Essential Questions To Ask A Marketing Candidate…& Answers to Look For

Asking the right B2B marketing interview questions when hiring a new marketing professional is critical to your company’s sales success.

The?requirements for high performing B2B marketers have grown dramatically in the past few years due to rapid advancements in technology. Knowledge and efficient use of multiple technologies is now the baseline entry ticket.

Sadly, more than a few B2B marketing candidates today are lacking important skills needed to generate demand in a digital world. As the interviewer it?s your job to discover whether a candidate?s skillsets will fit?your company?s needs and goals.

Why??

Because today?s B2B purchaser acquires 70% of his/her knowledge about your company, products and services online before ever engaging with your salesperson.

Furthermore, the efficient use of automation and technology can significantly lower the costs of marketing.

Article Overview

This article helps you ask the right questions in a logical order to discover:

1. Can they do the job? ? Telephone screen
2. Will they?do the job? ? Telephone and on-site interview
3. Will they?fit in? ? On-site interview

Start with softer marketing interview questions to help the candidate get comfortable chatting with you. Then move on to more technical questions.

Part 1: Can they do the job? (telephone screen)

There?s no point in bringing a candidate to your office who doesn?t have the technical skills to be successful at your company.

Consequently use the telephone screen to address ?can they do the job??, which focuses on a candidate?s B2B ?technical and technology skills.

Remember to take careful notes and refer back to them when making decisions about next steps.

Q1: Tell me how you became interested in marketing and how you got started.

A1: This is a general marketing interview question I ask to discover if the candidate?s on-the-job training was formal or informal. Most of all I look for candidates who pursued a degree in business, economics, marketing or similar. Especially relevant are those who?began in an entry level position in product development or management, sales, branding or product marketing.

Q2: What do you believe are the top three marketing challenges today?

A2: Look for answers that show strong knowledge?about sales and marketing automation. Next, probe for answers about marketing metrics, internet/social marketing, content creation, qualified lead generation and sales/marketing cooperation. Sales and marketing automation is a ?must? response. In addition, ask the candidate to elaborate on responses. ?Why is that important?? It?s important because proper and consistent use of automation helps deliver a leaner, faster and more cost effective marketing department?very important to your CEO and CFO.

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