts for a brand across multiple social media networks."

Brands who are hiring a social media marketer aren't looking for two posts a week on social media. It's not uncommon to expect 20 or 30 tweets per day. Instead of manually tweeting on the hour, every hour, even after close of business or on the weekends, most social media marketers will be expected to bulk upload into a scheduling application.

Which social media platforms are you personally active on?

"I'm an active user on Facebook and Twitter, as well as Instagram and TikTok. I don't regularly use LinkedIn, but I do use it when I'm not employed to find jobs. I have a few Pinterest boards that where I store ideas for my hobbies."

It's important for social media marketers to actually use their platforms in their own time. The cultures of the various platforms are relatively organic and unique, and it takes a good amount of time interacting as a user on these platforms to really grasp what the interactions feel like. In any case, I wouldn't hire an auto mechanic who doesn't own a car, so I certainly wouldn't hire a social media marketer who doesn't use Facebook.

What's your experience in content/copywriting?

"I'm an active writer/blogger, and I've written social media posts and blogs for companies in the past."

Writing copy is a key component of social media marketing. Understanding the brand voice and audience expectations for that voice will make a huge impact on the performance of your social media posts. For example, a copywriter might write in a more informal voice for Instagram captions and a more formal voice for a LinkedIn advertisement.

Have you worked with Pay Per Click marketing before?

"I've got at least a year's experience managing Google and Facebook advertising."

While Facebook will never admit it, social media is pay to play. Even if the company already has a PPC marketing specialist, the social media marketer either takes responsibility for the paid social ads or, at the very least, supports them with boosted posts. Showing that you've got the background in PPC to take on this responsibility can assure the interviewer that they can leave managing expensive campaigns in your capable hands.

Social Media Marketer Interview Questions

Go Back

1. What's your background with SEO?
2. Do you have any questions for me?
3. Could you give an example of a post on Facebook that, while it might be very effective, might be against the Terms of Service?
4. How would you take advantage of a news story related to our brand?
5. What performance indicators should we watch to indicate an ROI on social media?
6. Which tools or platforms do you use in social media marketing?
7. Describe your process for performing a competitive analysis on social media.
8. What would be the best ad unit to promote a collection of related products on Facebook?
9. Describe some differences between Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
10. What's the best way to get noticed by influencers?
11. How would you handle a heated discussion between two customers on social media?
12. Do you present yourself professionally, but with personality, across a keyboard?
13. How have you encouraged community participation in a discussion in the past?
14. Have you worked in customer service before?
15. Have you done video editing/production before?
16. Are you a designer/photographer?
17. How far in advance do you typically plan and create content on social media?
18. How do you organize upcoming content?
19. What's your background in analytics or statistics?
20. Have you worked in sales before?
21. Have you built a content calendar before?
22. Have you used scheduling applications like HootSuite or TweetDeck?
23. Which social media platforms are you personally active on?
24. What's your experience in content/copywriting?
25. Have you worked with Pay Per Click marketing before?

Social Media Marketer Interview Questions

1. What's your background with SEO?

2. Do you have any questions for me?

3. Could you give an example of a post on Facebook that, while it might be very effective, might be against the Terms of Service?

4. How would you take advantage of a news story related to our brand?

5. What performance indicators should we watch to indicate an ROI on social media?

6. Which tools or platforms do you use in social media marketing?

7. Describe your process for performing a competitive analysis on social media.

8. What would be the best ad unit to promote a collection of related products on Facebook?

9. Describe some differences between Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

10. What's the best way to get noticed by influencers?

11. How would you handle a heated discussion between two customers on social media?

12. Do you present yourself professionally, but with personality, across a keyboard?

13. How have you encouraged community participation in a discussion in the past?

14. Have you worked in customer service before?

15. Have you done video editing/production before?

16. Are you a designer/photographer?

17. How far in advance do you typically plan and create content on social media?

18. How do you organize upcoming content?

19. What's your background in analytics or statistics?

20. Have you worked in sales before?

21. Have you built a content calendar before?

22. Have you used scheduling applications like HootSuite or TweetDeck?

23. Which social media platforms are you personally active on?

24. What's your experience in content/copywriting?

25. Have you worked with Pay Per Click marketing before?