TLDR: Marketing agency interviews are often fast-paced and have multiple stages. Expect an initial screening, a skills or task-based assessment, and one or more in-depth interviews. Agencies look for quick thinking, creativity, problem-solving, great communication skills, and relevant experience. Preparation and clear examples of your thinking matter more than having the “perfect” answers.
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Understanding the digital marketing agency hiring process
Marketing agencies operate in a fast-paced environment. Because of this, their hiring process is designed to test how candidates think, adapt, and deliver in their interviews, as well aswhether they meet a list of requirements for the role.
Unlike more traditional corporate roles that may focus heavily on rigid processes, agencies tend to prioritise:
- Speed and adaptability
- Relevant, practical experience
- Creativity and problem-solving
- Clear communication
- The ability to work to deadlines and handle change
Even though agencies do have processes, they often look at how candidates respond in real-world scenarios rather than how well they memorise theory, as these skills will show that they are able to work within the agency environment and provide quick problem-solving for clients.
Step-by-step breakdown of the interview process
While every agency is different, most digital marketing agencies follow a similar multi-stage structure.
Initial screening (CV or video screening)
The first step is usually a CV review followed by a short screening call or video interview. This is often a quick conversation designed to:
- Understand your background and experience
- Assess your general knowledge of digital marketing
- See if your interests align with the role and the agency
This stage isn’t about trick questions, it’s more for the hiring manager to see your alignment to the role and get a first impression.
Skills task or assessment
This is where agency interviews really differ. Candidates are often asked to complete a task such as:
- Reviewing or analysing an existing campaign
- Creating a short marketing plan
- Writing ad copy or content
- Pitching an idea
Hiring managers aren’t just looking for a “right” answer. They want to understand:
- Your approach
- Your logic and reasoning
- How you think under time pressure
- How you balance creativity with data and performance
- How you work and what tools you’ll need
For creative or channel-specific roles, this stage may also include a portfolio review showing visuals of what you’ve done in the past, results directly from your work, or proof of thinking.
Hiring Manager or In-depth interview
This interview tends to go deeper and becomes more strategic. You can expect questions around:
- Campaigns you’ve worked on
- Results you’ve delivered
- How you made decisions
- How you handled challenges
- Client-facing experience and communication
This stage is about understanding how you work in real agency situations and what solutions or new processes you implemented in your last role, not just what tools you’ve used in the past.
Final interview or culture fit
The final stage is often lighter, conversational and focuses on:
- Team fit and company values
- Pace of work and expectations
- How you collaborate with others
- Alignment between you and the agency
It’s also your opportunity to ask thoughtful questions and make sure the role is right for you, because hiring should be a two-way decision.
Key questions you can expect
While questions vary by specific role, most agency interviews include a mix of competency-based, strategic, and platform-specific questions.
Competency-based questions
- How do you handle tight deadlines?
- Tell us about a time you solved a marketing problem.
- How do you prioritise when everything feels urgent?
Strategy & performance questions
- What KPIs matter most for a marketing campaign?
- How would you improve an underperforming campaign?
- How do you measure success?
Platform-specific questions
These really depend on the role you are applying for:
For SEO-focused roles, interviewers are usually looking to understand how you approach organic growth holistically, from research and planning through to execution and optimisation.
You can expect questions around:
Keyword research: How you identify relevant keywords, balance search volume with intent, and prioritise opportunities based on competitiveness and business goals. You may be asked how you would approach keyword research for a new client or how you adapt strategies for different industries.
Technical SEO audits: Your understanding of site health, including crawlability, indexing, page speed, mobile usability, and core technical issues. Agencies often want to know how comfortable you are diagnosing problems and communicating technical fixes to developers or clients.
Content strategy: How you create or support content that aligns with keyword intent, user journeys, and commercial objectives. This might include questions on topic clustering, internal linking, content optimisation, and measuring organic performance over time.
Overall, agencies want to see that you can connect technical SEO, content, and business outcomes, not treat them as isolated tasks. For PPC and paid search roles, interviews tend to be more performance-driven and data-focused.
Common areas of discussion include:
Campaign structure: How you organise campaigns and ad groups for efficiency, relevance, and scalability. Interviewers may ask how you would structure an account from scratch or improve an existing one.
