Digital marketing is one of the hottest careers to rise in the online space. It is a lucrative career option for professionals looking to have a locationally independent and creative career.

In recent years, online marketing agencies, start-ups, banks, and a variety of other organizations have been looking for digital marketing specialists. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that jobs in the marketing domain are set to grow by 10% from 2020 to 2030.

Do you wish to have a career in digital marketing? Are you worried about your interview? Then, worry no more!

Read on to understand what to expect in a digital marketing interview and how to tackle interview questions that might come your way.

Table of Contents

What to Expect in a Digital Marketing Interview?


There are three types of questions that can be asked in the digital marketing interview. They are:

  • Personal Questions- The interviewer would like to know about you, your prior work experience, goals, and motivations.
  • Technical Questions- The interviewer would like to test your digital marketing prowess based on your level of experience.
  • Situation-based Questions- The interviewer would judge your ability to tackle tricky or uncalled situations.

Pro Tip: Prepare for every type of question to excel in the interview and land your dream job.

The following questions are examples of the types of questions that can be asked in your interview. They range from personal to more technically focused on specific aspects of digital marketing.

Digital Marketing Questions and Answers


Whether you are an experienced professional or a fresher looking for a job, the following technical digital marketing interview questions can come your way. The interviewer here wants to test your digital marketing technical prowess.

Digital Marketing Interview Questions for Freshers


The interviewer wishes to understand if you have basic knowledge about digital marketing. The questions do not require you to have an advanced understanding of digital marketing.

Question 1: What is Digital Marketing?


Sample Answer: Digital Marketing includes all types of marketing that involve the internet or electronic devices. Marketing techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), link building, social media marketing, email marketing, direct marketing, influencer marketing, and viral marketing fall under digital marketing strategies and approaches.

The ultimate purpose of digital marketing, like conventional marketing, is to build brand awareness, expand a company's sales funnel, reach your target demographic, and eventually raise income.

Also Read: What is digital marketing?

Question 2: What Are the Types of Digital Marketing?


Sample Answer: Digital marketing is of two kinds. The first is outbound marketing. It is when a marketer tries to offer a product directly to a customer. For instance, purchasing ad space, making cold calls, or door-to-door selling of a product.

The other is when a marketer generates content such as videos, social media presence, web pages, or other material to attract potential clients who may buy or become interested in your product. This is known as inbound marketing.

Question 3: Explain Search Engine Optimization (SEO).


Sample Answer: It refers to the process of improving your website to boost its visibility to individuals who search for products or services linked to your business on search engines. The higher your pages' rank in search results, the more likely you are to draw attention and attract new and existing clients to your company.

Question 4: What Is a Keyword? How Important Is It from the Point of SEO?


Sample Answer: The end-user completes a search query on a search engine like Google before a list of relevant web pages is provided to them. The search query can range from single words to complex sentences. SEO keywords are single words or phrases utilized to guide website content to boost organic search traffic. When properly researched and optimized, keywords serve as a link between the target audience and your website.

Keywords are important for two main reasons. Keywords provide us with information about our target audience- who they are and what they want. Thus, helping us to better serve their requirements. Secondly, keywords can serve as a "bullseye" for marketers to direct their content.

Also Read: Digital Marketing Salary in 2022

Question 5: Explain PPC and Google Ads.


Sample Answer: Pay-per-click (PPC) is a digital marketing strategy for improving a website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) where advertisers pay publishers only when their ad is clicked. It's essentially a means of buying visits to your website rather than trying to "earn" them organically via SEO. Paid search and PPC are synonymous with search engine marketing.

Google Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising service that allows companies to bid on keywords to have their ads appear in Google search results. You only pay for Google Ads when someone clicks on your ad and visits your website or calls your business.

Question 6: What is Google AdWords?


Sample Answer: Google Ads is a Google-developed online advertising platform where marketers bid to have their advertisements, service offerings, product listings, or videos listed. Google Ads inserts adverts in search engine results as well as on non-search websites, mobile applications, and videos.

The advertiser should pick keywords linked to their brand, goods, services, and industry for the Adwords account. Customers see your store's advertisement when they search for these keywords. You only pay when a user clicks on your ad or uses the "click to call" button.

Question 7: What Are Some of the Most Useful Online Marketing Tools?


Sample Answer: Some popular digital marketing tools are:

AdEspresso
Ahrefs
Alexa Ranking
Buffer App
Buzzsumo
Crazy Egg Heatmaps
Digital Point Keyword Tracker
Google Analytics
Google Keyword Planner
Keyword Discovery
MailChimp
Moz
RankWatch
SEMrush
SubmitExpress Link Popularity
Unbounce
XML Sitemap Generator

Question 8: What Is On-page and Off-page Optimization?


