Phone Interview - Walmart Flashcards
How did you find this role?
I found this role on LinkedIn. I quickly reviewed the job description and was instantly interested in applying based on my professional background and my interest in joining the Walmart team.
Tell me about yourself.
○ Sure! I’m an advertising and digital content professional with over 10 years of experience, 7 of which have been in the restaurant and QSR space. During my career, I’ve worked in a variety of areas spanning PR, social media, digital marketing and advertising.
○ At Domino’s specifically, I wrote the first press release in history to hit one billion media impressions
○ I developed and executed the business case to bring social media in house at Domino’s which resulted in double-digit increases in average engagement across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and I launched the first-ever influencer campaign for the brand back in 2017 (introduction of salads).
○ I also managed all aspects of the content creation process for website, mobile app, digital signage, email, push, SMS, banner and paid social assets from start to finish resulting in 870+ assets delivered across 15 National Windows.
○ In my current role, I work on the advertising team and specifically handle all advertising and digital creative that relates to the delivery side of the business. I collaborate with our ad agency on a daily basis to create TV commercials and radio ads. I also act as the point person for the digital marketing team to review and approve digital creative such as paid social content and influencer content for National Windows and evergreen support.
○ Back in 2017 I launched my own blog to get a better understanding of the influencer space from the creator’s perspective and I quickly became a millennial influencer myself working with several different brands. While I no longer blog, gaining first-hand knowledge of the creator marketplace was invaluable and gives me unique perspective for this role that many other candidates won’t have.
○ I know you’re looking for someone who can help to build the Walmart and Walmart+ brand presence via influencer partnerships by working cross-functionally with different teams across the organization to drive programs forward by keeping brand equity, engagement, and sales at the forefront and that’s what I do best.
Why are you interested in leaving your current job?
○ I have so much appreciation for my current role and for my time at Domino’s. I’ve learned a lot and have been exposed to many unique projects and opportunities.
○ However, at this point in my career, I feel ready for a new challenge and I’m excited at the possibility of joining the Walmart team because I feel that I’d be able to grow and add value to the organization based on my professional background and my extensive experience.
○ I am familiar with many aspects of marketing and digital content, so I feel that I would make a great addition to the Walmart team and the duties associated with this role really seem to align with my goal of becoming a manager, so that really excites me.
Why are you interested in joining the Walmart team?
○ First and foremost, as a consumer, I love shopping at Walmart so I was excited to see the Digital Media: Content and Influencer Marketing Manager role posted. Whether I’m shopping for groceries, cosmetics, outdoor equipment, or electronics, I can always find what I need at Walmart – it’s my go-to shopping destination.
○ From a career standpoint, I have heard so many great things about the work environment at Walmart. It’s inspiring to see and hear the stories of internal growth. I know that 75% of salaried managers begin as hourly associates and many leaders within the company started their first jobs at Walmart. I know that the business is always growing, and as someone that is seeking growth in their own career, I want to be a part of that.
○ I have also been impressed by Walmart’s digital presence between the brand’s website, app and social media. I personally love to scan products in store using the app if I’m looking for a price and I’ve also enjoyed the convenience of Walmart+ by getting items delivered right to my door the same day.
○ I have some ideas and ways that I feel I can add value based on my background, so the prospect of joining the team really excites me. From what I’ve learned about the role so far and from reading through the job description, I can tell that this position is crucial to the marketing function at Walmart.
What do you know about Walmart?
○ Founder: The Walton family (Sam Walton)
○ Brand history:
■ Company was founded by Sam Walton in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962.
■ Currently headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.
■ Owns and operates Sam’s Club.
○ CEO: Doug McMillon
■ Named CEO in 2014.
■ Was previously president and CEO of Walmart International and president and CEO of Sam’s Club prior to that.
■ Has worked at Walmart for over 30 years – started as a teenager unloaded trucks for hourly wage.
○ Ad agency: Deutsch LA and FCB
○ Media agency: Publicis Groupe – just won account last summer.
○ Charitable partner: Walmart Foundation
■ Created to help support the communities Walmart serves.
■ Last year, provided more than $1.5 billion in cash and in-kind annual giving.
What interests you about this role?
To me, this role is the perfect combination of responsibilities due to the fact that it includes partnering with influencers while working closely with agency partners and internal teams. I’m passionate about content and optimizing it for the right social platforms so it has the largest impact and leads to engagement. Getting people talking about a product or the brand I work for is the ultimate goal and I love brainstorming new ways to jump on current trends or create evergreen content. I also feel that this role will provide me with a new challenge which is something I’m seeking in my next position.
What are you looking for in your next position?
In my next position, I’m looking to challenge myself professionally and therefore grow my skill set in order to continue to provide value to the organization I work for. This role is contains a great combination of duties including ones that I’m familiar with, but also additional responsibilities that would allow me to obtain the growth opportunities that I’m looking for in my next role.
What is your biggest WEAKNESS?
My greatest weakness is that sometimes I can be apprehensive to ask for help. With my working style and personality, I like to figure things out on my own and during the course of my career I’ve had several leaders that have been more hands-off, which left me with a great sense of autonomy. I’ve learned, however, that putting my pride aside and soliciting guidance from others is beneficial in the long run in order to reach solutions in a quicker manner. Marketing is very fast-paced and in many cases you have to pivot quickly, so the more that I engage with others when I need help or have a question on something, the better off I will be as I’m then able to gain their perspective which in turn allows me to walk away with a better understanding than I previously had.
