7 Interview Questions for Marketing Roles

Marketing companies look for distinct qualities and skills in interview candidates, depending on the position, qualifications and company goals. After submitting an application, CV and cover letter, the interview is your chance to further show your abilities and personality. You can also use the interview to better understand your prospective employer's expectations for the role and how you might fit in with their team. In this article, we explore some common marketing interview questions and provide examples to help you prepare effective answers.

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What are interview questions for marketing?

Interview questions for marketing are how recruiters get to know your credentials for various marketing roles. By sharing thoughtful responses, you can show them you are a qualified candidate. Employers hiring marketing professionals often ask questions about your specific marketing experiences and skills. It's important to show you have the skills to build their brand and connect with a target audience.

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Common marketing interview questions with sample answers

Here are seven marketing interview questions you can expect employers to ask:

How did you get into marketing?

Employers may ease into your interview with this simple question. Your response can give them a better idea of your motivations for applying to their company. When answering this question, explain what inspired you to become a marketing professional. Discuss why you enjoy this type of work, sharing a few parts of the job you especially like.

Example: 'I first got into marketing when I was in college. I knew I needed a creative career, and marketing seemed like a great fit for me. Once I enrolled in a few marketing courses, this solidified my decision to pursue this career path. I love how marketing gives me the opportunity to strategise and study human behaviour. Creating a campaign is an exciting task, as I find it quite enjoyable to learn about a target audience and figure out ways to reach them.'

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What do you know about our clients?

This question helps employers learn if you did some research before your interview. By sharing your knowledge about the company's top clients, you're showing that you are truly interested in this job. Your answer can also indicate whether you are a prepared candidate. Before the interview, look through the company's website and social media pages. Gather a couple of talking points about their top clients to share.

Example: 'Based on your online presence, I can see that your top clients are Food Solutions and World Feeding Source. I looked into both of these clients and found out that they help food banks and other charities source food and agricultural tools for developing countries. It appears the target audience for Food Solutions is everyday people who want to help with small donations. Then, it looks like World Feeding Source is looking to target large corporations.

When doing my research, I was impressed with the email marketing campaign you created for Food Solutions. Your copy and visuals were beautiful, making me understand why it was such a successful campaign.'

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What value can you add to our team?

When applying to a marketing position, you may compete against many other candidates. Employers ask this question to learn what results you can deliver for their marketing team that other candidates might not be able to. Before your interview, read through the job description to figure out what needs of the company you can fulfil. Show that you have a specialised skill set, knowing things like copywriting, search engine optimisation (SEO), graphic design, data analytics or digital marketing.

Example: 'As someone with an extensive background in SEO, I can help more people find your brand through organic search. When I worked as a content manager for my last company, I was able to increase our brand's web traffic by 20% in three months. That's because I understand what quality content looks like. I also have the coding background to embed the right metadata to help search engines find your web page. If you hire me, I have the knowledge and skills to help your brand reach more of your target audience.'

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Which social media platforms have you used?

Depending on the role and company you're interviewing for, your prospective employer might expect you to be competent in using all the major social media platforms. If you're familiar with niche platforms, talk about your proficiency with them as well. Showcasing your knowledge of social media and how it affects your work shows that you can use these tools to increase audience engagement and brand awareness.

Example: 'I regularly use social media in my personal life and have professional profiles online. I have experience using all the major social media platforms. In my internship, I learned to use a wide range of functions applicable to marketing, such as communicating and collaborating with other users, scheduling posts, using monitoring and analytics tools and integrating different social media platforms to increase brand awareness and online presence.'

What are the three most important skills for a marketing career?

This is your opportunity to discuss your valuable skills and experiences. It helps to reference skills that the employer mentioned in the job listing that you also possess. Some skills to consider discussing include data analytics, SEO, campaign building and storytelling.

Example: 'I think a marketer must be knowledgeable about SEO because it is one of the most effective ways to boost organic traffic. The ability to tell compelling stories and manage campaigns is also a valuable skill. It enables a marketer to connect with the target audience on a deeper level and use the right strategies to cater to their specific needs and preferences. Finally, data analytics and reporting are indispensable in the digital age as they allow a marketer to evaluate and understand the wide-ranging behaviours of today's smarter consumers.'

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What is your greatest accomplishment as a marketing professional?

This interview question helps employers envision what kind of success you might bring to their team. By learning about your past accomplishments, they can see if you have the experience to get results. When answering this question, share an example that showcases you're a motivated and goal-oriented person. Share quantifiable data to help an employer gain clarity of what you all accomplished.

Example: 'When I worked as a marketing intern, it was my responsibility to find new project management software for our team. While this seemed like a small task at first, I soon realised that our team had incredibly specific needs. I spent a month doing all kinds of research, reaching out to salespeople to watch their demonstrations. When I found the perfect platform, I created a presentation to persuade my employer to use this technology. They were pleased with what I found and went with it.

I consider this one of my greatest accomplishments because as soon as we switched to this platform, productivity increased by 15%. My colleagues were so grateful for my suggestion to use this platform, and my employer offered me a full-time job. Along with gaining recognition, this was a great opportunity to develop my research and presentation skills.'

If a customer writes a negative review of a product we're marketing, how would you respond?

You can use this question to showcase your critical thinking and problem-solving skills along with effective communication with customer engagement. To answer this question well, describe a time you turned a less-than-satisfactory customer experience into a positive one.

For this situational question and others, consider using the STAR technique. Discuss the situation you were in and what task you needed to complete to be successful. Outline the actions you took, and describe the results of your efforts.

Example: 'In my previous position, I often handled customer outreach and had the occasional negative review. One customer was not satisfied with her service and said she wanted a refund. I first investigated the topic of her comment, which was that the app kept crashing. I reviewed our updates and noticed that during her time of service, we found a bug causing these crashes.

After speaking to my manager about how to alleviate the customer's satisfaction issue, I asked the customer to reach out to our customer support email address so I could handle her issue. I emailed her and thanked her for her feedback. Then I informed her that we updated the app to be more compatible with her device. I encouraged her to open the app and use it to see we resolved her issue. Then I offered her a free week of service to make up for any inconvenience the bug may have caused.'

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