11 questions to ask in a marketing interview (and responses to look for)

It can be challenging to assess candidates’ marketing skills during recruitment, especially since various positions fall under the marketing umbrella – from market research analysts to product marketing managers. But, doing so is essential to avoiding the consequences of a bad hire, like wasted recruitment costs, decreased team morale, and even declining customer satisfaction.

In an interview, asking the right questions can help you identify top marketing candidates and ensure you hire the right people for your open positions.

In this guide, we provide 11 questions to ask in marketing interviews and the responses you should look out for. We also offer other effective ways to assess marketing candidates. 

What are marketing interview questions? 

Marketing interview questions are role-specific questions that help you assess an individual’s skills and abilities related to the job. 

These questions can be broad or highly technical. You can also use them to evaluate a candidate’s personality type and behavioral traits, which may influence their suitability for your open role.

Their main goal is to help you determine how well an applicant will align with your organization. 

What are marketing skills? 

The marketing skills you require from your candidates will depend on your industry and the role you’re hiring for. However, there are several skills that every marketer needs. Let’s take a closer look below.

Market research 

Individuals must conduct proper market research by gathering and interpreting data to build successful marketing campaigns. This data includes market trends, customer behavior, and industry competitors.

Marketers with strong market research skills should be able to: 

• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of previous marketing strategies 

• Predict future marketing trends and consumer needs

• Forecast whether new products or services will clash with current ones

• Identify and explain the relationships between patterns in data 

Branding 

Marketers with solid branding skills should have the following traits and abilities:

A collaborative mindset 

• Build positive employer branding internally

• Get team members on board with fresh ideas

• Actively contribute to organizational goals 

Great communication skills

• Quickly and effectively explain brand identity

• Encourage and accept feedback

• Express and defend branding strategies 

Customer experience focus

• Focus on the customer’s needs to understand how the brand can make an impact 

Creative approaches

• Balance analytical tools and strategies with compelling storytelling to enhance customer experience and brand awareness 

Digital marketing 

Digital marketing is more than just marketing online. It combines conventional marketing strategies with web design, social marketing, content marketing, and SEO. 

Below are some digital marketing skills and abilities your candidates should have.

Performing data analysis

• Collect and analyze data using tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and email marketing platforms

• Track user behavior, engagement, and conversion rates

Creating great content

• Produce compelling content in written, audio, video, and social media formats 

• Use content to address customer queries, resolve issues, or share knowledge

Performing search engine optimization (SEO)

• Optimize digital content to improve visibility on search engine results pages

• Boost organic traffic to your webpage 

Software skills 

Marketing software is a necessity for data analysis and campaign optimization. Even if candidates lack experience with a particular software, they should have the skills to learn new programs.  

Your marketing candidates should know how to:

Automate email marketing campaigns 

• Create personalized email sequences

• Set trigger-based actions, such as subscriber welcome emails or remarketing messages

• Segment email lists, schedule deliveries, and track email performance metrics

Schedule and automate social media posting 

• Use software to pre-schedule content across various platforms

• Schedule posting times and dates

• Use analytics and reporting tools to track engagement, assess campaign effectiveness, and refine strategies for better results.

Monitor and improve customer interactions 

• Track customer data and engagement across multiple touchpoints

• Analyze data to gain insights into customer preferences and behaviors

• Use this information to tailor marketing strategies and personalize customer interactions

Schedule content creation and delivery 

• Use software to plan content calendars in advance

• Set specific publication dates

• Automate the distribution of content across several platforms

Problem-solving skills 

No marketing campaign is free of hiccups or roadblocks. Strong marketing candidates should be able to meet challenging situations with innovative solutions. 

There are several aspects to effective problem-solving. Data analysis helps identify the underlying issue – for example, declining sales or a drop in website traffic – while strong organization and communication skills are necessary to address any confusion while resolving issues.

4 general questions for marketing interviews (and responses to look for)

The questions below assess candidates’ basic marketing skills, motivation, technical abilities, and situational judgment, so you can use them when interviewing candidates for any marketing role.

1. What motivates you to succeed?

Recruiters should ask this question to assess candidates’ alignment with company cultures and values. For example, an individual motivated by creativity and innovation may be an excellent fit for a company that values forward-thinking marketing strategies. 

Ideal responses would evidence a passion for both creativity and the tangible results that effective marketing can achieve, like increased brand awareness and lead generation.

