5 Common Social Media Specialist Interview Questions & Answers

While I think there have been many exciting new social media platforms to hit the market recently, I still find myself spending the most time on Facebook. The diversity it offers is truly unparalleled. The ability to share articles and videos, the use of preview windows, the ease of updating statuses and the increased ways in which it allows you to interact with friends and pages makes it my go-to platform. It also works well for both personal and professional purposes and allows me to easily manage my various pages with just one account.

I follow several social media blogs, including Hubspot, Hootsuite and social media guru Rebekah Radice’s blog. However, there is so much information that I also rely on my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn newsfeeds to keep me up to date on tips, tricks and changes in the social media world. I also read industry publications such as Social Media Today and the Social Media Examiner, and I am a member of the Social Media Club.

The most important thing is to have a solid plan and strategy before making the first post. I do extensive research to be sure that I have an intimate understanding of the product, the market, the company’s followers and the desired results. Once the campaign has begun, I use analytics to track results and make small adjustments as necessary to optimize the campaign’s effectiveness. I also leverage each social media platform to drive traffic to the others, increasing overall exposure. However, none of that matters if the content falls flat, so I make sure that it is engaging, encourages interaction and is highly shareable.

Google+ is a great platform for building communities, which is the core of a strong social media strategy. The fact that it is highly curated and moderated differentiates it from the other platforms out there. I would run special campaigns on Google+ and promote them on our other social media outlets to encourage people not familiar with the platform to become part of our community. Since posts on Google+ often rank higher on Google than regular blog posts or landing pages, it is a great SEO tool to attract new qualified leads.

I am a strong proponent of social media management platforms like Hootsuite. In previous positions I have used Hootsuite to plan campaigns, schedule posts and track results. The ability to have all your projects on one interface makes it easy to keep track of what is happening. To manage my time efficiently, I prioritize more important or time-sensitive tasks and tackle them first thing in the morning, and schedule as many posts as possible in advance to keep unforeseen occurrences from threatening deadlines. I have also found that updating my calendar with key dates, deadlines and reminders helps me juggle multiple campaigns.