Marketing Interview Preparation: Digging Deeper In The Digital Age

Are you looking to ace your next marketing interview? Do you want to stand out from the crowd for all the right reasons? Our Marketing and Analytics Recruitment Consultant, Leif Radford, gives us an insight into preparing for your interview. 

When it comes to preparing for an interview, most people seem to have a grasp of the basics. Top level preparation is great, but if you’re not prepared to invest some time beforehand, you’re likely to be wasting both your own, and your interviewer’s time.

Clients like to see people who are passionate about working for their brand specifically. Generic cover letter type answers just don’t cut it anymore in the digital age and why should they?

There are masses of information readily available on the internet if you’re willing to look for it - but where do you start and how should you use it?

GET INFORMED

I always recommend beginning by doing plenty of research on the bus to make sure you understand who they are and what they do. Always start with the basics, so check their website, specifically the “about us” section, their Wikipedia page (if they have one) etc. It’s important to make sure you’ve got a strong grasp of the business model so you know which parts of your experience are relevant.

Next move on to how they project their brand to their customer base through communicaiton channels.

As you’re going through the various communication channels, keep an eye out for standout events or campaigns they’ve done recently. It would be a good idea to pull out a few facts you could drop in to conversation during your interview – such as a recent celebrity collaboration or industry relevant award they’ve won.

BE PROACTIVE

If you have the time you could potentially look at their current marketing activities and do a case study to present to them. Have a think about what you think works, what could be done better, or how you would improve it if given the chance.

For example, if you recommend changing the structure of one of their email campaigns, based on your previous experience in CRM, and suggest how this could influence CTR or conversion, it gets them thinking about the positive change you could have on their revenue. It’s also a great idea to back this up with data you’ve gathered from previous campaigns and suggest projected results you would expect to see.

By doing this you give the interviewer a prompt to consider the tangible impact that hiring you could have on the business. Also, by taking the initiative to prepare something, when it’s not been requested. This will score you serious brownie points and show that you’re committed from the offset.

OWN YOUR EXPERIENCE

You should also know your own skills and experiences like the back of your hand, and be able to explain how you specifically meet the brief. Consider which parts of your current and past roles would enable you to bring to the table the skills (either direct or transferrably) that they’re looking for? If you’ve sat and thought about it in advance, it will:

I would also take in some examples of your best and most relevant work to show them if possible - choose things you feel confident in talking about and that matches their brand/marketing function. Having the results or impact of any of your previous activities will bring a valuable and tangible element to the interview.

If you can put some time aside to thoroughly research these three key areas, you’ll be in a much stronger position than most of your competition and be able to present the best version of yourself to the potential employer.

It might be a cliché, but it’s a saying which I think is so true when it comes to interviews: “fail to prepare, prepare to fail!”

If you'd like our help to secure an interview for your dream job, call our award-winning team today on 0161 833 1044 or email your CV to [email protected] - we look forward to hearing from you! 

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