Take the fact that virtual events and experiential marketing are cited as two of the top five trends leveraged by modern marketers. If you don’t have an event marketing megastar up your sleeve to execute your plan, you could find yourself struggling to keep up with the competition.
With demand for talented event pros projected to grow a whopping 18% from 2020 to 2030, you’re making a wise decision to start your search for an event marketing mastermind early.
But how do you actually go about finding the right event marketing hire for your team? And once you’ve got your list of top candidates nailed down, how do you know they’re going to be able to deliver on your goals?
Understanding the role you need to fill and asking the right event marketing interview questions alongside it are the two best places to start.
Table of contents
30 event marketing interview questions every employer should ask
What are the different event marketing roles you can hire for?
Identify talent. Interview for potential. Invest in success.
30 event marketing interview questions every employer should ask
Although it may seem like many event marketing roles cover the same ground, the areas they focus on and the level of depth they go into tend to differ.
Our event marketing role examples below fall into the following categories. But this role is evolving all the time. It’s up to you to set the right scope and set of expectations based on what makes sense for your organization today.
Head of Events — high-level strategy
Event Marketing Manager — all about ownership
Event Coordinator — execution and support
When it comes to hiring your next event pro, the event marketing interview questions you’ll be asking will likely vary from head to manager to coordinator.
And that can seem quite overwhelming if you’re not a well-versed recruiting pro.
But, don’t sweat it — we’re not leaving you high and dry (come on, would we ever?).
We’ve listed the 10 best event marketing interview questions per role so you can find just the right rockstar for your team.
Head of Events interview questions
Ice-breakers
What do you enjoy most about the world of events?
How do you stay current within the event industry? What influencers, groups or publications do you follow?
What types of events do you usually use within your event strategies? What makes you prefer them?
Management style
Tell us about a time you mentored a direct report and the impact you had on their development.
Skills to look for:
Leadership
Motivation
What would you do if a team member consistently overruled your ideas?
Skills to look for:
Communication
Values fit
Interpersonal skills
Have you ever had to coordinate with individuals outside your direct team or even organization? How did you connect and remain on task? What collaboration tools did you use?
Skills to look for:
Collaboration
Project Management
Event marketing skills
How do you measure the effectiveness of your event strategies? Tell me about an event where you had a pipeline or revenue goal to hit.
Skills to look for:
Analytical skills
Data and revenue-driven
How would you report to stakeholders to ensure buy-in is secured and your strategy is understood?
Skills to look for:
Communication
Budget management
Stakeholder management
Problem-solving questions
Tell me about a time your strategy hasn’t worked. What did you do about it?
Skills to look for:
Quick-thinking
Adaptability
Innovation
Risk-taking
The tech check ✅
What functionalities do you look for in your event technology? What marketing systems are you already familiar with?
Skills to look for:
Well-informed
Experienced
Event Marketing Manager interview questions
Ice-breakers
What’s one thing you love about your current role?
You’ve been in the events industry a while now. How did you end up here?
Management style
How do you ensure your team is well-briefed on their tasks? Explain how you’ve used a Delegate Management System (DMS) in the past to ensure your event is well-handled?
Skills to look for:
Knowledge of industry terms
Experience with essential tech
Understands team member needs
Interpersonal skills
How would you manage remote communication to ensure sponsors, partners, vendors, and internal teams feel connected to your event?
Skills to look for:
Team player
Prioritizes the stakeholder experience
Event marketing skills
When and how would you decide if to do a co-sponsored event with a partner? What criteria do you use to assess if they’re a good fit?
Skills to look for:
Understands the culture
Knows the value proposition
What marketing techniques do you use to promote your events?
Skills to look for:
Creativity
Understands full-circle marketing
Problem-solving questions
Describe an event that didn’t go so well. What happened and what did you learn?
Skills to look for:
Honesty
Adaptability
Ownership
How would you deliver an engaging event on a limited budget? Tell me about an event where you had to think outside of the box to deliver an experience.
Skills to look for:
Creativity
Prioritization
The tech check ✅
Finding quality event sponsors, suppliers, and partners can be a challenge. What’s your process for evaluating 3rd party vendors?
Skills to look for:
Research
Negotiation
What do you take into consideration before you start planning an event?
Skills to look for:
Process-driven
Organized
Preps for all eventualities
Event Coordinator interview questions
Ice-breakers
How many events do you plan per year? How do you manage your calendar?
What are some of the popular venues or platforms you recommend?
Management style
Describe your leadership style under pressure. What’s your approach to working with cross-functional teams?
