You need to prepare in advance for several marketing questions if you are attending a marketing interview. Even though most of these will be direct, you should be ready for a few situational questions that will tell how good you are at marketing. These are some of the questions that you should expect:
1. What is Marketing?
This is pretty obvious. Can you define what marketing is? There are several definitions available, both online and offline. Pick one that you find effective and discuss it with the interviewer. Make sure that you get it right. You don’t want to miss your first question.
Sample Answer
Marketing entails communicating the value of a brand, product, or service to the customers to promote or sell it. (Or you can say that it encompasses all the activities that a company undertakes in buying and selling a product or service. These include advertising, selling and delivering it to people)
2. Please Tell us the Difference Between Marketing and Selling.
This is one of the commonest questions in marketing interviews. Do you understand what these two concepts mean? First, you need to acknowledge that they are different, even though most people tend to believe otherwise. Ensure that your answer is clear and straight to the point.
Sample Answer
Marketing is broader than selling. It starts long before the latter begins and encompasses everything about the market, brand, and consumer. On the other hand, selling commences once a product is available for consumption. It mainly encompasses retailers’ awareness and confidence in the product and advocating for the product’s maker.
3. What are the 4 Ps of Marketing?
This is where the interviewer will establish just how good you are at marketing and whether you understand its essential concepts. Mention all the 4 Ps and offer a concise explanation of each to get this question right.
Sample Answer
The 4 Ps of marketing are product, place, price, and promotion. The place encompasses the distribution, location, and methods of remitting the product to the customers. It includes the business location, distributors, logistics, shop front, and the looming possibility of using the internet to help sales.
Price refers to the amount customers will part with when purchasing your products or services. It involves price setting, credit, cash purchases, discounting, and credit collection.
Products are the goods and services offered to the target market. Considerations to make include quality, design, features, customer service, packaging, and any after-sale services.
Promotion is communicating what the product has to offer to the consumers. It involves customer persuasion through direct marketing, advertising, sales promotion, and personal selling.
4. What Does a New Salesperson Need?
Do you know what it takes to succeed as a new salesperson? Remember, we mentioned that part of marketing involves persuading the general customer to buy the product and remain loyal. Use your knowledge in marketing to answer this question. You should also prepare for any follow-up questions.
Sample Answer
A new salesperson needs to know the company’s history, policies, rules, and regulations. They must also know details about the product, such as its features and usage, the company’s system and procedures, and be trained on the basic ethics when selling a product. They must also know what it takes to sell different products for the company.
5. Why Do You Want to Work in Marketing?
You will only answer this question well if you are well prepared and knowledgeable about marketing. Therefore, take some time researching the field and mention the benefits of working in it. You can also turn this question around and convince the interviewer that you will be valuable if hired.
Sample Answer
I love marketing. I am thrilled by the processes involved in introducing a product into the market and convincing consumers to buy it. I find marketing fulfilling and love coming up with marketing strategies that will guarantee success. Marketing also means that I have to work with different teams and share ideas, which I enjoy.
6. How Competitive are You?
A good marketer needs to be competitive since the main aim of marketing is to appeal to the target audience and get them interested in a product that other competitors are already producing. Competition is important if one plans to survive longer in the market, which explains why you must convince the interviewer that you are competitive.
Sample Answer
I believe that I am competitive by nature. I understand just how important competition is, especially when it comes to marketing. I can easily identify market gaps not filed by our competitors and make recommendations that will see us ahead of them. I am always on the lookout for things that can help my organization thrive in a competitive market.
7. What Motivates You?
The interviewer wants to know your key to being successful in this job. Your answer will also tell whether you will be a good fit or not. Therefore, give this question some thought before appearing for the interview. You can also come up with an example that you will share with the interviewer.
Sample Answer
As cliche as it sounds, I am motivated by success. I take great pride in succeeding at whatever I do. For example, I normally do everything possible to hit or exceed my targets and smash my goals. My desire to see my team perform and at their best also gives me a reason to work harder and succeed in my job.
8. What are the Keys to Success in Marketing?
Do you know what it takes to be successful at marketing? This is a technical question asked to reveal just how knowledgeable you are about this field. You can list them but prepare for follow-up questions. Also, make sure that you get all of them right.
Sample Answer
The keys to marketing success are budgeting, development of objectives, analyzing competition, working your customer base, and targeting. ( You can also decide to expound about these briefly)
9. What Do You Know about PLC?
The interviewer wants you to tell them something about the product life cycle. Like the previous question, this also attempts to establish just how much you know about marketing concepts. The best way of tackling this question is by mentioning the stages of the product life cycle.
Sample Answer
There are four stages of the product life cycle. It begins with the Introduction phase where the product is introduced to the market and tested by the consumers, then the growth stage where consumers become more interested in the product, and it becomes more profitable; maturity stage where the market has reached its saturation, and sales dynamics begin to decrease and lastly the decline stage where competition overtakes your market-making conditions unbearable.
10. What is the Most Interesting Part of Marketing and Sales
This is an easy question. Whatever answer you choose to give, know that marketing and sales are easy and fun at the back of your mind. There is no specific answer to such a question since it is based on your experience as a sales and marketer.
Sample Answer
The most interesting thing about marketing and sales is that they are fun and easy. Marketing is fun and pretty creative since it involves thinking about your cause and target audience. On the other hand, sales become easy when one knows what they are doing.
