It isn't easy to create a list of social media manager interview questions that actually help you decide who to hire successfully.

Businesses are relying on social media more than ever to accurately portray their brands, connect with audiences, and handle crises. And with more than 27,000 social media managers in the United States, finding the perfect fit is vital.

The job goes beyond sending out an occasional post. Social media managers are tasked with huge range of duties, and it's their job to decide how a brand is viewed. So, it's never been more important to hire the right manager for the job.

In this article:

Before you prepare your social media manager interview questions

This guide will take you through the standard questions any interviewer needs to ask interviewees about social media management. Or if you work in social media marketing and want to become a manager or grow your team, our guide could prove useful too.

These questions are designed to assess the knowledge, experience, and the skills of potential candidates.

A candidate who can rattle off all the relevant terminology with ease and knows all the best practices will be better equipped to confidently tackle even the most challenging interview questions.

Equally, a hiring manager who asks a selection of skillful questions will be able to understand which candidates truly understands the social media landscape – and which aren't as well suited.

While, as a hiring manager, you should prepare questions on content creation, platform-specific strategies, and performance analysis, the job candidate should be equally ready to answer these and add their experience.

In this guide, we'll think about the questions that a hiring manager might ask as part of the interview process, and we'll also consider how a candidate might best answer those questions.

Understanding the role of social media manager

Before we can look at the best person for the job, we need to understand what the job entails.

As we said above, a social media manager has become a key member of any organization. They essentially handle the public-facing image of the company. For some highly-online brands, social media may be the first place that customers come for customer service, updates about product launches, and other news.

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Core responsibilities of a social media manager

A social media manager's primary responsibilities will involve creating and implementing social media strategies to increase brand awareness and engagement.

Some core tasks include:

  • Content creation: Ideating and making engaging content in various formats, tailored for each social media platform.
  • Scheduling and publishing: Using project management tools to schedule and plan out a content calendar that ensures consistent and timely posting.
  • Analytics and reporting: Monitoring your brand's social media performance and analyzing data to make informed decisions on future strategies.
  • Community management: Interacting with the brand's audience, responding to comments, and building relationships with influencers and brand advocates.
  • Crisis management: Staying on top of any potential customer service issues or PR mishaps to maintain a positive brand reputation.

A manager may have to do all these things, or they might be in a position to allocate to wider social media team. As an interviewer, your job is to outline what is expected from your new manager.

Essential skills for a social media manager

A social media manager must be able to balance a few core skillsets. One is creativity and strategic thinking – it's crucial that a manger can have an accurate understanding of what the creative process entails when making social media posts. They might not need to create images or videos themselves, but they need to know how they work.

Equally, social media managers need to think strategically about how posts are published, how they handle comments, and how to thread themes across all content.

The other half is about managing employees, clients, suppliers, and stakeholders. As a manager, they'll need to stay on top of large-scale social media projects that bring a lot of people together.

On top of this, it may be their responsibility to analyze and report back on social media campaigns. Again, they might be managing someone else to do this, but it will be down to them to ensure the analysis and reporting stage is done correctly.

Key traits of an effective social media manager

Here's a quick checklist you can use to determine if someone you're interviewing has the right traits to manage your social media.

Job candidates should be able to demonstrate:

  • Adaptability: Social media platforms and trends evolve rapidly; they should be able to adjust a company's strategy and tactics accordingly.
  • Attention to detail: From grammar and spelling to brand voice and visuals, they must maintain a high level of quality and consistency.
  • Proactiveness: They need engage with processes and be open to new ideas, whether they come from other stakeholders or trends in the industry.
  • Crisis management skills: The online world can be unpredictable; an effective social media manager must be prepared to address any potential issues with grace and professionalism.
  • Empathy: A deep understanding of your company's target audience's needs, preferences, and pain points will enable a successful social media manager to produce more relevant and engaging content.

