27 Social Media Supervisor Interview Questions & Solutions

Social media managers (SMMs) play a pivotal position for any trendy model; they’re answerable for a lot of the enterprise’s exterior communication and engagement with present and potential clients.

When it’s time to rent a social media supervisor, a stable job description and asking the suitable questions might help you rent a certified skilled who will take your social technique to the subsequent stage.

The next record of social media supervisor interview questions is a superb place to start out. We broke it down based mostly on crucial expertise and capabilities wanted to excel. We additionally share our ideas on what to search for in candidates’ solutions.

Plus, for those who’re a social media supervisor searching for your subsequent gig, this record might help you put together for upcoming interviews. Our questions will cowl:

Normal expertise and social media information questions

Step one in most interviews is to grasp the candidate’s fundamental social media information and their normal skilled expertise.

1. What social media accounts have you ever managed prior to now?

This can inform which social platforms the candidate has expertise with, what industries they’ve labored in and in the event that they’re used to working with massive or small follower bases. Ideally, you wish to know that the interviewee has expertise within the platforms you utilize.

Whereas acceptable expertise is definitely one thing to search for in a candidate, relying on the extent of the position, it won’t be probably the most vital. Steadiness the reply to this query with those beneath to attain a deeper understanding of the person’s coaching, drive and important pondering expertise.

2. When given a process you’ve by no means carried out earlier than, what steps do you are taking to make sure it will get accomplished?

Search for concrete examples of conditions the place the candidate has really needed to study one thing new and prevented letting any main balls drop. Additionally search for proof of the candidate’s willingness to ask for assist or be self-sufficient—each are good indicators they may thoughtfully strategy a tough process.

3. How would you describe our model?

The reply to this query could give perception into how properly the candidate ready for the interview. Analysis and a stable understanding of the model are two vital competencies for good social media managers; if candidates haven’t taken the time to get to know your model, it might sign an absence of due diligence.

4. What are the defining traits of our voice?

This one goes hand-in-hand with the earlier query. Drill right down to see if the candidate has a grasp on how the enterprise’s model persona speaks. As the one that will probably be crafting a lot of this messaging, it’s useful for any applicant to have a cursory information of what which may sound like.

Group and time administration questions

Let’s face it: being a social media supervisor is far more than crafting witty captions or creating the proper photographs. It additionally requires a wholesome dose of venture administration to remain on prime of assorted contributors, influencers, platforms and accounts. The next questions get to the guts of interviewees’ penchant for group.

5. This social media position wears loads of hats. How do you keep organized and prioritize each day duties?

A perfect reply to this query would come with concrete examples of techniques and instruments the candidate has put in place, and real-world examples of how they arrive into play of their each day work.

6. Do you at present use any venture administration instruments? Which one(s) and the way?

The best possible reply could be they’ve deep expertise utilizing the software your division is at present utilizing. However needless to say hottest venture administration instruments operate pretty equally. If the candidate reveals a robust working information of venture administration ideas—and a historical past of utilizing most of these instruments successfully—you possibly can undoubtedly give them a cross on this query.

7. How do you deal with your schedule being interrupted?

This query will get into the nitty gritty of your social media supervisor candidate’s character. Many SMMs are detailed, task-oriented people who like working with a to-do record or on a set schedule. However, as everyone knows, issues occur. And it’s vital to know that any potential SMM can roll with the punches, when wanted.

8. Describe a venture or process the place you wanted to contain different groups. How did you manage and collaborate along with your colleagues to finish that venture?

Collaborating with stakeholders is a significant part of most advertising roles so the power to work cross-functionally is paramount. Search for a selected, real-world instance of a time when the interviewee needed to work with folks exterior their typical group. Particularly related could be any tales about working with completely totally different departments, senior leaders or exterior collaborators.

Social media content material and technique questions

The next questions search to uncover whether or not candidates can transcend surface-level social media administration to help technique and produce content material that drives outcomes.

9. How do you keep on prime of the most recent traits, improvements and new platforms in social media? Do you’ve got a go-to information outlet or commerce publication?