11. How Would You Respond to a Customer Who Leaves a Negative Review of Your Product on Social Media?
The interviewer wants to know how you will handle negative press. Negative reviews can be quite annoying, especially if they are malicious. However, you should never lose your cool and engage the customer in a verbal war. Every marketing strategy should also think of bad press and create a plan to deal with it.
Sample Answer
I would reply to the customer respectfully and holistically and even assure them that the brand intends always to make them happy. I will then extend an opportunity to discuss how we can achieve that in future interactions. ( What you need to show here is the ability to react well to negative press and not light up or talk rudely to the customer)
12. Tell Us about a Product that You Successfully Marketed. What Strategy Did You Use?
The interviewer wants to know if you can b a good marketer. It would be best if you discuss your process of creating and implementing a marketing plan. Keep in mind that the interviewer will be looking at whether you have a ready answer and enjoy discussing some of the strategies you have used in your job. Also, ensure that you give a sound strategy.
Sample Answer
I was once mandated with introducing a new brand at a workshop in my town. I came up with a strategy that required physical signage and giveaways. I also created a Twitter page where we posted where the next giveaways were to happen. We also ensured campaign integration through hashtags.
13. How Do You Choose the Right Marketing Channels for Your Target Audience
A marketing professional should be able to identify potential customers and develop ways of reaching them effectively. The interviewer is assessing your knowledge of marketing channels and customer personas. Show that you are knowledgeable of the various on and offline marketing channels.
Sample Answer
I normally start by studying the available market. I then research the target audience by finding out where they spend their time and what messages connect to them. I also use fragmentation within the audience that combines several channels to capture the whole customer base.
14. How Will You Create a New Branding Campaign for a Product that Has not Been Doing Well?
The interviewer wants to know if you can change the course of a brand and how you will do that. Show that you see the opportunity to rebrand as a worthy challenge and reveal your rebranding experience. You should also bring your creative rebranding ideas to light.
Sample Answer
I once took up such a job for a product that has amassed lots of negative reviews. Together with the team, we came up with a better logo to inform the interviewers of the product change. We also owned up that the product had issues and was undergoing a rebrand. Luckily, the customers were understanding, and we maintained open lines of communication all through the process.
15. Have You Ever Had to Market a Product With a Team of Individuals With Different Ideas and Values? Tell Us About Your Experience
The interviewer wants to know how you deal with people who work and believe differently from what you do. Can you accommodate different people, or believe that is either your way or the highway? Show that you are open-minded and able to bridge differences. Your answer should also reveal that you can come to terms with and manage disagreements.
Sample Answer
I have had a couple of such experiences. I was once part of a team made up of people from different backgrounds. We, therefore, disagreed on several things. I chose to focus more on involving the team in defining our product and less on our differences.
16. Have You Ever Conducted a Marketing Campaign that Wasn’t Successful? Tell Us About It
The interviewer wants to know if you can admit that you’ve failed and learned from your mistakes. Show that you can successfully deal with failure. Also, make sure that the lesson is captured in your answer. Do not be overly discouraged by failure since it is part of life.
Sample Answer
I once marketed for a brand that had put all its hopes on me, given my reputation. However, it did not experience the online engagement anticipated. On reviewing what had gone wrong, we found out that we had wrongly perceived our target customers and used the wrong approach. We quickly changed our strategy and adjusted our language and marketing channels. It later turned out successful.
17. Tell Us about How You Assessed the Impact of the Campaign in a Product that You Successfully Marketed
The interviewer wants to know how you quantify success using data. Therefore, point to ways of measuring on and offline customer awareness. Also, make sure that you demonstrate a good understanding of metrics and interest in data and quantification.
Sample Answer
We tracked the mentions of our product in the conference we had organized to establish the number of attendee engagements. The team also tracked website hits. Some of the metrics that we also used were after-campaign sales, social media mentions, and engagements through different channels.
18. What Innovative Marketing Strategy Would You Like to Implement Here?
The interviewer wants to know if you are up to date with the new marketing innovations. Mention one or more innovative ideas and clearly outline how they can be implemented. Also, convince the interviewer that you are confident about these new strategies.
Sample Answer
I have been coming up with many innovative marketing strategies that I am willing to apply in the workplace. Perhaps the most suitable one would be coming up with an experiential campaign, which will see us performing brand activations at our customer’s doorsteps. I have lots of knowledge on several marketing activations that I am willing to use.
19. Share With Us Your Marketing Background and Experience
This question will help the interviewer know more about your marketing skills, background, and experience in the particular field. You can talk about some of the duties you have handled and the project you have been involved in. Discussing how your background and skills can satisfy the company’s goals can also be a good starting point.
Sample Answer
I became a marketing assistant right after my graduation. I mostly chose the right topics for the company’s blog after extensive research and gave a hand in an ongoing social media campaign. I have also taken on new tasks such as tracking campaign success using data and creating performance reports.
20. Mention Some of the Digital Marketing Tools that You Have Used in Your Career
Employers will always test your knowledge of digital marketing tools since they play a significant role in this field. Companies have specific programs that they expect their employees to be knowledgeable about. You should recall those you have used, including social media platforms and SEO tools, discuss how you have used them and their purpose.
Sample Answer
I have used several marketing tools in my time as a marketer. These include Mailchimp, which allows me to reach different target markets through emails, Google Analytics to monitor traffic, and Google Ads to come up with pay-per-click adverts. ( You can also expound more by giving an experience where these tools cane in handy)
Conclusion
This marks the end of our article. However, I hope that we have furnished you with enough questions to help you pass your marketing interview. Take some time and go through them once more to be sure. All the best.
