Interview Questions and Answers: Social Media

Social Media Interview Questions and Answers

 

Social media marketing is a popular career choice among people today. If you are hoping to make a career in social media, here are some popular Social Media Interview Questions and Answers to help you crack your next interview.

1. According to you, what is the impact of social media on marketing?

Possible answer

Social media is one of the areas where huge investments are happening today. Since social media is highly customizable for desired media ads and effective campaigns, it has become quite important for businesses. Many companies are trying to reach out to target potential customers beyond borders and trying to convert them into actual customers. Facebook advertisements, for instance, help us to target users by classifying them into categories like industry, education background, purchase history, geographic location, and history of social media behavior. This classification helps in releasing targeted ads, which are not as effective if implemented through television, radio or print medium.

2. Which key performance indicators do you consider to measure the performance of your social media initiatives?

Key performance indicators might depend on which social media platform one is using. Generally, the following KPIs should be considered.

• Number of views on videos or on SlideShare content
• Number of comments and mentions
• Number of clicks, likes, and shares
• Number of profile visits
• Number of active followers
• Traffic to the website from social media

There are other KPIs as well, which can be useful for tracking performance on social media seamlessly. The company must identify and target the right KPIs for determining the reach and engagement of the company on the various social media platforms.

3. What are the elements of a viral video?

Possible answer

A viral video has a number of elements.

• Target audience 

The company needs to determine who will be the audience for the content. Generally, it is better to have content that is universal rather than just catering to a niche crowd.

• Time: 

The first 20 seconds of the video are crucial for making a video compelling since viewers usually decide in the first 20 seconds whether to continue watching the video or not.

• Catchy: 

Video must carry a catchy phrase to strike the viewers’ imagination right from the beginning. Video titles, for instance, must be catchy enough to encourage viewers to click on the thumbnails and watch the video. An interesting description and meaningful tags can also help.

• Distribution: 

Besides sharing the video on the relevant social media platform, one may also consider sending the video to bloggers, influencers, and journalists who will find the content relevant.

4. How should one generate more engagement and retweets on Twitter?

Possible answer

More engagement and retweets can be generated by learning the best times to tweet, which helps to connect more Twitter users. We must ensure that the best practices of tweeting are followed, which includes having a maximum of 140 characters in tweets and posting quality images along with relevant hashtags.

5. How can negative comments be handled on social media?

There are 5 steps to deal with negative comments on social media.

• Respond quickly: 

The first 24 hours are crucial for responding to negative sentiments. Justify the brand and company only if it is legitimate, or else apologize. No revenge must be sought.

• Create FAQs: 

You can create a list of FAQs to address the common complaints, queries, etc. posted by the customers.

• Consult community managers:

If things go out of control, it is better to consult a community manager, who can handle such reviews and save the brand image.

• No third replies: 

Never reach a point where the brand responds for the 3rd time to a negative comment since it looks like an argument. Take the conversation offline hereafter.

• Documentation: 

Each and every aspect of the crisis must be documented and it must include tweets, Facebook posts, blog posts, comments etc.

6. Do you think Google+ can be a good tool for marketing?

Possible answer

Google+ can be a great tool for sharing content. If a company shares high-quality content on Google+ regularly and gets a lot of +1, then the content gets indexed instantly. This can help the website rank better on target keywords.

7. How can LinkedIn be used for marketing?

LinkedIn is one of the best platforms to boost one’s credentials. Since it has over 467 million users, it is one of the best places to establish the company as an influencer. The company must create posts that are in line with its brand vision, engage the audience, and suit the platform. These posts can position the company as an industry leader and show its commitment towards its customers.

8. What is a good time to post on social media?

Possible answer

As per various studies, the time between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. is a good time to engage in social media activities. During this time, websites tend to get the highest clickthrough. However, before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m. is an unsuitable timing to post on social media. Generally, Wednesday afternoon is considered a very good time for posting.

9. How does customer service fit in with social media strategy?

Possible answer

Providing customer service on social media is fast becoming a competitive strategy because of the increasing online presence of companies. Companies are offering support on social media through various means such as via comments on the posts, a response to customers' reviews, direct support via messages, etc. Companies with a faster response rate definitely have an edge when it comes to customer service.

10. How do you stay updated on the latest innovations and new platforms in social media?

Possible answer

I generally follow a number of industry blogs and websites to update myself about the new platforms and latest innovations. I learn and practice new techniques regularly and try to learn from my peers through their projects.

11. How is ROI calculated for social media??

The process of calculating the ROI begins with ascertaining the company goals and objectives. The following are the ways to check the ROI.

• Customer Acquisition
• Traffic
• Revenue
• Reach
• Contest entries
• Lead generation
• Clicks
  Usually, companies go with the Revenue aspect. In this method, we find the ratio of earnings to the expenses made to achieve a certain number of clicks, conversions or impressions. We can also measure Return on Media Advertising (ROMA) by finding the ratio of the number of click/purchases attained by the amount spent on media advertising. However, these methods can be applied only after establishing the marketing goal of the company.

12. How RSS feed works and how it matters?

Possible answer

RSS feed pushes content to the company’s website so that visitors can have a look at them and subscribe to them. RSS feed is quite important as it eliminates the need for users to keep revisiting the website for new content, and rather the browser informs the user of any updates coming up on the website. With RSS, the browser can also automatically download the new data for its user. The user just needs to enter the URL of the website and then just get all the news aggregated for him at one place.

Social media HR interview questions and answers

Here are some HR interview questions and answers with reference to the post of social media.

13. Are you willing to travel for your job?

Possible answer

Creating a successful social media marketing campaign requires understanding customers’ needs in detail, which may also require visiting various places to get a first-hand experience of customers’ life. Adjusting to new places and meeting new people will also be a quite delightful experience for me and I am ready to travel for my assignments.

14. Why should we hire you?

This question is quite important since it tests your ability to defend candidature for a job.

Possible answer

The set of subjects that I chose during my graduate/undergraduate program have prepared me with the skills required for the role that you are offering. Also, my internship/previous job has helped me to apply my learning to live projects. This makes me feel confident that I will be an asset to the company.

15. Describe your working style?

Possible answer

My style of working combines sincerity, promptness, and flexibility. I make sure that my activities for the day are planned in advance to the smallest detail. This helps me to respond to tasks immediately in a time-bound manner. However, I also keep some buffer time to allow for contingencies.

16. Are you willing to work overtime?

This is a dicey question and needs to be handled smartly. Don't show that you are unavailable, also don't jump in to say you will always be available to work. Show how you feel about working on weekends and how you will work on night shifts to complete your assignments if needed.

Possible answer

I understand that being asked to work for extended hours will be accompanied by a good reason. If my extra efforts help the company, I will be delighted to do so.

Tips for answering social media interview questions

Here are some helpful tips to answer social media interview questions.

1. Read a lot

Read popular blogs and articles on social media marketing. Understand the basic concepts and get the fundamentals right on your fingertips before the interview.

2. Dig into the company's strategy

Check out all the social media pages of the company. Understand the kind of posts they are doing currently. Analyze the company’s social media marketing strategies and make a list of things that you can do to improve it.

3. Try the tools

Get hands-on training on various tools for social media marketing. You may be asked to list a number of tools that you have used. You must be able to narrate the steps to the interviewer for creating campaigns and tracking performance.

4. Consult a social media marketer

Reach out to your friends, seniors, colleagues etc. to understand what a social media marketer does. This will give your insight into how to manage such a job. This can help you answer the interviewer from an employee’s perspective.