Interview questions
Content Marketing Interview Questions (and How to Answer Them)
Content marketing interviews test whether you can plan content that serves a business goal, write and edit well, get it found and read, and prove it worked. Expect a portfolio walkthrough, questions about your process, and often a writing or editing test.
Key takeaways
- Content marketing interviews test whether you can plan content that serves a business goal, write and edit well, get it found and prove it worked.
- Expect a portfolio walkthrough and questions about your process in a content marketing interview.
- Many content marketing interviews include a writing or editing test.
- SEO knowledge helps in content marketing interviews because most content has to be found in search.
- Coming in with a view on the company's existing content is one of the best ways to stand out.
Download all 2 templates (Word) Opens in Google Docs too.
What does a content marketing interview look like?
Usually three or four rounds: a recruiter screen, the hiring manager, a panel with SEO, design or product marketing, and often an assignment. Typical assignments are a short article, an edit of a weak draft, or a content plan for one audience.
Your portfolio does a lot of the talking. Pick pieces that show range and results, and know the story behind each one. You don’t need a huge body of work: five pieces you can talk about well beat twenty you can’t. For the career path, see how to become a content strategist.
Role and craft questions
Walk me through a piece of content you’re proud of.
What they’re checking: your thinking and the result. How to answer: who it was for, why it was made, how you made it, how it was distributed and what it achieved.
I wrote [piece] for [audience] because [goal or gap]. I researched it by [interviews, data, search demand]. We published on [channels] and [distribution: email, social, sales]. It brought [traffic, sign-ups, pipeline or another result] in [time], and [what happened next].
You’re interviewing for a job built on voice, so let yours come through when you answer. Tell the story of the piece the way you’d tell a fellow writer, including what surprised you; it’s a live sample of how you think and write.
What’s your editing process?
What they’re checking: standards. How to answer: structure first, then clarity, then line edits; read aloud; check facts; respect the writer’s voice.
How do you write for search without making it robotic?
What they’re checking: balance. How to answer: start with what the searcher needs, answer it early, use the words they use, and write the rest for people.
How do you plan a content calendar?
What they’re checking: planning. How to answer: goals, audience questions, a mix of formats, realistic capacity and room for timely pieces.
Strategy and judgment questions
How do you measure content performance?
What they’re checking: business framing. How to answer: match the metric to the goal: search traffic and rankings, engaged time, sign-ups, pipeline influenced or sales enablement use.
What content would you stop making?
What they’re checking: focus. How to answer: pieces that don’t serve a goal or reach anyone, and how you’d decide using data.
How do you distribute content?
What they’re checking: that you don’t stop at “publish”. How to answer: search, email, social, partners, sales teams and repurposing into other formats.
Collaboration questions
How do you work with subject experts who are short on time?
What they’re checking: efficiency. How to answer: short interviews, drafts they react to rather than write, and fast review cycles.
Tell me about feedback you disagreed with.
What they’re checking: maturity. How to answer: the feedback, how you discussed it and the outcome.
[Stakeholder] wanted to [change]. I thought it would [effect on the reader]. I suggested [compromise or test], and we [outcome]. Since then I [how you handle similar feedback].
Questions about the company
What do you think of our blog or content?
What they’re checking: research. How to answer: one piece that works and why, one gap or idea. See how to research a company before an interview.
Pitch us three content ideas.
What they’re checking: fit and creativity. How to answer: specific ideas with an audience, a format and a goal for each.
Behavioral questions
Tell me about a piece that didn’t perform.
What they’re checking: learning. How to answer: your read on why and what you changed. Every content marketer has a few of these, so pick one with a clear lesson.
Describe a time you hit a tight deadline.
What they’re checking: reliability. How to answer: how you scoped it and what you shipped.
Questions to ask in a content marketing interview
- What’s the main goal for content this year?
- Who signs off content, and how long does it take?
- How is content performance reported?
- Do you work with freelance writers?
- Which piece of content has worked best for you, and why?
More in questions to ask the hiring manager.
FAQ
Will there be a writing test?
Often. Expect a short piece, an edit or a content plan. Ask how long it should take and how it’s judged, and don’t spend days on an unpaid test.
What should be in a content marketing portfolio?
Five to eight pieces across formats, each with the goal, your role and the result. Include at least one piece you edited, not only wrote.
Do content marketers need SEO skills?
Most roles expect the basics: search intent, structure, internal links. See SEO manager interview questions for the deeper end.
How much does a content marketer make?
See our content strategist salary page for US pay data.
How do content marketing specialist and manager interviews differ?
Specialist interviews focus on the craft: writing, editing, SEO briefs and a writing test. Manager interviews add strategy and people: how you set the editorial plan, manage writers and freelancers, prove content’s effect on pipeline or sales, and decide what to stop making.