A customer-centric focus is also an ideal motivator for strong marketing candidates. They should feel fulfilled when connecting with and positively influencing people through marketing strategies. 

2. What’s a recent marketing campaign that you liked and why? 

Candidates must be able to spot a successful campaign and identify why it’s successful. This requires a particular set of skills, which you can evaluate by asking this question. 

• Analytical skills: Can the candidate think critically, analyze performance metrics, and spot successful patterns in past campaigns?

• Creative skills: Can the candidate look beyond conventional or obvious factors contributing to a campaign’s success? Can they think “outside the box”?

• Communication skills: Can the candidate clearly communicate their thoughts about a campaign and convince others of its success? Are they able to narrate the success story of the campaign? 

Look for responses that explain a marketing campaign’s lasting connection with a target audience. Candidates should also be able to detail tangible results of that impact, like increased brand awareness, customer acquisition, or revenue growth. 

3. How do you measure the success of a campaign?

Candidates should describe some specific marketing KPIs. Examples include cost per lead, form conversion rate, leads generated, customer retention, and marketing return on investment. 

Let’s say a candidate mentions the success of an SEO marketing campaign. They should explain specific tools they would use to gather their findings, like Google Analytics. Plus, they should explain how they would use these tools to analyze website traffic, high-converting keywords, and geographical areas where your engagement is high. 

This question doesn’t just test candidates’ knowledge of software or measuring KPIs. It also evaluates how they would put relevant tools into practice within your organization and gather hard data about campaign performance. 

4. Describe a failed campaign that you worked on and what you learned from the experience. 

Not every aspect of a marketing role or campaign will go as planned, but marketers must be able to adapt to the unexpected and maintain a competitive edge. 

This question assesses candidates’ ability to respond to challenges and failures. Strong candidate responses should detail what went wrong in a campaign and what they’ve learned about preventing similar outcomes in the future. 

3 questions for a marketing manager interview 

Marketing managers oversee campaigns to boost brand awareness and demand for a product or service. Here are five interview questions to ask your marketing manager candidates. 

1. How do you begin developing a successful marketing campaign? 

Ideal answers will reveal how candidates approach:

• Goal setting

• Establishing and working within a budget 

• Identifying target audience 

• Constructing a compelling brand message 

• Executing campaign tasks

• Analyzing results 

2. How do you manage customer relationships? 

Skilled marketing managers play a significant role in managing customer relationships. They are responsible for retaining customers by ensuring they have positive experiences with the brand. 

Look for candidate responses that include: 

• Developing and implementing marketing strategies that prioritize the target audience’s needs 

• Tailoring marketing efforts to specific segments of the customer base 

• Collecting and analyzing customer feedback to make data-driven decisions that improve customer relationships 

• Collaborating with other teams, like customer support and product development, to create customer retention and loyalty programs

3. Tell me about your biggest marketing campaign challenge and how you overcame it. 

Look for answers that reveal how a candidate responds to challenging situations with meaningful solutions. Here are some examples of what this should include. 

• A clear explanation of the marketing challenge: This shows a candidate’s understanding of how it impacted the campaign’s success.

• A problem-solving approach: Can the candidate detail their strategic approach to address the challenge and the thought processes and data analysis techniques they used to reach a creative solution?

• Results and success: A candidate should be able to explain the positive results of overcoming the campaign challenge, like improvements in campaign performance, meeting or exceeding goals, or achieving a successful launch. 

4 interview questions for product marketing managers 

Product marketing manager roles combine product development, marketing, and sales aspects. Their primary responsibility is to develop, oversee, and implement promotional campaigns for products and services. 

Let’s explore three questions you can use to evaluate your product marketing manager candidates.

1. How do you target the best consumer base for a product or service?  

Candidates should be able to identify specific regions and age groups that will benefit the most from your product or service. They must understand what they’re advertising and how to increase sales and cut costs. 

Strong candidate answers should: 

• Demonstrate a firm grasp of a product they’ve worked with in the past 

• Discuss their methods for identifying consumer problems that the product solves

• Lay out a clear plan for narrowing down the consumer base

2. How do you measure the success of a new product launch? 

A key responsibility of product marketing managers is effectively measuring whether new products or services impact your consumer base. 

