Interview Questions & Answers for Social Media Managers – 30+

Social media marketing is on the rise as everyone is online.

82% of Americans (approximately 295,000,000 users) use social media.

Businesses are eager to take advantage of this trend and expand their influence.

The increase in demand is evident for social media managers.

How do you get the job of social media manager when there are so many applicants?

We have collected a list with over 30 interview questions for social media managers that will help you land your dream job.

We have divided the questions into three groups: introductory, team, work culture, skills, and experience.

Let’s get going!

Introduction Interview Questions for the Social Media Manager Role

These questions and possible answers for social media manager job interviews are meant to help recruiters learn more about you, what your beliefs are, and your motivations.

1. What motivated you to become a social media professional?

As a creative person, and avid social media user I enjoy juggling many things. My blog started as a way to share my thoughts, which quickly turned into a passion for this dynamic industry.

I’ve also assisted small businesses to set up social media accounts and run campaigns. I can use my analytical and creative skills to help brands reach their goals.

2. Which social media platform is your favorite?

Different social media platforms may serve different purposes, I believe. Personally, I love Instagram. Instagram is constantly updating with new features that can increase engagement. The platform is also very popular because it attracts participation from many age groups.

3. What areas are you most proud to be a social media manager?

Optimized social media marketing campaigns can deliver strong ROI. I’m also skilled in lead conversion and sales through multiple marketing channels.

4. What can you do to invest in yourself?

There’s always something to learn with social media. Apart from reading books, I also attend masterclasses and workshops hosted by industry professionals. These sessions allow me to keep up-to-date with industry trends and enable me to network with other like-minded professionals.

5. Why would you like to work in this company/organization?

Your social media has been a constant part of my life for quite some time. I love the work you do and I agree with your core values. While I am sure that this company will give me more industry exposure, I want to also contribute to the company’s growth by using my skills.

6. How can you be sure that your company will benefit from you?

As we discussed, I am aligned with the mission of your company. I have exceptional problem-solving skills, and can quickly avert or diffuse crisis situations. My skillset and knowledge in multiple areas allow me to work through any situation.

7. What has social media done for your company in the past?

Social media enabled them to increase brand awareness and connect with their audience. This has resulted in increased customer retention and sales.

8. What is the difference between a great workplace and one that’s not?

A good workplace encourages open communication, impartial support, career advancement, and the possibility to suggest a change in sub-productive methods. If the workplace lacks these traits, it can make work seem like a chore.

9. What are you going to do your first month as social media manager?

To understand how the social media strategy is being implemented, it’s important to get to know the team.

I will also contact the client service team to obtain additional information about clients and deadlines. Next, I will collaborate with the marketing manager to create a social media plan and submit it for approval.

Once the client approves, I will create a POA in order to guarantee quality work within the set deadlines. Next, we will discuss the POA and delegate tasks with the team. While monitoring the social accounts, I will supervise the work of the team.

10. What would happen if your performance is below average?

To understand why I am underperforming, I would like to meet with my supervisor. These issues can be addressed with a performance improvement program.

Assessment of Team and Work Culture

The social media manager interview questions & answers section focuses on your interpersonal skills as well as work ethics.

11. What does the definition of “world-class worker” look like to you? Do you think you fit this definition?

An employee who is a world-class performer can deliver measurable results, constantly strives to be better and does more for the company than the job description.

12. What was the best part about being a member of your team?

My previous company had a six-person social media team, and I was their social media manager. The team saw a 15% increase in deliverables and a 12% improvement in TAT after I became the team leader.

13. What qualities and skills would your team look for in potential candidates if you had the chance to build one?

For the ideal candidate, communication skills are essential, as well as market awareness and expert knowledge of social networking tools.

14. Please tell me about a time you were in conflict with a colleague or team member. What happened?

Because of a difference of opinion, the conflict occurred. I solved it by talking with each team member separately. I tried to understand their thinking and was able to match my process to solve it mutually.

15. How can you manage your team to achieve maximum efficiency?

To manage expectations, I first create a POA. Before tasks are assigned, it’s crucial to understand what we are working on. I make sure that I am available to support the team and supervise their work. I organize training sessions to keep them up-to-date with the latest trends and tools in social media.

Skills and experience

This category is about assessing your industry knowledge and skills to make sure you are qualified for the position.

16. How often do you post to social media in order to get maximum engagement?

Timings will depend on who and where we are targeting with our campaigns. Timings are also determined by the social media platform. Two time slots were my experience in my previous job. They worked well for the company. The first was before work hours at 9AM and the second was between 5PM and 11 PM.

17. These timings are why?

Our research showed that the target audience for [previous brand/company name] was most active at those times. We were able respond within hours to their inquiries, which resulted in improved customer service. The posts were also liked and commented on more often.