Whereas it could be good to listen to a candidate point out a information outlet or commerce publication you additionally get pleasure from or observe, the actual level of this query is to grasp whether or not they frequently keep abreast of what’s happening within the trade. The social media panorama modifications quickly, and with out an up-to-date information of the most recent algorithm modifications or platform updates, your social technique might undergo.

10. Primarily based on our present social presence, what content material would you suggest creating extra of and why?

Right here’s a chance to have a look below the hood on the sort of social media supervisor your candidate could be. How a lot of a danger taker are they? Do they LOVE video? Are they followers of 1 platform over one other? Take into consideration their solutions by the lens of what you recognize to be true to your model and what has labored properly prior to now. But additionally needless to say candidates won’t be aware about your inside data, so their thought course of and reasoning is very vital to think about.

11. Do you’ve got expertise working with model ambassadors or influencers? How have you ever or would you discover and handle these folks?

In a creator’s economic system, most manufacturers are discovering they profit from partnerships with influencers or model ambassadors. Expertise working with these collaborators is an effective signal. If the candidate hasn’t managed these relationships earlier than, see in the event that they know greatest practices and if they’ll consider specific influencers who could be a great match in your model.

12. Discuss a marketing campaign you managed from begin to end that you just’re most happy with. What did you obtain and the way?

That is one other alternative to get a style of how your candidate thinks and the way they wish to work. You’ll additionally see how they strategy assessing and impacting targets. Are they a planner? Do they frequently take a look at information and course right as wanted? Are they able to relating a selected marketing campaign to the bigger social and advertising methods?

13. What are your favourite manufacturers on social? Why?

A candidate’s reply to this query will give perception into a few various things: 1) How plugged in they’re to the social media panorama, reminiscent of whether or not they know the main gamers and hold observe of them; and a pair of) What sort of content material they’re drawn to. If their solutions appear far out of your social model, ask probing inquiries to go deeper into their reasoning and guarantee they perceive the excellence between these manufacturers’ personas.

Purpose-setting questions

Actually any place goes to must be adept at objective setting. However social media, specifically, strikes so rapidly that it’s particularly vital for SMMs to have a transparent line of sight to their targets and the way they’re progressing in opposition to them.

14. Are you able to describe the method you utilize to set and observe social media targets?

Pay attention for clues that the person understands the significance of objective setting and reviewing analytics frequently to maintain observe of progress. Additionally see in the event that they perceive how these targets affect bigger enterprise aims.

15. In the course of a marketing campaign, you discover that you just’re not pacing to satisfy your objective. Describe the way you’d readjust and the suggestions you’d make to get again on observe.

Flexibility could be tough to establish in a quick interview, however it is among the most vital traits of profitable social media managers. Agility based mostly on arduous information is an much more vital competency. Pay attention to how the applicant used information to establish the place issues went awry and in addition the plans they put in place to get issues again on observe.

16. Describe a time if you didn’t obtain a objective. What did you study from that and the way did you apply that lesson shifting ahead?

The reply to this query can measure skilled maturity. How many people have skilled a profession setback or barrier we needed to overcome? Even when the applicant is a bit inexperienced, this query might help to convey ahead how they assume and carry out when the going will get robust.

Reporting and analytics questions

A significant part of social media administration is powerful reporting and analytics. With so many instruments accessible to assist wealthy evaluation, well-developed data-driven expertise like social listening are an indicator of skilled, well-trained SMMs.

17. Do you’ve got any analytics certifications or expertise utilizing analytics instruments?

Take into account that information of particular instruments is much less vital than a normal understanding of how social analytics work. What’s most vital is how they use information to optimize campaigns and techniques within the quick and long run.

18. What’s your strategy to social media information evaluation?

Right here, try to be listening for proof of a robust mix of vital pondering, information governance and execution expertise. Leaning too closely on just one or two of those pillars could be a signal of an unbalanced social information technique.

