Guide

How to Answer "What Makes You Unique?" (With Marketing Examples)

By the Know the Room team · Updated Oct 24, 2026

Name the combination of experience that few other candidates for this role will have, prove it with one example, and say why it matters for this job. Unique rarely means one rare skill; it usually means two ordinary skills that don't often come together.

Key takeaways

The best answer to what makes you unique names a combination of experience that few other candidates will have.
Unique rarely means one rare skill; it usually means two ordinary skills that don't often come together.
A strong answer has three parts: the combination, one example that proves it and why it matters for this job.
What makes you unique should echo your elevator pitch and your answer to tell me about yourself.
Aim to answer what makes you unique in 30 to 60 seconds.
For a 150-character application field, give one specific thing about you and one piece of proof in a single sentence.

Download all 7 templates (Word) Opens in Google Docs too.

What is the interviewer really asking?

They’re asking what you bring that the other people they’re interviewing probably don’t. It’s a comparison question, and they want help remembering you after a day of similar conversations.

Most candidates answer with personality traits: creative, driven, a people person. Those don’t separate anyone. What does is a specific mix of experience, a perspective from an unusual background, or a habit of working that shows up in your results. If you’re thinking “but I’m not that unusual”, most people feel that way, and the steps below almost always turn something up.

How is this different from “why should we hire you” and “what is your greatest strength”?

All three overlap, but each asks for something different, and it helps to prepare them together so you don’t give the same answer three times.

Question	What it asks for	Shape of a good answer
What makes you unique?	The thing that sets you apart from other candidates	One distinctive combination, one example, why it matters here
Why should we hire you?	The full case against the role’s needs	Two or three needs, proof for each, what you’d do first
What is your greatest strength?	One strength, in depth	One strength the job needs, a detailed example and result

Your greatest strength might be something every good candidate shares, like strong writing for a content role. What makes you unique is closer to “I write well and I’ve spent years in sales, so I write copy the sales team will actually use.”

How should you answer “what makes you unique”?

Use three parts: the combination, the proof, and why it matters for this role. Aim for 30 to 60 seconds.

The combination. Two things that rarely come together in candidates for this role. Experience in two channels, a marketing skill plus industry knowledge, a creative background plus comfort with data.
One example. A time the combination produced a result that one skill alone wouldn’t have.
Why it matters here. Connect it to something in the posting or something the interviewer said.

What's unusual about my background is that I've done both [skill or experience A] and [skill or experience B], which don't often come together in [this kind of role].

At [Company], that meant I could [what the combination let you do]. The result was [outcome].

For this role, that matters because [something from the posting or the conversation: the team is small, the product is technical, the audience is new to you].

Of all the interview questions, this is the one where a scripted answer hurts most. Use the template to find your point, then say it the way you naturally would. Your way of telling it is part of what makes you different, and they’re hiring all of you.

How do you find what makes you unique?

Look for the overlaps in your history, not the peaks. Write down the answers to these and look for a pair that stands out:

What did you do before marketing, or alongside it? Sales, teaching, journalism, design, finance, retail and customer service all give marketers an edge somewhere.
Which two channels or disciplines have you worked in? Brand and performance, social and SEO, content and product marketing.
What industry do you know from the inside? Healthcare, gaming, B2B software, beauty, sports. Industry knowledge is rare in candidates who come from agencies or other sectors.
What audience do you understand better than most? A community you belong to, a market you’ve lived in, a language you speak.
What do colleagues come to you for that isn’t in your job description? That’s usually a real differentiator.

Then check the posting. A rare combination only helps if this role uses it. Fluency in a second language is distinctive, but it only belongs in this answer if the company sells in that market or plans to.

Example answers for marketing roles

A strong answer to “what makes you unique” names a combination, proves it with one example and ties it to the role, at any level. These show the shape. Use your own combination and your own words; a borrowed one will fall apart at the follow-up.

Entry level

Early in your career, your difference often comes from outside marketing: a job, a community, a skill from your degree.

Before moving into marketing I spent [time] working in [retail / customer service / a non-marketing role], talking to customers every day. Most people applying for this role will have more campaign experience than me, but I've heard first-hand what makes people buy and what makes them complain.