18. Which social media platform do you consider the most popular?

This can vary depending on the brand offering or target audience. Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp are the most popular platforms with monthly active users. This makes it easier to find leads through these platforms.

19. How can you increase engagement on a selected social media platform?

It is essential that content be useful and relatable to the intended audience. To find out what audience prefers, we can start by trying different post types (textual, visual, or polls).

You can use a hashtag to encourage your audience to share their stories. Next, engage with your audience via the comments box.

20. What can you do to deal with negative comments on social media?

It has been my experience that responding within 12-24 hours to negative feedback can make a big difference. The longer a customer waits to be acknowledged, the more angry they will become. I will acknowledge customer feedback with empathy.

I will communicate with you if there is a way to resolve the situation. Negative feedback should not be considered constructive criticism. It should be used to improve service.

21. What social media platforms would you recommend to our company?

I highly recommend Instagram, Facebook, and Google+ as they can increase brand awareness and generate ROI based upon your product offerings.

22. How can you keep up with social media trends?

I enjoy staying informed by reading the news straight from the source. This is why I created a news folder specifically for social media platforms that I bookmarked.

Aside from following the official social media accounts of most channels, I keep up to date with blog posts and use LinkedIn groups for the most recent news.

23. Which social media platform gives you the most success in increasing your business visibility?

This will depend on many factors such as the type of brand or product and the channel through which you are most likely to reach your target audience.

In my previous job, the target audience was primarily young people. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram helped to increase brand visibility.

24. Social media can be used to support customer service goals How?

Customers can benefit from social media. No matter who your audience may be, social media is the most preferred channel of communication. People are now actively following brands online and have started to share their feelings or grievances via social media.

We need a dedicated team to monitor our account and address customer issues on our brand pages. A separate social media page would be helpful to offer quick customer service.

Teams should be familiar with brand guidelines and tools to quickly answer customer questions. Chatbots that are AI-enabled can provide instant answers to customer questions.

25. What skills are necessary to be a social media manager who is effective?

My skills have allowed me to become a social media manager with effectiveness. They include strategic planning, communication, domain knowledge, creativity, and domain knowledge of social media platforms.

26. What KPI metric or goal is the most important for a brand on social media?

This can vary depending on your social strategy goals. You might focus on increasing your ROI or acquiring new leads if you are already doing well in engagement. Each metric is important. While we work to increase brand reach, it is impossible to ignore customer service metrics.

27. Define the process for creating a social media schedule.

Understanding the company’s future goals and plans is the first step. After that, you can review the company’s social media profiles, published content and audience responses. Then, I look for trends and come up with a strategy that will be the most profitable for the brand.

My social media calendar contains the finalized topics, social media channels that I prefer, publishing dates, media links, and publishing dates. To make it easier for everyone, I share my calendar with all team members.

28. Is it possible to offer more value to a smaller, more engaged audience?

Engaged audiences are loyal and beneficial for companies because they respond actively to social media campaigns. They may contribute only 10-15% to the company. It is important to create targeted social media campaigns that generate leads.

29. Could you tell us about social media projects that you were proud to have worked on in your past jobs?

Intent: To gain in-depth knowledge about your expertise from the quantifiable outcomes of your previous roles

In collaboration with my team, I have successfully managed three Facebook projects and two Instagram projects. These were highly competitive campaigns to launch rebranded services. They did extremely well.

30. What were your steps to improve social media (or any other important metric) at work?

My former company was primarily focused on its positioning, and did not include competitor analysis. This led to an overinflated product value. This resulted in lower sales and customer engagement.

I updated their brand positioning metrics to include competitor analysis. We were able align the company according to market demand, and we also removed vanity metrics.

31. Which are the first metrics that you would like to look at if you were hired to study our current social media strategy?

Start by looking at the engagement metrics: followers, likes and footfalls on all social profiles.

32. What network would you use if your clients wanted to reach a younger audience?

Because of the ease and speed with which you can create authentic content, I would pick Instagram and TikTok.

33. Your boss or client doesn’t get it. How do you convince executives to get involved?

To help me frame the new strategy, I will ask for their input and offer suggestions. I will make the necessary changes, and then present some examples from previous campaigns to highlight the benefits. They will be presented again after a while.

A Final Note

It’s no surprise that social media managers are so in demand.

These questions and answers were compiled by us to simulate an interview with a social media manager.

These Q&A can be used as a guide to help you craft better responses. You can also compare your work experience to the job requirements.

SocialPilot is a great tool to keep you on top of your game. SocialPilot’s seamless scheduling, collaboration and analytics features, as well as social inbox capabilities, make it an incredible social media marketing tool for social media managers.

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SocialPilot’s first article was 30+ Social Media Manager Interview Questions and Answers in 2022.