Marketing interview questions - Series A/B

Maria PergolinoThis article, written by Maria Pergolino, provides off-the-shelf questions and activities to use when interviewing candidates for brand, demand, or product marketing leadership positions. The questions are meant to evaluate everything from technical marketing chops to leadership and interpersonal skills, and are tailored to the size of your marketing organization. If you want to view the questions for Series C+ sized companies, please look here.

Section 1: Technical marketing skills

Messaging / brand

Example questions

• Share an example of when you started from ground zero. How did you learn the product and translate that into a unique message and brand?
• Share some examples of how you have supported a founder's thought leadership and social media presence in the past. What were the outcomes?
• Which of the assets you’ve created over your career has resonated most with prospects and customers? How did you know it worked, and how did you measure its success?

Example rubricElementExcellent responseBrandingProvided an example of creating a concise brand messageICPDemonstrated identification of the ideal customer profile (ICP)SegmentationShared how they tailored messages for different customer profilesDifferentiationHighlighted messaging that set the brand apart from competitorsValue creationProvided messaging that clearly communicated brand valueSocial mediaShared examples of supporting founder branding and leveraging social mediaThought leadershipShared examples of thought leadership that resonated with media, prospects, and customers

Demand generation

Example questions

• We typically sell to [insert audience], and our deal sizes are $[X]. We currently have [X] customers. What type of demand generation strategy would you recommend, and how would you begin?
  • Follow-up: Can you share an example of doing this in the past?
• How have you reported on marketing success and demonstrated ROI in the past?
• What does a marketing tech stack look like for a company of our size? Which tools do you consider critical?

Example rubricElementExcellent responsePipeline motionIdentified the right model (PLG for high-volume B2B, ecommerce for high-volume B2C, ABM for high-value B2B, etc.)Digital marketingShared successful examples from digital channels (SEO/SEM, PPC, performance marketing, etc.)Event marketingProvided success stories involving event-driven strategiesEarned mediaGave examples of success with PR, analysts, and social channelsSales & marketing alignmentArticulated what strong alignment looks like, including examples and proof pointsReportingExplained how to build a marketing funnel and report on ROIOperationsOutlined a modern, AI-forward tech stack suited for Series A/B-stage infrastructure

Product marketing

Example questions

• Tell me about a successful product launch. What was required, and what outcomes did you achieve?
• Describe a competitive market you’ve worked in. How did you use messaging to stand out?
• How have you used customer stories and community to amplify a brand?
• The messaging needed to attract a customer is often different from what’s needed to close them. What materials have been most helpful in each case in your past work?

ElementExcellent responseCompetitionExplained how they created differentiation and demonstrated competitor knowledgeCommunityShared how community-building supported marketing effortsCustomer storiesGave examples of using customer success stories in programsSales enablementArticulated specific enablement tools that influenced business outcomes

Section 2: Leadership and job organization

Start-up resources

Example questions

• You’ll be a team of one to start. What would you do if you lacked the technical skills to complete a task critical to your strategy?
• Our marketing budget is $[Y] until we reach $[X] in revenue or [X] customers. What should we expect to achieve with this budget? How would you maximize its impact?

Innovation

Example questions

• Tell me about a campaign or approach you took that differed from standard best practices and led to outsized results.
• With AI driving gains in marketing productivity and efficiency, how have you integrated AI into your work?

ElementExcellent responseNetworkShared examples of consultants or freelance talent they've worked withResourcesDemonstrated ability to deliver results with limited budget and headcountInnovationProvided innovative approaches that delivered above-average outcomesAIShowed how they use AI to enhance marketing execution or results

Section 3: Example activity

Example descriptionPrepare a 15-minute presentation covering your first-year approach to building marketing at <company>. Please create a slide (or two) for each:

1. Your marketing strategy
   • How would you split your time across core functions (e.g., brand/comms, demand generation, product marketing)?
   • We assume everyone we are meeting can do great marketing, but how will you differentiate us from other brands so that our marketing stands out?
   • What outcomes do you want each to achieve in the first year and how will you measure success? (This can be presented as key goals or metrics.)
2. Budget utilization for maximum impact
   • How would you allocate a $<amount> budget across marketing areas to achieve stated goals, including paid media / advertising, events, content PR/comms, tools/tech, freelancers/contractors, headcount, and other areas?
3. Tool stack
   • What tools or platforms would you consider essential to run an efficient, modern marketing org at this stage?
4. AI
   • How will your marketing strategy leverage AI?
5. Brand inspiration
   • What are 1-2 brands <company> should look to emulate with our marketing, and why?
   • What are 1-2 brands you think are doing a poor job with their marketing, and what are they doing that we should avoid?

Optional additionsYou can ask for one or more of the following in the activity description, if useful to your hiring process:

• Light messaging or positioning refresh recommendations.
• Campaign ideas or early GTM tactics.
• Any red flags or areas for improvement the candidate already sees.

Example rubricElementGuidance for the interviewerMarketing strategy

• Did the candidate demonstrate an understanding of the importance of balancing core areas (e.g., brand, demand gen, product marketing)?
• Did they acknowledge that over-indexing in one area (e.g., campaigns without messaging) leads to inefficiencies?
• Did they present compelling and creative ways to differentiate <company>?
• Were the goals realistic for a company of this size and stage?
• Did they offer clear success metrics for each function?

Budget allocation

• Did the candidate align the budget to the goals they outlined (i.e., did they invest where impact was expected)?
• As a benchmark, we typically look for 70%+ in programs and 30% or less in headcount/tools, but in early-stage orgs, a 60/40 split can be appropriate.
• Did they explain tradeoffs or flex options if the budget changed?

Tools

• Did they propose a practical tech stack for an early-stage company (e.g., CMS, CRM/MAP like HubSpot, ABM intent tools, automation via Zapier or similar)?
• More experienced marketers may suggest proprietary or semi-custom flows using tools like Clay.

AI

• Did the candidate offer use cases beyond basic content generation (e.g., using AI for reasoning in ops workflows or deep research for SEO/product marketing)?
• Were examples practical and applicable to a small, fast-moving team?

Brand Inspiration

• Did the brand examples feel relevant to <company>’s market and mission?
• Were examples technical/infrastructure-focused or, if not, did the candidate explain how the approach applies?
• Did they demonstrate awareness of brand strategy and competitive positioning?