Sample Answer: On-page SEO is a strategy for optimizing individual web pages to rank higher in search engines and gain organic traffic. On-page SEO is a component that affects how your website and web pages appear in organic search results on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

On the other hand, off-page optimization is used to improve a website's position on a search engine results page (SERPS). Off-page SEO is not synonymous with link building, but it is much more than that. It incorporates link building, increasing link popularity, search engine, link exchange, etc. Its also employed in marketing techniques such as blogging, website design, social bookmarking, and so on.

Question 9: Explain the Difference Between Adwords and Adsense.


Sample Answer: You may leverage the Google network for business advertising using AdWords. On the other hand, AdSense helps you to leave or reserve advertising space on websites for Google adverts. To get the most out of the Google advertising network, a brand must use both of them.

Question 10: What Is the Difference Between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?


Sample Answer: Search engines such as Google divide search results into organic and paid search results. SEO focuses on organic search traffic, whereas SEM focuses on organic and paid search traffic. Both SEO and PPC are methods of using search engines to promote your business.

Social Media Marketing Interview Questions


These questions focus on your knowledge of social media, its tools, and the performance indicators used.

Question 1: What Are Some of the Most Useful Social Media Marketing Tools?


Sample Answer: Digital marketers have a variety of tools for social media marketing. These tools ensure social media marketing success and streamline tasks by scheduling posts, creating images and other content, analyzing the performance of posts, managing multiple social media accounts across multiple social media channels, and more. Hootsuite, Later, Buffer, FB Creator Studio, and Sprout Social are some of the best apps for scheduling content. SEMrush is a useful tool for content strategy and marketing.

Question 2: What KPIs Do You Use in Social Media Reporting?


Sample Answer: The best KPIs to track on social media are:

  • Likes
  • Engagement
  • Growth of followers
  • Traffic conversions
  • Social interactions
  • Social shares
  • Web visitors by various social channels

Digital Marketing Specialist Interview Questions


These questions require an advanced level of understanding of digital marketing.

Question 1: What Are the Key Areas Where You Can Use Keywords to Optimize Site Ranking?


Sample Answer: There are 6 key areas where we can use keywords to optimize site ranking:

  • Title tags: They inform Google about the content of your pages. They must contain the primary keyword and be of appropriate length(up to 70 characters).
  • Meta descriptions: They are brief (up to 155 characters) descriptions that appear below your title in search results. The meta description should be short and to the point, containing the keyword.
  • Header tags: Search engines pay attention to the content of header tags(H1, H2, etc). H1 tags should contain the primary keyword to help search engines understand what your webpage is about. You could choose to include keywords in H2 tags.
  • URL structure: For every page on your site, the URL should be short and straightforward with important keywords (such as those found in the content) included.
  • Image Alt Tags: When considering how to rank and categorize a website’s content, search algorithms take into account both the image file names and the alt text for the picture. They improve your site's accessibility too.
  • Text content: Is the text interesting and relevant, or can it be improved? Is the content of optimal quality with relevant keywords? Does it keep a visitor on the page for long? Search algorithms judge a webpage’s relevance by considering the quality of content. Poor quality content tends to rank lower than quality content.

Question 2: What Are the Primary Models for Determining Pay-per-click?


Sample Answer: The two primary models of PPC are the flat-rate model and the bid-based model.

  • Flat-rate Model: An advertiser pays a publisher a predetermined cost for each click under the flat rate pay-per-click model. Publishers typically retain a list of varying PPC charges for various areas of their website and are willing to negotiate on pricing.
  • Bid-based Model: Each advertiser submits a bid for ad space with the highest amount they are willing to pay for it. When a visitor activates the ad spot, an auction is held by the publisher using automated tools. It's worth noting that the winner of an auction is usually chosen by an ad’s rank, rather than the overall amount. The ranking takes into account the bid amount as well as the quality of the material being offered by the advertiser.

Also Read: Top Digital Marketing Jobs in 2022


Sample Answer: There are several characteristics of “bad links” that you should avoid:

  • Domain with a low authority: Google uses its algorithm to distinguish between high and low authority websites. So, a high-authority website linking to another high-authority website can get you higher rankings. However, a large number of connections on low-authority websites over a long period might result in a penalty. So, untrustworthy websites should be avoided.
  • Relevance with the content: If the content is about travel, it should naturally not have links from an astrology website. Google's modern algorithm gives equal weightage to the context and relevancy of material to the source. So, close attention shall be paid to the sources to keep them as near to your business as possible.
  • Embedding of link in keyword anchor text: If you focus on inserting your link in the anchor text with the exact keyword without context, it would lead to a bad link. Google wants you to emphasize the natural journalistic context of the link.
  • Reciprocal exchange: It happens when websites with similar domain authority exchange links. Google favors a large number of links to your site from diverse sources. As a result, many connections from the same domain raise suspicion.
  • Participating in link schemes: Link wheels or link pyramids are a thing of the past now. They invite penalties for your website.

