Role-specific Social Media Interview Questions & Answers:

1. Explain will this fix our clients business?

A “Yes!” here would definitely not be a great thing. Social media amplifies bad business as opposed to fixing it.

2. Tell me do you blog?

I hope so! And more importantly it is a well-designed well-visited blog?

3. Tell me what have been YOUR measurable results from using social media?

I.E: My business increased X Amount, I Had X PR Opportunities, Met X People, Recruited X People.

4. Do you know about SEO and its relationship with social media?

There are several techniques of improving SEO with the help of social media. Make sure that they understand the latest Google algorithm, what is rewarded and punished. They should also be aware of the latest social algorithms and policies. Google Analytics should be part of this discussion.

5. Tell us what do you personally use social media for and why?

More than sharing funny photos of the keg stand in college, a good consultant shows how they use/have used it for business.

6. Do you know what are relevant metrics for tracking ROI on social media?

Engagement, brand reach, lead generation, and conversions. These are the essential measures of social media's return on investment (ROI). They should also be able to more specific in terms of Google Analytics, metrics from software they use, or metrics from a specific platform. Don't make the mistake of thinking that engagement on its own is success either. Without conversions that can be tracked back to that engagement, efforts have been unsuccessful.

7. Explain me which social media channels do you recommend for our business and why?

This answers two questions at once. Has the candidate done the research on your company ahead of time, and how well versed they are in the various social platforms. Pay attention if they mention demographics, style or frequency of messaging, and overall strategy.

8. Tell me what interactive public relation specialist is and what are segments of interactive PR?

An interactive PR is a process that uses the internet as a mean to communicate messages to the public. The various segments comprising of interactive PR includes

☛ Search Engine
☛ Social Media Marketing
☛ Online Press Release
☛ Podcasting
☛ Webinars
☛ Web 2.0 technologies
☛ Developing blogs

9. Explain me do I need a social media plan written down?

Hopefully the answer here is yes. With deliverables, goals, room for experimentation, and more.

10. How to deal with negative comments or a brand reputation crisis?

The way they define ‘crisis' can tell you a lot about how much experience they have. If they haven't had a real crisis in their own experience, they should at least be familiar with some famous brand reputation blunders. Dealing with negative comments or reviews properly is vital to this position, ask for examples.