In my internship at [Company] I used that to [example: rewrite FAQ content around the questions customers actually asked], and [result]. For a role focused on [the posting's focus], I think that customer ear is useful from day one.

I'm a [writer / video editor / designer] who also reads the data closely. A lot of social managers are strong on one side; I've done both, which means I can make the content and also tell you which posts drove [follows / sign-ups / traffic] and why.

At [Company] I noticed [pattern in the data] and changed [what you changed], and [result]. Your team is small, so I think having both in one person would help.

Growth, SEO or paid

I came into growth from [engineering / analytics / product], so I'm comfortable in the data and I can speak the engineering team's language. That's helped most with [example: getting tracking and site fixes prioritized], which at [Company] meant [result].

You mentioned that marketing waits a long time for development work. That's the problem I'm best placed to help with.

Manager, director or above

At senior levels, what makes you unique is usually a kind of situation you’ve handled, or the way you lead.

I've led marketing through [a specific situation: a rebrand after a merger, a move from sales-led to product-led growth, a turnaround after a bad year] at [Company], so I've seen what tends to break and what to protect.

[One example of a decision you made and what happened.] Given where you are with [their current situation], that experience seems directly relevant.

Answers that hurt you

Weak answers are generic, unprovable or unrelated to the job, and each has a better swap.

Personality adjectives. “I’m creative and passionate” proves nothing on its own. Swap it for the combination and the example that show it.
"I’m a perfectionist." It sounds rehearsed and invites the weakness question. Choose a skill pair instead.
Something rare but irrelevant. A unique hobby is fine for small talk, but it doesn’t answer the question unless the role uses it.
Claims you can’t prove. “I’m the most data-driven marketer you’ll meet” invites a follow-up you may not win. Let one result make the point.
Putting down other candidates. You don’t know who they are, and it sounds insecure. Talk about what you bring, and let them do the comparing.

How does this fit with your other answers?

Your unique combination should echo your elevator pitch and your answer to tell me about yourself. If your opener describes a path from journalism into content marketing, “what makes you unique” is where you say what that path gives you.

Prepare one example per question but draw from the same small set of stories. Consistency is part of what makes the interviewer remember you.

How to practice it

Write the answer, then say it aloud until it fits comfortably inside a minute. Ask a friend to respond with “So what?” If the last part of your answer doesn’t already address that, add the line about why it matters for this role.

A mock interview is a good place to test it alongside “why should we hire you”, since interviewers sometimes ask both. Recon’s practice mode gives feedback on each answer, including whether it tied back to the company, which is the part this question most often misses.

How do you answer “what makes you unique” in 150 characters?

Application forms sometimes give you 150 characters, about one sentence. Use it for one specific thing and one piece of proof, nothing else. Write it the way you’d say it, so it still sounds like a person:

I've [one specific thing you've done] at [Company], so I [what that means for this role].

Former [previous field or job] turned [marketer]: I [one skill it gave you], which helped me [result].

Count before you paste: spaces count as characters. If you’re over, cut adjectives first, then the company name.

FAQ

What if I don’t think anything makes me unique?

Everyone has a combination. List what you did before your current role, the channels you’ve worked in, the industries you know and what colleagues ask you for. The overlap of any two of those, relevant to the role, is your answer.

Can I mention a personal trait?

Only with proof. “I stay calm when launches go wrong” works if you follow it with a launch that went wrong and what you did. A trait on its own is too easy to claim.

How long should my answer be?

30 to 60 seconds. It’s a short question asking for one distinctive thing, so give one and stop.

Is “what sets you apart from other candidates” the same question?

Yes. “What sets you apart”, “what makes you different” and “what can you bring that others can’t” all want the same answer: your distinctive combination, one example, and why it matters here.

What makes you unique: sample answer for students?

Lean on what you’ve done outside class: a job, a club you ran, an account you grew, a project with a real result. “I’ve run [club or account] for two years and grew [what] from [number] to [number] by [how], so I’ve already practiced the [skill] this internship needs.” Swap in your own details and keep the bit that sounds most like you.