Question 4: What Type of Content Make up an Effective Digital Marketing Campaign?


Sample Answer: An effective digital marketing campaign must incorporate diverse content buckets to keep the audience roped in and provide them with unique content. "What is best" is largely determined by your audience's preferences: do they enjoy reading articles, watching video lessons, listening to podcasts, or perhaps they prefer infographics?

An effective digital marketing campaign would thus include a mix of short-form content- videos, images for social media, long-form content- blogs for the website and social media, tutorial and explainer videos, audiobooks and podcasts, etc. More often than not, visual content tends to operate a little better, both as a lead magnet and as a traffic generator. So, visual content shall be given due importance if it goes with the theme of the brand.

Question 5: What Makes Digital Marketing Different from Traditional Marketing?


Sample Answer: The main difference between digital marketing and traditional marketing is the form in which the audience encounters the marketing message. Traditional media uses media such as magazines, newspapers, etc whereas digital marketing uses online media such as social media and websites.

Question 6: What Do You See as the Difference Between Content Marketing and Content Strategy? Provide Some Examples of Each.


Sample Answer: In simple terms, content strategy is the thought behind content marketing. Content strategy is the research put into an effective content marketing campaign. So, content marketing is born out of content strategy.

For instance, a content strategy could include developing content that maximizes your marketing reach through sharing. A content marketing example here would be a giveaway campaign on social media that asks users to follow and share the social media page. Thus, it is important to define goals, have a content strategy to achieve them, and implement them using content marketing.

Question 7: Describe the Sales Funnel and Why It Is Important to Digital Marketing?


Sample Answer: It is a collection of marketing strategies that are used to drive traffic to your business and nurture it into loyal customers that promote your brand. Digital marketing funnels may be complex or simple and can be tailored to any online niche.

Funnels increase the number of focused leads as consumers that make it to the end of the funnel will be highly qualified. They help nurture consumers to make the sales process smooth as you speak with them at various stages of the funnel.

The goal of a good funnel is to provide value rather than to make a hard and fast sell. It also increases income as your company may generate more cash with less effort since most components of the digital marketing sales funnel can be automated.

Question 8: What Are the Most Effective Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website?


Sample Answer: Website traffic can be increased effectively through both organic and paid ways. To grow website traffic you must:

  • Perform keyword research and incorporate relevant keywords in the content you generate
  • Create memorable and quality content that cuts through the noise for users
  • Write guest posts to generate backlinks, and boost referral traffic on websites with high domain authority
  • Keep active on various social media channels to engage with the user and understand their expectations and redirect them to the website
  • Send email newsletters that include information about the brand and entice users to read know more about you and redirect them to the website
  • Use advertising through social media and display ads to grow website traffic
  • Collaborate with industry influencers and ask them to tag your products and offerings for a wider reach

Interview Questions for Digital Marketing: Situation-based Questions


Situation-based digital marketing interview questions are tricky to handle. They do not have one correct answer and are based on the candidate’s experiences. Be honest while answering them.

The interviewer wishes to understand how you deal with uncalled-for situations and emotions such as disappointment at the workplace. Be prepared to answer tough questions!

Question 1: Describe a Digital Marketing Campaign You Worked on That Didn’t Go as Planned. Why Did It Go Wrong, and How Did You React?


You must explain how the campaign went off track, accept some responsibility for the failure, and sketch out learnings from the experience. Also, explain the actions you would take next time a similar situation happens while implementing your learning.

One method is to choose a campaign in which you may have set unrealistic goals. Discuss how you came up with your KPIs and how you learned to set realistic targets. This demonstrates that you are a critical thinker and problem solver with a marketing strategy mindset.

Question 2: Discuss a Time When Your Team Did Not Agree With You.


The employer wishes to understand how you deal with conflicts and resolve them. Do you listen to others’ opinions or are rigid in your ways?

Sample Answer: A co-worker and I disagreed on handling an unsatisfied client. So, I met with them one-on-one to talk about our disagreement and find a peaceful solution. We both agreed that we aimed to keep the consumer pleased, and we reached an agreement that included both of our suggestions.

Question 3: Talk about One of Your Most Effective Campaigns. What Made It so Effective?


The interviewer is interested in learning how you define success and how you go about running a marketing campaign and if you would be able to replicate it in their organization. They want to know if you are a team player or someone who takes all the credit.

