1. What digital marketing channels are you experienced in?
The purpose of the first question is very straightforward – you want to know what channels they can currently conduct marketing campaigns on.
A strong candidate will provide the following information in their response:
1. The channels they have worked on – including setup, campaign management, optimization, and reporting.
2. The number of years they have used those channels professionally.
3. The results that have achieved on those channels for similar brands.
4. Any applicable certifications.
It is important to remember that a great digital marketing expert candidate can – and should – learn new platforms down the road. So, it is not necessarily an immediate red flag if they don’t have experience in a specific platform that you use.
It is, however, important that you have all the information on their expertise and potential so you can make an informed decision.
2. What digital marketing campaigns have you worked on and what was your role in them?
Any digital marketing candidate could say they worked on a project – but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they actively worked on a campaign, or had any sort of a hands-on role with it.
Therefore, it is crucial to determine how big a role did they really play in a marketing campaign’s success in order to see if they can truly execute strategies.
Top digital marketing candidates should share:
1. What their role was and what exact tasks were they specifically responsible for.
2. If they worked on a campaign from start to finish, or if they joined a project later on.
3. Did they have any hand in strategy, or did they simply execute tasks.
4. What the results were, and how long they took to achieve.
5. What other candidates worked on the project (such as copywriters, designers, developers, etc.) and what the collaboration process was like.
3. How would you define KPIs and measure results in particular marketing campaigns?
Digital marketing encompasses more than just copywriting and simple setup – experts need to be able to track the results and continually improve campaigns, too.
Make sure you ask your candidates which key performance indicators (KPIs) they think are important in marketing initiatives. In fact, you can test them further by asking about specific platforms and goals – such as retargeting for conversions, or social media ads for brand awareness.
Any worthwhile marketing candidate will be able to outline the KPIs they would measure, why they are important to track, how often they would measure success and create reports, and even how they would optimize and under-performing campaign to gain better results.
Here are some hints for information to keep an eye out for:
· An ideal candidate should point out the importance and advantages of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly reports and what each of those reports should contain.
· Common analytics tools that strong candidates should mention include Google Analytics, Social Media Analytics, Cyfe, Supermetrics, SEMRush, Moz and ask about the experience they had with each.
4. What do you expect to achieve in the three months and what do you want to achieve in the first year?
Many companies set expectations for a new job when they are onboarding the new team member – but that is a grave mistake. Instead, it is a better use of time to set those expectations before you even hire or onboard a new employee.
Although setting expectations so early may seem like a waste of time, in reality, it will keep you more efficient. That’s because, when you set expectations for a role before a candidate accepts and is onboarded, they are more mentally and emotionally prepared for the work involved, and thus better equipped for long-term success.
Because digital marketing in particular is so numbers-driven, you will need to know what this candidate hopes to achieve within three months of starting (the short-term goals) and within one year after starting (the long-term goals).
This will enable you to identify if a candidate can think critically and build valuable marketing strategies – and perhaps more importantly, if their ideas and expectations align with yours.
However, it is important to note that these goals may shift after the candidate starts, should you hire them. That is because they likely don’t have all the information, numbers, performance history, or other factors that may influence marketing priorities.
Regardless, a strong digital marketing candidate should be able to quickly identify real frontward-facing pain points from your business, and formulate a plan of action to enact solutions effectively.