Exploring your candidate's professional experience

Previous experience is always helpful when hiring a new employee but it's particularly unimportant if you want someone to manage your company's social media presence. Here's how you can address candidate experience during the interview process.

Discussing previous social media campaigns

A social media manager's job is to oversee campaigns and ensure all output is professionally published. Therefore, an interviewer needs to ask about previous work.

If your candidate is closed and negative towards a campaign they previous worked on, then that may indicate a disagreement or problems with said campaign. If they are enthused and excited, then that shows a passion that you'll need in your company.

Other things to inquire about include:

  • Goals and strategy: What were the specific objectives of the campaign, and how was this strategized?
  • Platforms: Which social media platforms were used and why?
  • Software: Did they use social media management software to help their campaign?
  • Results: Were the goals met, and how was success measured?

Top tip for hiring a social media manager:

When assessing previous job experience, a hiring manager should ask about the most successful campaign the candidate has managed and any unique strategies employed. Then they should ask about failures. If a candidate can show they understand why past social media campaigns went wrong, that indicates a breadth of thought that's crucial for avoiding similar mistakes at your company.

Analyzing a candidate's management of a social media crisis

A social media manager will be the first port of call when addressing any brand reputation crisis on social media.

During the interview, your should ask the candidate about any social media crisis they've had to handle. The hiring team will be analyzing their response, including their approach and signs of a well-thought-out action plan.

Some questions to consider are:

  • What was the cause of the crisis?
  • How did you handle the initial stage?
  • What steps were taken to minimize the impact on the brand reputation?
  • How was a resolution achieved?
  • Were any long-term adjustments made to avoid similar crises in the future?

Knowledge of social media

A hiring manager will want to see how well the job candidate understands different social platforms, and how well they keep up to date with emerging trends.

A candidate should be prepared to talk about any recent changes to social platforms, and demonstrate that they have a genuine interest in staying on top of product developments.

Diversity in using different social media platforms

Understanding the nuances of various social media platforms is crucial for a social media manager. Each platform has its own user demographics and features which require tailored strategies for effective communication and promotion.

A job candidate could discuss their favorite social media platform and how they have utilized its specific characteristics to generate results for clients or previous employers.

One with less professional experience could also demonstrate experience through personal social media platforms.

As the interviewer, it's your job to spot when a candidate knows what they're talking about and doesn't. You therefore need to brush up on your knowledge too!

A social media manager will be proficient in working with different social platforms and will be capable of adapting the approach for each one.

Social media can be an incredibly fast-paced environment, with trends and developments transforming the landscape from one day to another.

A social media manager should stay up to date with the latest social media trends and implement strategy changes accordingly. This includes software trends and social trends.

Defining success and metrics

Social media management is crucial to any successful marketing strategy. To properly measure progress and success, it's important to understand the relevant metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as how to evaluate social media performance.

After all, a manager needs to prove their social media output is providing a return on investment.

A potential job candidate should understand how to review metrics, while a hiring manager should ask questions that can determine if a candidate knows how to use KPIs to improve the organization's visibility and reputation on social media.

Understanding relevant metrics and KPIs

When creating a social media strategy, a social media manager will start by identifying the most relevant metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to help measure progress.

These can vary depending on a brand's specific goals and objectives. Some common KPIs include:

  • Engagement: Likes, shares, comments, and clicks.
  • Audience growth: The number of new followers and page likes.
  • Conversion rate: The percentage of users who take a desired action after seeing your content.
  • Web traffic: The number of visits to your website or landing page from social media.

However, you can go beyond this when using software like Brandwatch. For example, you might look at audience sentiment to discover if potential customers think positively or negatively about your brand.

Evaluating social media performance

With relevant metrics and KPIs in mind, a social media manager should also be able to evaluate a brand's social media performance.

A hiring manager might get curious about the specific analytics tools for social media that a job candidate has previously used.