Sample Answer: Earlier this year, I ran my most successful campaign to date. First, I put together a team of trustworthy and competent colleagues. We defined our objectives, identified our target consumers, and devised a strategy, which in our case encompassed email, social media, and voice messaging.

I collaborated with my team to create a successful email, social media, and scripts for calling. We then tracked the results after the campaign went live to calculate the ROI. Finally, our campaign assisted the sales team in reaching out to a large number of prospects and closing over 25 agreements. I am convinced that I can accomplish the same for your business.

Question 4: Describe a Time You Worked with a Team to Create a Campaign on a Tight Budget.


The interviewer is interested to know if you are a problem solver. Are you able to judiciously use the available resources or do you give up easily in difficult situations?

Sample Answer: I handled a digital marketing campaign last year with a tight budget. We focused our attention on two channels at a time to minimize costs and establish a loyal following from a strong customer base.

We built strategies to share costs with our associated brands by running online contests and events on the preferred channels. Our associated brands had a loyal Instagram following and we are popular on Twitter. So, we entered into a symbiotic plan of leveraging each other’s stronger points to share costs.

Question 5: Have You Worked on a Cross-functional Project? How Many People Did This Involve?


If you work for a larger corporation, you could have been requested to collaborate on a project with teams from other departments. Your ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams will be extremely valuable to your future employer, especially if they are a larger corporation. Share any difficulties you encountered, as well as what you learned from the experience.

Sample Answer: When I worked for a larger firm, we collaborated with the sales team regularly. We'd meet once a week to discuss major tasks and then cooperate as required during the week. It was a fantastic setup that facilitated easy development through all stages of the project.

Question 6: Talk about a Time You Were Put under an Enormous Amount of Pressure and What You Did to Remain Effective.


Employers inquire about your stress management strategies by asking, "How do you work under pressure?" They want to make sure you can finish work even when you're under a lot of strain. You should mention techniques you may have used for staying calm and motivated.

Sample Answer: Throughout my career, I've learned how to perform well under pressure. When I begin to get anxious, I utilize a few tactics to help me stay focused. Firstly, I accept the circumstance. If I have a tight deadline, I focus on prioritizing my work. I've discovered that being adaptive helps me deal with stress fairly effectively. A positive mindset surely helps too. Every obstacle is reframed as an opportunity for me. This keeps me motivated and enthusiastic to take on more challenging things.

Question 7: What Is an Example of a Marketing-related Goal You Achieved? What Steps Were Involved with Your Accomplishment?


The interviewer wishes to know if you can strategize and implement the strategy.

Sample answer: We wanted to increase our brand awareness. So, we laid out a strategy to increase our social media following by 20%. We wanted our consumers to feel connected with us. So, we regularly featured updates about our origin, our story so far and how is it going. We would share behind-the-scenes snippets with the team to ensure the audience continued to care about the people working tirelessly. We ensured that we engaged with the audience regularly via live sessions, comments section, and resharing of posts of our audience members.

Some More Situation-Based Digital Marketing Interview Questions

The list of situation-based questions is endless. Some of the most important interview questions are:

  • Talk about a time you took a digital marketing risk.
  • Did you ever market a product or offering you weren’t passionate about?
  • Have you ever made a major change to an old marketing process or strategy? What effects did it have?
  • Was there a time when you combined your creative and analytical skills to solve a problem?

Digital Marketing Interview Questions: Personal Questions


Employers are searching for candidates with digital marketing prowess. But it is not just limited to that. A suitable candidate also has the correct attitude and working style to interact with others.

Also Read: How to answer common interview questions?

Employers may offer personal interview questions to learn more about you.

  • Tell us about yourself.
  • Walk me through your resume?

Also Read: How to answer ‘walk me through your resume’ interview question?

  • What is your biggest accomplishment?
  • What are your biggest strengths?

Also Read: How to answer 'what are your strengths' in an interview?

  • What are your biggest weaknesses?
  • Which team environment do you fit in the best?
  • What kind of management style do you like the most?
  • What interests you most about this digital marketing role?
  • Why do you want to work with us?

Also Read: How to answer 'why do you want to work here' interview question?

  • Why should we hire you?
  • Where do you see yourself in five years?
  • What do you like most about digital marketing?
  • What do you like least about digital marketing?
  • What is your digital marketing philosophy?
  • What brands do you like or follow on social media and why?

Prepare for such questions to increase your chances of getting shortlisted.

Key Takeaways


Interview preparation is important to be able to answer every question that comes your way!

  • You would be asked personal questions, technical questions, and situation-based questions in your digital marketing interview based on your experience and level of expertise.
  • Prepare for every type of question confidently and honestly.
  • If you are stuck on any question, then be honest about it and convey it to the recruiter.

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