1. What is direct marketing?

When an organisation conducts its marketing activities particularly sale of goods to its customers directly it is called direct marketing. The final products are sold to the final consumer directly by the company , and immediate or early response from the consumer is expected. This type of marketing is also known as B2C marketing. Direct door to door sales made by the salesman. This type of marketing involves direct communication with the customer and is found to be time saving and a cost effective method of selling.

2. What is promotion in marketing according to you?

In today's fast moving world of glitz and glamour, products have become the face of the company. The brand image of a company that it carries with it depends largely upon the kind of product or service the company is dealing with. A good enough product with the best distribution channels and affordable prices may still fail to capture the market if it has not been well or clearly communicated to the target customers. Promotion is communicating about our products or service to the masses. It is one of the essential elements of the marketing mix without which gives that face or impression to the people at large about that company brand.

3. What does the promotion mix comprise of?

The promotion mix is a combination of advertising, sales promotion, public relation, personal selling and direct marketing which a company uses to promote its products. So it becomes an important task for the marketer to properly list out the promotion mix strategies and its benefits. It is like the ingredients that go into the making of any particular dish. The quality of the dish depends upon the way in which the ingredients have been used and mixed. Similarly, an organization must have an ideal promotion mix by which it should be able to promote its products to the masses.

4. What are the objectives of promotion?

Objectives of promotion:
☛ Awareness
☛ Knowledge
☛ Liking and desire
☛ Purchase

5. What are the biggest challenges marketing manager faces today?

There is enormous accountability for marketing managers to ensure that the marketing operation is efficient and cost-effective and to show how marketing spend translates into growth and profitability for the company. In such a highly competitive market standing out from other organizations is an ongoing challenge.
Additionally there is the pressure to keep up with technology and how to use it optimally for marketing activity. Relate your personal experience of the challenges you have encountered and discuss how you handled them.

6. What factors do you consider the most important when attempting to influence consumer behavior?

In your marketing manager interview answer show how cultural factors, social factors, personal and psychological factors all impact on consumer behavior. Provide an example of a marketing campaign or project you developed and how you utilized these four key factors to develop and optimize your project.

7. What was a situation in which an innovative course of action was necessary?

Your ability to evaluate a situation, problem or opportunity and understand the action that needs to be taken is key to success as a marketing manager. Gaining a clear perspective is necessary before deciding on the focus of your innovation.

8. What was a marketing project that you brought in on time and under budget?

Key marketing manager competencies that this question explores include accurate research and analytical skills, the ability to develop realistic and workable objectives and the ability to initiate and monitor strategies and activities that support these objectives.
Efficient utilization of resources reflects sound judgment, planning and organizational skills. Use this question as an opportunity to highlight your strengths as a marketing manager.

9. What was a campaign that did not work out as you had planned?

It is important that you are able to recognize why a plan went wrong and to learn from the experience.
Your analytical and problem solving skills are under scrutiny. Campaigns often fail due to poor research and groundwork, inappropriate objectives or ineffective communication.

10. How you have effectively used online marketing tools?

In answering this marketing manager interview question, focus on your skills in online marketing including search engine tactics and optimization, click-through advertising, writing for the Web using keywords, designing for customer usability, utilization of social media and tracking success of the online campaign.

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