Social Media Specialist interview questions and answers
This Social Media Specialist interview profile brings together a snapshot of what to look for in candidates with a balanced sample of suitable interview questions.
10 good social media specialist interview questions
- Discuss the relationship between social media and content marketing.
- Social media functionality is constantly evolving. How do you stay updated?
- What’s the relationship between social media and brand-building?
- What social channels do you prefer and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
- What strategies would you recommend for building a social following?
- How would you describe the brand voice of your current company?
- What tools do you prefer for scheduling, content curation, project management, social listening, etc?
- How have you used social media for customer support?
- What’s the relationship between social media and sales?
- How would you handle negative comments about your brand on social media?
Here are 10 essential interview questions and sample answers to help identify the best candidates for this role.
1. Discuss the relationship between social media and content marketing.
This question aims to assess the candidate’s understanding of how social media and content marketing are interconnected.
Sample answer:
“Social media is a channel for distributing content and engaging with the audience. Content marketing, on the other hand, is the strategy behind creating valuable content. They work hand-in-hand to drive brand awareness and customer engagement.”
2. Social media functionality is constantly evolving. How do you stay updated?
This question evaluates the candidate’s commitment to staying current in a rapidly changing field.
Sample answer:
“I follow industry blogs, attend webinars, and engage with other professionals on platforms like LinkedIn to stay updated on the latest trends and features.”
3. What’s the relationship between social media and brand-building?
This question probes the candidate’s understanding of how social media contributes to building a brand.
Sample answer:
“Social media is a powerful tool for brand-building. It allows for direct interaction with customers, provides a platform for content distribution, and helps in shaping the brand’s voice and personality.”
4. What social channels do you prefer and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
This question assesses the candidate’s expertise in different social media platforms.
Sample answer:
“I prefer Instagram for visual storytelling but it’s not great for driving website traffic. Twitter is excellent for real-time engagement but can be time-consuming.”
5. What strategies would you recommend for building a social following?
This question gauges the candidate’s strategic thinking in growing a social media audience.
Sample answer:
“Consistent posting, engaging content, and timely interaction with followers are key. I’d also recommend leveraging hashtags and collaborating with influencers.”
6. How would you describe the brand voice of your current company?
This question tests the candidate’s ability to articulate and understand brand identity.
Sample answer:
“Our brand voice is professional yet approachable, aiming to provide value while building trust.”
7. What tools do you prefer for scheduling, content curation, project management, social listening, etc?
This question evaluates the candidate’s familiarity with tools that can improve efficiency.
Sample answer:
“I use Hootsuite for scheduling, BuzzSumo for content curation, Asana for project management, and Brandwatch for social listening.”
8. How have you used social media for customer support?
This question assesses the candidate’s experience in using social media as a customer service tool.
Sample answer:
“I’ve used Twitter and Facebook Messenger for real-time customer support, addressing queries and resolving issues promptly.”
9. What’s the relationship between social media and sales?
This question probes the candidate’s understanding of how social media can drive sales.
Sample answer:
“Social media can be a powerful sales tool through targeted ads, influencer partnerships, and direct links to product pages.”
10. How would you handle negative comments about your brand on social media?
This question evaluates the candidate’s crisis management skills.
Sample answer:
“I would address the comment professionally, offer a solution, and take the conversation offline if necessary to resolve the issue.”
What does a good social media specialist candidate look like?
A strong candidate will have a deep understanding of various social media platforms, be up-to-date with the latest trends, and possess excellent communication skills. They should also be adept at content creation and analytics.
Red flags
Be cautious of candidates who lack a coherent strategy, have poor communication skills, or seem unfamiliar with social media analytics tools.
Social Media Specialist Interview Questions
A social media specialist is more than just the person with the passwords to all your social media accounts. This person should have a solid understanding of how each social media channel works and how to optimize content so that it is engaging on all those channels. They’re also responsible for joining relevant conversations on behalf of your brand and “soft selling” your product by providing support to current and prospective customers.
Social media doesn’t function in a vacuum, and a great social media specialist will be able to build strong working relationships with the rest of your team. Their colleagues include content writers, graphic designers, and search marketers. The person you hire should have a strong understanding of how SEO, content (blogs, email, video, etc) and social media work together to create effective digital marketing campaigns. They will also be metrics-driven and committed to showing you quantitative results.
Social media gaffes can exist forever in screenshots, so you’ll need to hire someone with good situational judgement. Questions like “How would you respond to an angry customer?” can be useful for this purpose. Use these interview questions to assess your candidate’s experience with managing social media for brands (rather than for personal use), as well as the overall personality fit. Someone even-keeled with a touch of humor and an innate desire to help would be a strong fit for this role.
Let’s summarize some of the questions and add a few more divided into specific types.
Role-specific questions
- Describe the structure of your current marketing team. What is everyone’s role? Who do you report to?
- Discuss the relationship between social media and content marketing.
- Social media functionality is constantly evolving. How do you stay updated?
- What’s the relationship between social media and brand-building?
- What social channels do you prefer and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
- What other social media platforms do you use on your own time?
- What strategies would you recommend for building a social following?
- How would you describe the brand voice of your current company?
- How would you describe your company’s visual identity?
- What tools do you prefer for scheduling, content curation, project management, social listening, etc?
- How have you used social media for customer support?
- What’s the relationship between social media and sales?
- How would you present the results of your work?
- How would you encourage the creation of user-generated content?
- How do you integrate social media with offline events?
- Describe a time you interacted with an angry customer on social media.
- How would you handle negative comments about your brand on social media?
- What have you noticed about our current social presence? What could we improve?