What are the right questions to ask your freelance marketer?

When attending interviews or if I’ve been invited to pitch, I quite often am tasked with a question something along the lines of “Tell us how marketing can help the company to increase business” or “What strategy would you suggest for us to grow the company?”.

It’s an interesting question. Of course, it is one that every company wants answered. But is it actually possible to answer before working with a business?

My approach to this question is to talk about the value of marketing – a crash course in how to go about choosing a marketing strategy.

Perhaps the best way to test if a freelance marketer will be a good fit for your business is to give a specific task – such as “Look at our website and tell us as a customer what you think works and what doesn’t work and how could you improve it”. Finding out what a marketer thinks about what you already do, and more importantly gaining an insight into perception of the company from an outsider, is invaluable.

Or maybe give a brief to design a marketing campaign around launching one of your products or services. This is a good test to see creativity and marketing knowledge. Two great qualities in a marketing service.

So, next time you are interviewing for a marketing position, think about the questions and tasks you are setting – are you getting the most out of your time with potential candidates?