You’re ready to find a Marketing Director or fractional CMO, so you can finally take your business to the next level — to achieve the game-changing success you’ve always known possible.
You’ve reviewed CVs and have a shortlist of candidates that - at least on paper - meet your requirements.
But now that you’ve whittled down your options, you can’t help but wonder…
How do I ask the right marketing director interview questions, so I don’t waste valuable resources on the wrong person?
Select the right marketer, and you’ll save time and energy for what you love and do best (running your company.) Hire the wrong marketing director, though, and you risk stalling growth and exhausting your marketing spend.
10 Important questions to ask a marketing director
So, we agree that asking the right interview questions for marketers matters… but where does one begin?
Start with these ten simple questions that address marketing director skills and behavioural techniques. You’ll quickly discover if the marketer in question has what it takes to help you achieve immediate and long-term growth. Let’s get started.
1. How do you stay educated on the latest digital marketing tactics?
Digital marketing is fast-evolving — what works today may not work next year (or even next month!)
If you want to ensure your company stays at the forefront of digital marketing trends, choose a marketing director committed to growth and education. Here are some proven tactics to listen for:
- “I perform competitor research to discover new marketing opportunities.”
- “I review customer feedback to learn what your target audience desires.”
- “I set a timer and scroll through brand social media pages for inspiration and new ideas.”
- “I subscribe to the latest digital marketing blogs and email newsletters.”
2. Tell me about a marketing campaign you spearheaded that underperformed. What did you learn from the experience?
The best digital marketing experts don’t expect campaign perfection — they know no such thing exists. Instead, intelligent growth marketers are master experimenters; they obsess over metrics so that they quickly ditch what doesn’t work (and scale what does.)
Before hiring a marketing director, ask about marketing campaigns that didn’t quite go to plan. How did they quickly embrace agile marketing solutions to adapt on the spot?
3. Now recount a successful marketing campaign for which you were responsible. Please touch on both qualitative and quantitative results.
Now that you’ve learned how the marketing director handles challenges, it’s time for the fun part: success stories!
Any marketer can claim marketing prowess. You want to know: Does this marketing director have the chops?
Ask for examples from a successful marketing campaign that supports any promised marketing director skills. Look past flowery language and request real numbers and data — quantifiable metrics that showcase results achieved.
4. What digital marketing metrics do you track to measure success?
If you want better results in your business, you absolutely must track the right digital marketing KPIs.
Now, I get that not everyone loves metrics and analytics. But your digital marketing director? Well… they absolutely should geek out over measuring the optics that matter.
5. What steps do you take to ensure collaboration across departments?
When it comes to interview questions for marketers, you need to know:
Does the candidate operate in a silo? Or is this a digital marketing expert who knows the value of aligning product and marketing from the get-go?
When marketers and designers work together, they better understand, meet and communicate to the customer’s needs — and that means your business achieves sustained and streamlined success.
6. How will you determine which marketing channels make sense for my business goals?
You don’t need a bloated marketing strategy or a cookie-cutter marketing template.
You do need a custom marketing framework designed for your buyer personas — an agile digital marketing strategy that will drive revenue and accelerate your profit goals.
The right marketing expert won’t spout out a “proven” plan until they intimately understand your unique goals and challenges. So, before hiring a marketing director, ensure you’re getting a custom-crafted strategy with marketing channels that align with your individual needs.
7. How do you manage complex projects to meet all deliverables and deadlines?
Digital marketing strategies typically include numerous moving parts:
- Managing team members
- Hitting project milestones
- Launching brand campaigns
- Staying up-to-date on the latest trends and tactics
Ensure your marketing director interview questions touch on project management and behavioural characteristics like timeliness, responsibility, and stress management.
8. We have a new product to launch. Can you briefly explain your go-to-market strategy?
Launching a new product without a go-to-market strategy is like diving into a pool without checking the water’s depth…
Mitigate disaster by listening for the go-to-market strategies outlined in this in-depth product launch guide.
Otherwise, you risk losing time, money, and resources on a campaign that’s not quite right for your audience.
9. TikTok, YouTube, Blogs, Email, PPC Ads… Do you suggest my business invest in every digital platform available?
With so many platforms available, creating a digital marketing flywheel can seem daunting!
How do you know which digital strategies make sense for your brand — and which social channels boast vanity metrics but nothing more?
Be wary of any digital marketing expert who suggests being “everywhere.” The right candidate will help you create a fluff-free roadmap specific to your business.
10. Tell me about one of the biggest challenges you’ve overcome outside of the office. How did you grow as an individual? What lessons did you bring back with you into the workplace?
Before hiring a marketing director, consider that you’ll be working closely with this individual. Behavioural traits matter — characteristics like resilience, responsibility, creative thinking, and work ethic.
Not every product launch will go according to plan, and not every campaign will be dubbed a success.
So, I like to understand how potential marketing candidates handle stress outside the office. You might be surprised by the insights you learn from similar marketing competency based interview questions.
Recall that the best digital marketing directors are selective in who they take on as clients, too. True experts want to ensure a good fit for both parties — even if that means losing business in the short term.
If the person you're interviewing doesn’t have any questions for you, consider that a red flag and perhaps move on to the next candidate.