Optimisation techniques: How you monitor performance, identify underperforming areas, and make data-led improvements. This could include keyword refinement, ad copy testing, landing page considerations, or audience adjustments.
Bidding strategies: Your understanding of manual vs automated bidding, how you choose the right approach based on campaign goals, and how you balance efficiency with scale. Agencies may also explore how you react when performance drops or budgets change.
Hiring managers are often looking for clear, logical thinking, how you use data to make decisions, test ideas, and continuously improve results.
For paid social roles, interviews typically blend creative thinking with analytical capability. You may be asked about:
Content planning: How you develop content ideas for different platforms and audiences, including how you test creatives, tailor messaging, and align ads with funnel stages.
Performance metrics: Your understanding of key metrics such as CTR, CPA, ROAS, engagement, and reach, and how you use these to evaluate success or refine campaigns.
Platform experience: Practical experience with platforms such as Meta, including campaign setup, audience targeting, budget management, and reporting. You may also be asked how you stay up to date with platform changes and evolving best practices.
Agencies want to see that you can balance creativity with performance, producing engaging content while still delivering measurable results.
Agencies want to see both knowledge and practical understanding.
How to prepare for an interview
Preparation goes far beyond tailoring your CV to each role you apply for.
Strong candidates typically:
- Research the agency’s clients, positioning, and recent work
- Understand how the agency talks about itself in the market and on social media
- Bring relevant examples of their work, clearly explaining their contribution
- Highlight results using data where possible
- Show how they balance creativity with performance and insight
Even for graduates or early-career candidates, professionalism matters. Creative industries still expect you to show initiative, preparation, and respect for the process.
What hiring managers are really looking for
Across roles and experience levels, hiring managers consistently look for strong problem-solving skills. Agency work is rarely about following a fixed playbook. Roles are about responding to challenges as they arise, whether that’s a campaign underperforming, a client changing direction, or a tight deadline suddenly moving forward. Interviewers want to see how you break problems down, consider different options, and explain your reasoning. Often, they are less interested in whether you land on the “perfect” solution and more focused on how logically and confidently you think through the challenge.
Adaptability is a key trait agencies value highly. The fast-paced nature of agency life means priorities, platforms, and strategies can change quickly, sometimes with very little notice. Hiring managers look for candidates who can respond positively to change, take feedback on board, and adjust their approach without becoming flustered. Being able to demonstrateflexibility and a willingness to evolve your thinking shows that you’re well suited to an environment where no two days are the same.
Clear and confident communication is essential, particularly in client-facing roles. Agencies need people who can explain ideas and strategies in a way that is easy to understand and appropriate for different clients. In interviews, this shows up in how you talk through your experience, justify decisions, and answer questions. Even in roles that are more technical or behind the scenes, strong communication is critical for collaborating with teammates and ensuring work moves smoothly across the agency.
A genuine willingness to learn is also something hiring managers actively look for. Digital marketing is constantly changing, with new tools, platforms, and best practices emerging all the time. Agencies don’t expect candidates to know everything, but they do want to see curiosity and a proactive approach to self-development. Showing that you stay up to date, seek feedback, and are open to learning new skills can be just as important as your current level of experience.
Finally, agencies value data-led thinking, even in roles that lean heavily towards creativity. Hiring managers want to see that you can use insights, metrics, and performance data to inform decisions rather than relying solely on intuition. This could mean explaining how you measure success or how you evaluate what’s working. Ultimately, agencies are often more interested in how you arrived at an answer than the answer itself, as this reveals how you analyse and make decisions in real-world scenarios.
Final tips
A strong final tip for any marketing agency interview is to show initiative wherever possible. If you notice something that could be improved, whether that’s a website issue or a campaign opportunity, don’t be afraid to mention it and explain how you would approach fixing it. Supporting your ideas with data and logical reasoning is particularly important in performance-driven roles, as it shows you can make informed decisions rather than relying on assumptions.
It’s also worth preparing thoughtful questions about the team, the clients you’ll be working with, the tools the agency uses, and the challenges the role is designed to solve, as this demonstrates genuine interest in the work itself.
Marketing agency interviews are fast and dynamic, but with the right preparation and mindset, they’re also a chance to genuinely showcase how you think and work and find your dream role.
