35 Social Media Manager Interview Questions (With Answers)

Updated 14 July 2023

Being interviewed for a social media manager position gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your preparedness and suitability for the role, helping to secure the position. Familiarising yourself with questions the interviewer might ask can help you prepare for the interview and give answers that showcase your skills and achievements. In this article, we list 35 social media manager interview questions an employer may ask you.

General social media manager interview questions

An interviewer may ask you general social media manager interview questions to assess whether your personality is a good fit for the position. They may try to gauge whether your personality suits the organisation's corporate culture and social media brand. Here are 10 general questions employers interviewing social media managers might ask:

What makes you excited about this role?
What do you know about this organisation?
How familiar are you with our products?
What is your greatest professional strength?
What do you think your greatest professional weakness is?
How might former colleagues describe you?
Why did you decide to leave your last job?
Why do you want to become a full-time employee after freelancing?
How do you stay motivated working remotely?
What is your favourite social media platform and why?

Questions about experience and background

An interviewer may ask you about your experience managing social media and background to assess whether you're likely to succeed in the role. Experience managing other business social media accounts and teams, especially in the same industry, can hold you in good stead. If this is your first social media management position, the employer may want to know about your experience using social media in past roles or developing your personal social media brand. An employer may ask these 10 questions about your experience and background:

How do you manage quick turnarounds?
Do you have any experience shooting and editing videos?
Do you have experience using automated social media technology?
Can you explain affiliate marketing?
Do you have any experience interacting with influencers?
What is your experience working with paid advertising campaigns?
Can you remember a time that you failed at something? What did that experience teach you?
Can you describe the professional achievement you are most proud of?
How do you keep social media teams productive and motivated?
Can you recall a time when you found working with a client challenging? What did you do?

In-depth questions

An interviewer might ask in-depth questions to learn more about your opinions and problem-solving skills. These questions might ask how you could manage hypothetical scenarios. If you've faced similar issues, you can mention your experience and whether you might act the same or try a new approach. Here are some in-depth questions an employer hiring a social media manager might ask you:

What are your goals for this role?
What is the first thing you might do after securing this position?
How do you imagine the business's social media presence growing?
What social media platform do you think is the most important to focus on right now?
What process might you use to scale our social media platforms?
How might you approach building a framework for social media experimentation?
Imagine the business wants to increase traffic to its website. What strategies could you use to drive this traffic from the business's social media platforms?
Which new social networks do you think might become more important for businesses in the coming years?
Why do you think social media marketing is important for businesses?
What role do you imagine social media might play in business marketing strategies in the future?

Interview questions with sample answers

Understanding what interviewers are trying to learn when they ask specific questions can help you give useful answers. Reviewing sample answers can also help you prepare your responses, allowing you to speak more confidently and provide well-considered answers during your interview. Here are some example interview questions and answers a social media manager may provide:

1. What do you know about the business's audience?

An interviewer asks this question to confirm whether you have researched the business's audience. Knowing the company's audience can help you create social media strategies that appeal to them. Explain what you know about the business's target audience, such as their gender, age and identifying characteristics. You might then mention how you might market to them.

Example answer: ‘The company's audience is women, usually aged between 25 and 50, who favour vintage feminine looks over fast fashion trends. They love their curves and dresses that help them show their assets off. They also tend to be affluent and successful, the kind of women who enjoy treating themselves with quality garments. They understand fashion history and are likely to appreciate references to stylish movie stars from the ‘50s and ‘60s.’

2. How do you determine social media success?

Businesses want to know that they're hiring someone who can use social media to achieve measurable goals. In your answer, mention a few of the metrics you feel are the most important for gauging whether posts are successful. You could mention visible benchmarks, trackable metrics and your preferred analytics tools to show you have a good overall knowledge of social media analysis.

Example answer: ‘‘Increasing followers is an obvious measure of success, but I think true success comes when I also increase engagement, such as reactions, comments and sharing. That's when I know followers truly connect with the business and its posts. Successful social media should also boost profits, so I carefully consider customer conversions and sales increases.’

3. How might you rate your photography skills on a scale of one to 10?

The interviewer might ask this question if the social media manager role involves taking photos, rather than relying on a photographer. It's best to give an honest rating, which considers any training and experience, both professional and personal. You can then explain how you came to that rating.

Example answer: ‘I think my photography skills are a seven. My last employer used a professional photographer, so my own skills were less important, although I learned a lot from them about lighting and framing shots. I also think advances in mobile phone technology have helped me practise my skills. I love showcasing the natural beauty of my local area on my social media pages, so that's encouraged me to take more photos and develop my skills. I have more to learn though, so I've enrolled in a part-time photography course which starts next month.’

4. Imagine a customer posted negative comments about the business on one of its social media platforms. How could you handle this?

Interviewers ask this question to see how you might manage a negative review. You can answer this question by explaining the strategy you might implement and your reasons for taking this action. Remember to consider how you might resolve the customer's issue and enhance the business's reputation.

Example answer: ‘I think answering negative comments quickly shows the business to be proactive, so I check comments every two hours during my shift. I might apologise to the customer and invite them to message me privately. This shows the business takes criticism seriously and wants all customers to be happy. If the customer was unhappy with the product, I might offer a free replacement. If they had an issue with service, I might pass on the comment to human resources and tell the customer we were offering extra training to give them a better experience next time.’

5. If you got this job, what might you change about our current social media efforts?

An interviewer asks this question to learn how familiar you are with the business's social media accounts and your vision for their future. Try to show you understand the business's brand and goals and would work to want to achieve them. Keep the conversation positive by praising elements of the social media strategy you would retain and then mention the improvements you might make.

Example answer: ‘I love the way your platforms promote meal and cocktail specials. It makes it seem like there's always a new reason to dine with you. One of the most appealing aspects of this restaurant is your beachfront location, so I might emphasise that in posts at the same time as championing some of your core menu items. Your fish and chips, the seafood plate and cocktails such as the beach tiki and coral spritz are ideal for a coastal location. I think posts with photos of these items and the beach in the background could make the restaurant a destination venue.’