Skills to look for:
Fair
Takes initiative
How do you ensure all team members stick to assigned timelines for their tasks and roles?
Skills to look for:
Delegation
Communication
Interpersonal skills
How do you promote team spirit on-the-day (when things can get a little chaotic)?
Skills to look for:
Team mentality
Positive attitude
Event marketing skills
How do you juggle competing priorities? What criteria do you use?
Skills to look for:
Logical
Good at prioritizing
Problem-solving questions
How do you manage on-the-day event stress? What do you do to stay calm and keep the rest of your team calm too?
Skills to look for:
Ability to work well under pressure
Bigger-picture mentality
Have you ever found yourself in a glitchy tech situation mid-event? Describe the situation and how you resolved it?
Skills to look for:
Agile thinker
Always has a backup plan
The tech check ✅
How would you level-up the attendee experience at a virtual event? Tell us about a time where you’ve successfully managed and engaged a remote audience.
Skills to look for:
Passionate about the attendee experience
Innovative
What tech and tools do you use to manage event tasks?
Skills to look for:
Attention to detail
Knowledge of project management tools
What are the different event marketing roles you can hire for?
Today’s event marketers come with many different titles and responsibilities. That’s largely because there’s little alignment across the industry on titles and job specs.
So while what you call your event roles is ultimately up to you, we’ll offer a little more clarity on the three main event marketing roles most companies are looking to fill.
Role #1. Head, Director, or Vice President of Events
Sitting at the top of the event pro pyramid is the Head of Events (a.k.a. the Director or Vice President of Events). This is your Chief “Big Picture” Person — all about setting the strategy, verifying the vision, and inspiring the team of marketeers making it happen.
Roles and responsibilities include:
Setting the overall event strategy for the organization.
Connecting events, marketing, and sales strategies to formulate the ultimate account based management strategy.
Implementing standard operating practices to ensure event insights are funneled to the departments that can best use them.
Overseeing high-level event execution.
Setting event strategy goals and ensuring they align with wider company objectives.
Creating powerful partnerships with sponsors, vendors, and other departments within the organization.
Making high-level purchasing decisions including your virtual event platform, venues, catering, etc.
Creating an enticing event calendar.
As event marketers, we're very performance-based. We look very closely at pipeline and bookings numbers associated with events. We now know that events are influencing 75% of the pipeline for all of our campaigns.” — Sarah Reed, Senior Director of Global Strategic Events, Zendesk
A great event marketing manager will take your strategy and vision and start adding color to it, while closely overseeing the event from start to finish.
A strong event marketer has their pulse on every aspect, from pre-event marketing, to on-the-day content and post-event analysis. If it impacts the overall event experience, it falls into the event marketing manager’s all-encompassing sphere.
Roles and responsibilities include:
Managing event budgets.
Determining the objectives that support the event strategy.
Creating the marketing strategy for the event.
Curating and refining the event schedule: sourcing keynote speakers and entertainment, reviewing content, allocating rooms and booths, etc.
Ensuring on-the-day event staff are trained within their function.
Translating event data into insights for relevant sales follow-up.
The charter of field marketing is to create as many experiential moments as possible with buyers, to increase their intent sign, and to give our sales team the greatest likelihood of receiving a response. When we think about what channels are at our disposal to create those memorable moments, events are one of the ultimate ways to do it.” — Nina Butler, Senior Director of Revenue Marketing at Alyce
#3. Event Coordinator
Meet your event execution experts.
With your strategy sorted, planning perfected, and oversight activated — it’s time to hand the reins to your event coordinators.
No detail is too small for these specialists and no task too large. Give them a brief, timeline, team, and some tools — and a good event coordinator will have your event running like clockwork for the duration. (And if hiccups do occur, they make pretty savvy firefighters too. 🙌🏻)
Roles and responsibilities include:
Monitoring the registration and attendee journey, optimizing where necessary.
Owning pre-event communications: increasing attendance by building excitement and minimizing access issues.
Reviewing and elevating event branding and content.
Staffing relevant roles and managing personnel: chat moderation, booths, troubleshooting, tech support, backstage aides, speakers, entertainers, sponsors, data analysts, social media managers, videographers, designers, content creators, etc.
Purchasing event essentials: technology, event swag, catering, seating, venue, etc.
Keeping the event running on time.
Identify talent. Interview for potential. Invest in success.
If you want to keep up with the competition, events must be part of the plan.
Not only that, they also have to be expertly executed to achieve the revenue you’re after. And you can’t do it alone.
If your event strategy is going to deliver long term, you have to hire the right person (or people) to make it happen. And it all starts with asking the right questions.