The Important Interview Questions To Ask Social Media Marketing Candidates

Do you need to hire a social media marketing expert to help manage your social media accounts and associated marketing plans? Many businesses are faced with that question as they look to enhance their online marketing but it can be a daunting prospect if you aren’t sure what questions to ask during the interview process. As a top web development company who has been down this road before, here is what we think are the important interview questions to ask social media marketing candidates.

It is imperative that you not only hire someone with the right background and experience, but also someone that is going to meet your specific needs. Your business has unique goals and any candidate you are going to hire needs to be able to help you meet those goals which means asking the right questions upfront and not after the fact.

Interview questions to ask SMM candidates

• How do you promote a blog post? – This is one of the most essential aspects of what social media marketing is about. After all that time and effort is spent in crafting content, you want to get the most out of that work which means promoting it. So how will your potential employee get your content in front of the target audience?
• What is your experience with social media contests? – Contests are a great way to create buzz and increase your audience. They are also a lot of work if you want them to be successful. Does your potential hire know how to run a contest and do they have experience meeting the objectives of a contest?
• Do you know how to build a Social Community? – The benefit of a social community is the relationships that are built between a business and its’ audience. After all “social media” has the world “social” in it so you need to ensure you are being community minded in regards to putting your customers at the center of their focus, listening to their problems and needs, and providing them information they care about. This is a critical skill that every SMM candidate should have.
• What is your experience with YouTube? – YouTube is HUGE with close to 1 billion unique visitors per month. If your company creates video content (they should) or plans on doing so then you need someone who understands how to properly optimize a YouTube video and company profile to be effective. That means knowing the right type of keywords, captions and annotations to use on top of the video itself and cross-promoting on other platforms.
• What is your experience with Facebook Live and Snapchat? – Video is big right now, as noted by the YouTube question above. Facebook Live and Snapchat are both fun, fresh mediums for showcasing your business and the people behind it along with live events. If that is something that appeals to you or would work well for your business then you want someone that knows how to make use of these channels.
• Do you like Google+? = Google Plus is like a forgotten cousin at the family reunion, but it shouldn’t be. While not as exciting as Facebook or Instagram, it still has a lot of power for marketing and needs to be part of your social media plan. In the very least it will help with your business’s SEO. Your hire should have some familiarity with G+ and be willing to use it.
• How do you stay up-to-date on SMM? – Social Media Marketing is a newer discipline and one that is constantly growing and changing. So how will your potential hire stay on top of things to ensure your business stays on top of things? Where do they go to learn about industry trends and changes? What sites do they subscribe to and how often do they look at re-educating themselves?

The bottom line is that if your business needs a social media marketing person then you certainly want to hire the right fit for your needs. These important interview questions to ask social media marketing candidates will help narrow the field so that the person you end up selecting can do what you will want them to do, even if you aren’t an expert on the topic yourself.

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