Post updated: January 2021
Questions to ask a hiring manager in your digital marketing job interview
- What projects will I first work on, and what metrics will determine my success?
- What tools will I be required to use throughout my day-to-day duties?
- What is your process of creating a campaign – from the initial strategy, to deploying and measuring its success?
- How will my role as a Digital Marketer align with other areas of the business?
- How is your digital marketing strategy divided across channels and mediums?
- What is a digital marketing campaign that’s been successful in the past year for the company, and what deemed it a success?
- How does the brand see the digital marketing landscape evolving over the next 5 years, and what is the brand doing to prepare for this?
- How do you ensure your employees remain relevant and up-to-date with the digital marketing landscape?
- What percentage of managers within the company were promoted internally?
- How does management deliver negative feedback to team members?
It’s taken you months to get here. The job searching, applications, and different hoops you’ve jumped through have finally led to a proper job interview. Great!
This could be the next big step in your digital marketing career – working in a role that genuinely excites you.
After all the hard work it’s taken to get here, you might start to feel the pressure as you prepare for your job interview. You have one opportunity to make a meaningful impression and stand out as a potential candidate.
By now, you’ve most likely started preparing for your interview by rehearsing potential questions you might be asked. You’ve skimmed the first page of Google’s search results to uncover articles like interview guide from HubSpot, or even this summary from WordStream. You’ll take the time to strategically evaluate each question and plan the most suitable responses.
Sound familiar?
In the midst of preparing for an interview, a large portion of digital marketers often forget how important it is to prepare a list of questions to ask hiring managers.
Although most digital marketers can confidently present themselves in an interview, many miss the golden opportunity to separate themselves from the rest of the candidate pool.
When a hiring manager gives a candidate the opportunity to ask any questions of their own, this is the perfect moment to stand out by crafting thoughtful questions to ask an interviewer.
By preparing killer interview questions to ask employers, you can showcase the breadth of skill you possess, both as a digital marketer and an individual. These questions will not only help you learn more about the position at hand, but will also share a deeper insight into day-to-day life within a company.
If you’re preparing for a digital marketing job interview in 2021, these are the top 10 questions to ask a hiring manager throughout your interview.
Are you finding it tough to even land a job interview? Read my previous post about uncovering the backdoor to sourcing your next interview in a role you love.
1. What projects will I first work on, and what metrics will determine my success?
By asking an interviewer this question, it communicates that you’re a driven individual who’s willing to immediately get their hands dirty. It shows that you’re already thinking about ways to understand how you can deliver value to the company. By proactively clarifying what metrics will deem your work successful, it also highlights that you’re willing to take ownership of outcomes, and can clearly understand how important it is to make a tangible difference.
Above all, it gives the hiring manager the opportunity to tell you more about the company and their current work. This can help create a deeper connection as they start to share more detailed information with you.
How it helps you
This question allows you to gain a clear understanding of the duties required within the role. By mapping this initial scope of work, you’ll comfortably know if you have the appropriate skills to deliver the desired outcomes.
By understanding the core metrics you’ll be measured against, it can help you best prepare an initial strategy to work towards these goals. If you’re uncertain about ways to properly track these metrics, you can even dedicate some time to research any relevant tools or frameworks before you begin the role.
2. What tools will I be required to use throughout my day-to-day duties?
The employee onboarding process can become costly for those who aren’t familiar with certain tools or practices. Although a digital marketer might be proficient with specific toolsets, it can be hard to hit the ground running in a position if you first have to learn new workflows. By creating an opportunity to discuss the tools that a company uses, it can indicate that you’ll seamlessly integrate with the existing team.
This question can extend beyond the realm of digital marketing tools, and should also include internal tools and processes for things like time tracking, project planning, and internal communication.
Pro tip: By even recommending new tools that fit into the companies strategy, it highlights that you’re on the cusp of the latest industry trends.
How it helps you
These tools can provide you with an overview into some of the finer details of the job at hand. If you’re required to use certain ad platforms or analytics tools, you can start to visualize what your day-to-day duties will look like.
If the organization is using tools you’re not familiar with, it’ll give you the opportunity to learn in advance, or decide if the current stack will allow you to even work to the best of your ability.
3. What is your process of creating a campaign – from the initial strategy, to deploying and measuring its success?
Every digital marketing team is unique. Whether it be the channels they use, or the internal processes they follow, each team has a unique way to execute strategies. By asking this question, it articulates that you’re a team player who understands the importance of efficiently working with others to deliver outcomes.
It also indicates that you understand the broader scope of the role you’ll play within the complete end-to-end digital marketing process. Hiring managers are interested in candidates who care beyond just their current role and understand the impact their work will have on the team as a whole.
How it helps you
The processes of a team will play an influential role in determining how effective you can be within a position. This will also help you clarify the likelihood of you enjoying the day-to-day procedures.