Be prepared to discuss analytics platforms – both those available within specific social media platforms (eg. Instagram Analytics and Facebook Insights) and those available by subscription (eg. Brandwatch Social Media Management).

In addition to tracking metrics, a social media manager could gather qualitative insights to better understand the needs and preferences of the brand's target audience.

Ask what tools a job candidate is familiar with, and how they have previously used data from analytics to adjust social media strategy and content accordingly.

Questions for a strategic approach to content

Whether candidate or hiring manager, both will be equally passionate about creating and posting quality content.

Content creation and strategy

For a hiring manager interviewing a social media manager, it is essential to understand the candidate's approach towards content creation and strategy.

A strong candidate should have experience in identifying the right type of content for the target audience and will be prepared to strategize how to regularly publish content across various platforms.

You should therefore consider the following questions:

  • Content planning: How do you plan and organize the content calendar for social media platforms?
  • Content research: How do you stay updated on latest trends, industry news, and competitor content?
  • Content performance: What tools or metrics do you use to measure content performance and how would you adjust strategy accordingly?

Maintaining brand voice and values

A successful social media manager should have a clear understanding of a brand's voice and values to maintain consistent messaging across all platforms. If they haven't come prepared with this information then they're probably not worth hiring.

While discussing this topic, ask questions related to:

  • Brand voice: How do you effectively communicate a brand voice through social media content? What steps do you take to ensure consistency?
  • Brand values: How do you showcase brand values in the content you plan to create? Are you able to incorporate these values into your content strategy?

Do they use tools?

Most social media managers will have experience with tools that make life easier when it comes to multiple social media channels and campaigns.

If tools aren't mentioned in your interview process, then you risk someone being employed who doesn't know how to house all social media output in one place.

So, be prepared to talk about the tools and technologies that social media managers can't live without.

Proficiency with social media tools

As a social media manager, it's vital to know the purpose of social media tools and be able to demonstrate how to use them in your day-to-day work.

These tools help to streamline the work of social media marketing, allowing social media team or manager to efficiently manage multiple social media accounts and enhance engagement with a brand's audience.

Popular social media tools like Brandwatch include all-in-one scheduling and management.

As a hiring manager, you might ask how a job candidate could track the response to a social media campaign using social listening tools.

You should also be familiar with project management tools such as Trello, Asana, or ClickUp, as these help teams stay organized and ease collaboration.

A candidate who knows all of these tools really well can help a social media team to plan, coordinate, and deliver high-quality content consistently.

Using analytics to inform strategies

As we mentioned earlier, a great social media manager candidate should also understand analytics and be able to use them to create successful social media strategies.

A job candidate might demonstrate how they analyze data from tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, or paid platforms such as CisionOne to gain valuable insights into audience behavior and preferences.

This information can form the basis of data-driven decision-making.

When discussing analytics tools, listen out for a candidate mentioning:

  • Audience demographics: Do they know about audience demographics, and how age, gender, location, and interests can help brands shape their content to better suit their preferences?
  • Engagement metrics: Are they aware of engagement metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and retweets? Do they have experience monitoring these to understand what content resonates with audiences?
  • Conversion rates: Do they know how to track conversions from social media posts, which help to determine the success of a campaign and inform future strategies?

A hiring manager should be trying to determine if the candidate can use the data provided by these tools to make informed decisions about content strategy, optimize social media accounts, and create more engaging posts for the brand's audience.

Engagement and community management

Plenty of social media manager interview questions will cover community management and boosting engagement.

As well as handling positive and neutral interactions with ease, an excellent candidate should be able to demonstrate how to handle negative feedback and comments, even in the face of a brand crisis.

Hiring managers should have questions ready about how to boost engagement with the brand's audience, while aspiring social media managers should be ready to dazzle with examples from previous experience.

Handling negative feedback and comments

Any social media manager worth their salt needs to be prepared to respond to negative feedback and comments on a brand's platform. The best candidate will also understand that these negative comments can be opportunities to generate leads and improve your brand image.

