A Marketing Manager is responsible for maintaining a strong brand image for their organization through developing and implementing a marketing strategy. The campaigns they oversee not only help sell services and products but also create strong public relations with existing and potential customers. Some of the activities across the marketing funnel which they may be involved in include market research, sales marketing, influencer marketing, SEO, social media, email marketing, corporate communications among others. Marketing Managers are also leaders and collaborators who work with sales, distribution, market research and content creation executives to align the marketing strategy with the organization’s overall strategic goals. Performing this role requires excellent communication, strong leadership as well as market knowledge and the ability to execute marketing strategies.
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Communication
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Market Knowledge
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Strategy Execution
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Creativity
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Teamwork / Collaboration
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Campaign Management
How to effectively interview Marketing Managers
While it might seem difficult to figure out whether a candidate will succeed as a Marketing Manager in your company, a well-developed set of interview questions that tap into the core skills required to perform in a Marketing Manager role will go a long way in helping you decide.
But where do you start? How do you develop a set of great interview questions?
The best interview questions come directly from a job analysis. A job analysis is an evidence-based method that focuses on assessing key features of a particular role. These features describe both the job itself (i.e., tasks, responsibilities, and performance objectives), and the characteristics required of someone to perform successfully in the job (e.g., knowledge, skills, and abilities). A job analysis forms the basis of many HR practices such as compensation, performance management, and - you guessed it - how to interview and hire candidates.
At Hireguide, we’ve done the job analysis work for you. We’ve used the method to identify a core set of skills associated with the Marketing Manager role, and we’ve developed and validated a list of behavioral and situational questions with answer guides that tap directly into those core skills. And that’s not all. We’ve compiled these questions and created a Marketing Manager Interview Template for you that integrates other interviewing best practices. Skills-based interviews will not only help you make higher quality and evidence-based hiring decisions, but research also shows they enhance fairness and reduce bias in your hiring process.
Example interview questions to ask
Question 1
One of our core products/services is [insert product/service]. How would you go about differentiating our product in the marketplace?
Answer Tips
- Describes differentiation strategies (e.g. vertical/horizontal differentiation)
- Proposes campaign (e.g. identifies goals, defines audience, monitors results)
- Communicates the essential role of market research
- Defines key differentiators by competitor analysis
- Demonstrates an ability to build brand identity and brand loyalty
Question 2
Tell me about a memorable marketing campaign you were heavily involved in. How did you contribute to the campaign and what was the outcome?
Answer Tips
- Clearly describes their responsibilities and contributions
- Knows the campaign management process (i.e. design, execute, track and review)
- Explains the unique value they added to the campaign process and outcome
- Shows they can use campaign management software (HubSpot, Mailchimp, etc.)
Question 3
Tell me about how you have worked with cross-functional teams in the past to successfully bring a marketing idea to life. How did you collaborate with teams, and why was it successful?