19. How do you translate information into actionable suggestions?

You’re on the lookout for candidates to inform you how they work with social analytics to transcend simply reporting on information traits. Ideally, you need them to reveal a data-driven strategy to enchancment—for instance, utilizing social listening to find out key subjects to cowl or utilizing submit efficiency to resolve which days and instances to submit.

20. What do you assume are crucial metrics for measuring ROI on social media?

Greater than the particular metrics candidates point out, hear for the reasoning behind every of their solutions. This could present how properly they perceive what every metric can inform them about their campaigns and methods to use that information to make changes.

Communication and collaboration questions

Even when they’re a group of 1, social media managers have to speak with the remainder of the corporate and, extra importantly, your clients, so communication expertise are tremendous vital.

21. Describe your communication and studying kinds.

The reply to this immediate might help interviewers decide if the interviewee is an effective cultural match for the group. Pay attention for clues that the applicant’s working kinds would mesh properly with the present group’s practices. Do they use Slack or choose loads of conferences? The Meyers-Briggs and DiSC fashions can present detailed perception.

22. What do you assume is crucial communication talent or high quality to have when responding to folks on social media?

A significant portion of any SMM’s work includes participating with and responding to a model’s viewers, which requires totally different expertise than the technique growth or content material creation facets of the position. A superb reply ought to deal with the viewers’s wants, embody language that jives with the model’s bigger exterior communications technique and feels acceptable for the kind of customer support you wish to be identified for.

23. Inform us a couple of state of affairs the place you failed to speak appropriately. In hindsight, what would you’ve got accomplished in a different way?

This query seeks to get to the guts of a studying expertise born out of failure. We’ve all had them, however the perfect of us will use these tough conditions to construct our skilled talent units and learn to do issues higher sooner or later. Probe for proof that the applicant has evaluated the occasion critically and objectively to make use of it as a chance for skilled development.

Questions on difficult conditions

As we mentioned within the earlier query, in the perfect circumstances, difficult conditions could be parlayed into studying experiences that allow development.

24. Are you able to discuss a time if you handled an upset or indignant follower? How did you handle the state of affairs?

A lot of these conditions are a number of the most tough a social media supervisor should cope with. It will probably really feel like a private assault when a follower sounds off or makes accusations in opposition to a model you handle. A seasoned SMM ought to have the ability to look previous their very own private emotions to discover a response that may make the follower really feel heard whereas upholding the model’s values.

25. How do you fight burnout/process fatigue?

Burnout is an actual danger for many people in trendy workplaces, however social media managers could also be particularly vulnerable to this illness as a result of fast-paced, public-facing nature of their roles. It will be important for candidates to have a transparent methodology of self care and resilience that enables them to do their jobs with out it affecting their psychological well being in the long run. Pay attention for an appreciation of the presence of burnout in in the present day’s office and proof they’ve hung out excited about a plan to sidestep it.

26. Describe a state of affairs by which you modified your strategy in the midst of a venture. How did you’re employed to implement this alteration easily?

One other query that seeks to uncover an SMM candidate’s potential to be versatile. A superb reply will embody particulars about how the candidate recognized the issue, used arduous information to help their findings after which collaborated with the suitable group members to regulate the execution efficiently.

27. When you obtain unfavorable suggestions from an employer, colleague or shopper, how do you handle that suggestions and issue it into your work shifting ahead?

The flexibility to just accept constructive suggestions and use it to gasoline private development is a talent that almost all of us spend years perfecting. A candidate’s reply to this query might help interviewers get an thought of how they work with different folks, how they consider their expertise and the ambitions they’ve for his or her profession future.

Subsequent steps

Now that you’ve got reviewed all of our prompt social media supervisor interview questions and solutions, you’re able to take your hiring sport to the subsequent stage.

At Sprout, we wish to assist firms rent the perfect social media managers within the enterprise and supply them with the suitable instruments to achieve success. If hiring is in your to-do record, obtain our Construct Your Social Media Crew [Free Hiring Manager Toolkit] to get our greatest recommendation on methods to appeal to, recruit and retain the perfect expertise.