When answering this question, candidates should mention that data analysis is the key to measuring a launch’s success. Specifically, they should reference KPIs and metrics like: 

• Pre-launch sign-ups 

• Social media engagement – likes, comments, shares, and follows 

• Web traffic and page views 

• Amount of leads generated 

• Email open rate 

• Product marketing costs 

3. How do you know whether an onboarding process is successful? 

Onboarding is how new users access your product or service. It can be done via sign-ups, activation, initial use, etc. The process is crucial for turning leads into long-term customers.

Strong candidate answers should explain the various indicators and feedback mechanisms to measure onboarding success. Here are some examples of what these include.  

• Customer satisfaction: Positive customer feedback indicates a successful onboarding process, especially high satisfaction scores.

• Time-to-Value (TTV): The time customers take to see tangible value from your product or service. A shorter TTV suggests that the onboarding process is effective at helping customers see benefits quickly. 

• Usage and engagement metrics: Increased user activity, like frequent logins, feature adoption, and ongoing usage, suggests that customers are successfully onboarded.  

4. How would you market a new product targeted toward young adults? 

Strong marketers tailor strategies to a specific audience’s needs and pain points. This allows them to create more relevant and engaging campaigns that capture the audience’s attention and motivate them to take action. 

Successful candidates will discuss the importance of thorough market research and data analysis to form strategies. Look for responses that leverage young adults’ unique preferences, behaviors, and digital engagement. 

• Sharing the audience’s values: Young adults value authenticity, social consciousness, and digital experience – the product should align with this. 

• Taking a digital-centric approach: Creating engaging and shareable content for social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat – places young adults spend much of their time. 

• Experiential marketing: Young adults appreciate unique experiences. Hosting virtual or in-person events, pop-up shops, or immersive experiences can create buzz and excitement around the product. 

Assessing marketing candidates with skills tests

Interview questions are a great way to assess candidates’ marketing skills, but they’re not the only tool you should use. We recommend using multi-measure talent assessments in conjunction with interviews to get a 360-degree view of candidates – from their technical skills to their personality type. 

Below, we explore three types of skills assessments that are useful in evaluating marketing candidates. (For a deep dive into skills assessments, check out our guide to pre-employment skills testing.)

Role-specific skills tests 

These allow you to test your candidates’ ability to use role-specific tools, execute job-related tasks, and assess their ability to apply industry-specific knowledge and skills to the position.

For example, TestGorilla’s Branding Strategy test helps you assess marketing managers’ brand identification, positioning, and management skills. 

You might also use TestGorilla’s Google Ads test to evaluate candidates’ understanding of organic and paid campaigns and the general concepts and terminology related to Google Ads. Candidates who perform well on this test can use Google Ads features to help develop new marketing campaigns and improve existing ones. 

In addition, TestGorilla has various tests to assess content marketing managers and evaluate candidates’ email marketing skills.

Situational judgment tests 

Situational judgment tests are psychometric tests that examine candidates' responses to hypothetical, work-related scenarios. These scenarios are designed to reflect the challenges candidates can expect if hired. 

For example, you can use TestGorilla’s Leadership and People Management test to evaluate marketing managers’ leadership skills, including: 

• Delegating responsibilities to team members 

• Providing timely guidance and feedback 

• Planning and supporting others’ development 

• Gaining acceptance of ideas and plans

Personality tests

Personality tests assess candidates’ personality traits, motivations, and behavioral attributes. However, you should always use these tests in combination with others to avoid bias. 

The DISC Personality test from TestGorilla is a great choice for assessing candidates for any position – not just marketing roles. It evaluates candidates to reveal their behavioral attributes in professional settings. Candidates are grouped into categories depending on their responses to each question. The four DISC categories are dominance (D), influence (I), steadiness (S), and conscientiousness (C).

This test offers insights into how your candidates will collaborate and communicate with your existing employees. It also helps you understand how certain candidate behaviors will influence their productivity, motivation, and actions at work. 

Use marketing interview questions and skills tests to hire talented marketers 

Marketing interview questions are a powerful tool for assessing candidates and providing insight into individuals’ skills, personality traits, motivation, and more. 

But your talent acquisition strategy shouldn’t start and stop at the interview stage. You should combine marketing interview questions with multi-measure talent assessments. These tests enable you to measure a candidate’s ability to accomplish role-specific tasks, as well as what their personality type is and how that could influence their interactions with colleagues and customers. 

TestGorilla makes this easy with a library of more than 300 tests – including a special catalog of marketing manager tests. See how TestGorilla can help improve your hiring process by signing up for a free plan today.