If you’re a digital marketer who likes to move in a fast-paced environment, learning about a teams extensive approval process will indicate that it’s not a suitable match. Uncovering this as soon as possible is crucial when looking to make the most suitable career decision.
4. How will my role as a digital marketer align with other departments in the business? e.g. design, development, sales
By showing an interest across all areas of an organization, it highlights your passion towards seeing the brand succeed as a whole. By asking this question, it portrays you as a team player who understands how to effectively collaborate with others and deliver shared outcomes.
Whether it be working with the sales team to write engaging lead generation content, or even collaborating with the development team to implement new forms of conversion tracking – hiring managers are eager to source candidates who can competently communicate across all departments.
How it helps you
Understanding the resources you’ll have access to will determine how well you’ll perform within this role. If you’re a data-driven individual, knowing you’ll have access to work alongside a design team will allow you to build on your weaknesses.
If you’re a digital marketer who’s also interested in learning new skills across different areas like design, development, or management, this can indicate that you’ll have the opportunity to learn new skills within the tenor.
5. How is your digital marketing strategy divided across channels and mediums? e.g. SEO, Facebook ads, blog content
When asking questions about a brands current channel mix, it demonstrates your ability to properly understand the importance of cross-platform strategies. Hiring managers are impressed by candidates who can clearly determine the role that each channel plays within their overall digital marketing lifecycle.
Pro tip: As a follow-up question, you should also ask how the company came to this split across channels. This will help you understand who has the decision-making power when it comes to channels, and where they stand when it comes to using the latest and greatest.
How it helps you
By asking this question, it will give you a deeper insight into the organizations current digital marketing strategy. By interpreting the channels they use, you can identify if they align with your current experience and skill set.
This question also opens opportunities to share insights of your own. For example; if the company mentions they’re beginning to experiment with TikTok as a social channel, you can share the experience you may already have using the platform. By taking the time to share this insight, it will showcase the additional value you can add above competing candidates.
6. What is a digital marketing campaign that’s been successful in the past year for the company, and what deemed it a success?
By giving the hiring manager time to share a tangible past example, it shows that you genuinely care to learn more about the brand. It also indicates that you’re interested in better understanding how they’ve previously measured a successful outcome for the business.
Pro tip: If you can identify an area of opportunity that they may have missed within their strategy, don’t be afraid to ask if they’d given consideration to it. This is a laudable way to showcase your critical thinking skills as a digital marketer.
How it helps you
This will help further clarify the thought process and metrics that the organization is focussed on working towards. If you’re interested in the previous channels, tools, and frameworks the company has used in the past, it’s safe to say that you’ve found a good match.
7. How does the brand see the digital marketing landscape evolving over the next 5 years, and what is the brand doing to prepare for this?
Within a job interview, it’s common for a hiring manager to ask the candidate where they see themselves in 5 years time. It’s also just as important for candidates to also ask this question in return. This is an effective way to show that you actively care about the longevity of your work and the impact it will have on the future of the company.
How it helps you
By understanding the future roadmap for the company, you can determine if they’re planning to move in the same direction as your personal interests. It can also divulge an insight about the potential for your role to continually develop and grow.
8. How do you ensure your employees remain relevant and up-to-date with the digital marketing landscape?
This thoughtful question highlights the pride you take in remaining on the cusp of new trends and best practices. It indicates that you’ll continually be a valuable member of the team. It shows that you’re willing to put in the time and effort to remain competent as long as the company continues to support your development.
How it helps you
By asking this question, it will give a clear indication about the brands commitment for their team members and their personal development. Whether it be allocated budgets for courses, conferences, or even internal training, it can imply if you’ll have the necessary support to remain proficient.
9. What percentage of managers within the company were promoted internally?
As a candidate, it’s just as important to ask hiring managers for tangible examples of their work within the company. By asking about the companies promotion policy, it highlights your commitment to remaining in a position, and your willingness to continually handle new responsibilities.
How it helps you
It’s important to identify the potential for your career growth as soon as possible. If you’re looking to grow as a professional over time, you’ll need to clearly understand what opportunities are available within the company.
This will also help share some context around the companies commitment to promoting their own team members before turning to external sources.
10. How does management deliver negative feedback to team members?
This question portrays your willingness to handle responsibility and understand the importance of feedback when delivering the best possible outcome. Asking candid questions like this in an interview are also a great way to showcase your sense of professionalism.
How it helps you
If receiving feedback is important to you, this question can indicate how well you’ll perform within a role. It can also identify if the management team is transparent within the company, and if they value using negative feedback as an opportunity to collectively solve problems as a team.
Know of a colleague or someone in your network who would find this list useful? Retweet the thread below to share the summarized list.
Are you ready to uncover actionable guidance for your career in digital marketing? Join hundreds of others in getting one practical piece of content a week.
“Actionable advie from a genuine source. ClickThrough posts are spot on!”
Luke Chapman – Digital Marketing Officer