Hiring managers should be looking for someone with sharp problem solving skills who can handle such situations effectively.

In talking through this situation in an interview, a great candidate should demonstrate that they would:

  • Stay calm and professional: Negative comments on a social media account can be emotionally challenging and hurtful. It's crucial your social media manager remains objective and sees them as constructive criticism rather than personal attacks.
  • Be empathetic: Social media might be the first responders to negative feedback, so it's important to show that concerns are being actively addressed and acknowledged.
  • Provide a solution: Managers should have an understanding of what to do in crises and offer appropriate solutions to address concerns and ensure audiences feel appreciated and cared for.
  • Monitor trends: It's important to track recurring negative comments, as they might signify an ongoing issue that needs to be resolved at the root level.

The more proactive a manager can be in addressing negative feedback, the better for the brand. However, perhaps the biggest social media failure is to employ someone who is happy to create content but who shies away from dealing with negative situations.

Methods to enhance audience engagement

A great social media candidate should also be ready to suggest strategies for boosting audience engagement.

They should understand your current social output and have ideas of what can be done differently.

They will come to the interview ready to discuss how they could implement these methods to effectively handle negative feedback and create a vibrant and active community on a brand's social media platform.

Look out for this proactivity as lesser candidates won't be so forthcoming with their ideas.

Alignment with business goals

A hiring manager should seek to understand how well a candidate is prepared to connect the brand's social media presence to their overall business goals.

For example, a multi-national company might have various social media campaigns in the pipeline but need a manager to tie everything together.

Here's how you, as an interviewer, could cover this topic.

Connecting social media to larger business objectives

A crucial aspect of any social media manager's role is understanding how to align strategies with the company's overall business goals. To achieve this, a candidate might talk about how they would identify the brand's target audience and then tailor their approach to social media according to their preferences.

A great candidate should be able to demonstrate how they would pinpoint the audience's demographics and preferences to help create an effective plan for reaching them.

A hiring manager should be able to communicate the business goals their brand would like to achieve through their social media presence.

Start with common goals

Some common goals include increasing brand visibility, generating leads, and boosting engagement.

A job candidate might talk about creating a strategy that links social media initiatives to these goals by setting measurable performance indicators and adjusting tactics accordingly.

A candidate could suggest, for instance:

  • Increasing brand visibility by focusing on posting engaging content that resonates with the brand's target audience, encouraging them to share it with their networks.
  • Generating leads by incorporating clear and compelling calls to action within social media content that guide users towards desired actions (e.g. signing up for a newsletter, speaking to an expert, or making a purchase).

Fitting into company culture

Another essential aspect of a social media manager's interview process is assessing how well a candidate would fit into the company culture.

A brilliant candidate will be prepared to adapt their social media management style to reflect and maintain the company's values and messaging.

A hiring manager needs to look for someone who will fit seamlessly into the company culture.

To create a strong impression in this area, the job candidate could demonstrate that they have:

  • Researched the company's mission, values, and communication style. Understanding these elements will allow a social media manager to create content that supports the company's brand identity.
  • Analyzed the company's existing social media presence. This includes reviewing their tone, visuals, and types of content.
  • Identified best practices and areas for improvement that you can integrate into the next generation of social media management.
  • A good track record for adaptability.
  • A willingness to adjust in approach to align with the needs and objectives of the company, demonstrating the potential to be a valuable team player.

When answering interview questions related to these areas, the job candidate could also show that they know their stuff by using specific examples taken from their own experience.

Final notes on interviewing for a social media manager role

Whether you're hiring manager looking for a brilliant social media professional, or a job candidate in the running for an exciting new role, we hope that this guide has given you an idea of the most common social media manager interview questions.

With any luck, these questions and topics will lead you to an interesting discussion at the very least and a long-lasting business relationship at best.

Want to know more? Read our Social Media Manager Maturity Model report for more useful insights from 15 Brandwatch experts.