What is your biggest STRENGTH?
I feel that I have strengths in many areas thanks to my diverse background. One of the biggest strengths I’d like to highlight is my ability to build relationships. In my current role and in all my previous positions at Domino’s, I’ve worked very closely with our ad agency and cross-functional internal team members, day in and day out. I’m extremely comfortable working with internal counterparts, agency teams, brand partners, third-party vendors and influencers. I know this role requires someone who is able to work closely with multiple teams and individuals. I’ve been told by supervisors in the past that I’m extremely reliable and always prepared. In addition, I’ve been told that I’m very level-headed and seen as a leader on the teams that I work on.
What motivates you?
There are a lot of things that motivate me. First and foremost, my family and friends motivate me to be the best I can be. I’m lucky to have a great support system in my personal life. I am also extremely motivated by team members and peers. I love to celebrate big wins and grow together in order to achieve company goals and objectives.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years, I see myself in a heightened leadership position at Walmart, helping to guide the social media team or even providing value back to the organization via my expertise from an advertising or PR standpoint. I can certainly see myself being a part of the Walmart family for years to come which excites me.
What type of manager do you work best with?
Over the course of my career I’ve had several different types of managers. I know that each person has a different working style and I’ve learned how to navigate different personalities in the workplace. For me specifically, I feel that I work best with a manager that is supportive, collaborative and able to provide guidance when I need it.
Why are you the best candidate for the job?
○ I’m the best candidate for this position since I have a diverse background and skill set. Over the course of my entire career – from working in agencies to working at Domino’s – I’ve touched digital content, creative and influencer marketing in different capacities.
○ Thanks to my current and previous roles, I am extremely comfortable managing digital projects, reviewing and approving content for various channels and identifying process improvements.
○ I also pride myself on building relationships with cross-functional team members, agency staff and third-party vendors. I know that I will add a lot of value to the Walmart team if offered the position and would hit the ground running in order to get acclimated.
What are your favorite trends on social media right now?
Social has always been ever-changing and I think TikTok has really accelerated the way that trends surface and die off. I love seeing the way that people are playing off of different lyrics from Taylor Swift’s new album. It’s also fun to see the way that people embrace seasonality and lean into trends around that, especially as we get closer to the holiday season.
What do you think of our brands’ social media accounts?
PROVIDE ANSWER
How would you improve our social media accounts/what would you do differently?
ANSWER
What are our competitors doing on social media?
Target:
Kroger:
What are your salary expectations?
○ IF THEY ASK FOR SALARY EXPECTATIONS: My salary requirements are flexible, but I do have significant experience in the field that I believe adds value to my candidacy. I’m eager to continue to discuss in more detail what my responsibilities at Walmart would be. Can you share the range that’s currently carved out for the role?
○ IF THEY ASK WHAT MY CURRENT SALARY IS: I’d love to learn more about the role before speaking on that, especially as it relates to the duties, the team and how success will be measured. I will say that I want my next step in my career to provide heightened responsibility which I feel this position would include and fair compensation based on my diverse background and skillset in many marketing areas.
○ IF THEY PUSH FOR A NUMBER OR RANGE: With my years of experience and my background in many marketing areas, my salary expectation is in line with the higher end of the range for similar roles in the digital content space.
■ Range in mind: $125,000 to $145,000
Are you willing to relocate?
○ I know the job posting didn’t mention whether this role would be positioned in the office or remote-eligible for the right candidate. Can you tell me what the expectation is for this role?
○ I’m currently based in Michigan and would love the ability to work remotely if offered this position.
Do you have any questions for me?
Which brands do you follow on social/which brands do you think are doing a good job on social?
MoonPie - Super humorous. They keep their content simple which works well.
Denny’s - Very funny.
Reynold’s Wrap - Very aestically pleasing feed. Very curated.
How would you describe yourself?
I’m a detail-oriented hard worker that excels at focusing on tasks autonomously, but also thrives by collaborating and connecting with colleagues on cross-functional teams to drive results. I’m not afraid to ensure accountability of others and dig deep to better understand the outcome of marketing campaigns. I’m passionate about content and optimizing it for platforms by utilizing best practices and I enjoy building relationships with internal counterparts as well as third-party vendors.
Are you actively applying and interviewing elsewhere?
○ Yes, I am actively applying and interviewing elsewhere.
When could you start?
○ I’m really looking forward to the prospect of joining the Walmart team. However, I do have some previously scheduled commitments to attend to after giving notice at my current job. My ideal start date would be 2-3 weeks from a potential offer.
Who are your favorite influencers right now?
○ TikTok:
■ Anna Sitar and Josh Brubaker – both from Michigan.
■ Zachariah
■ EmilyOAndBows
■ It’s also fascinating to see how Gen Z creators like Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae have blown up on the platform.
○ Instagram:
■ @champagneandchanel
■ @ericaligenza
■ @kaylabuell
What have been some of your favorite activations by other brands?
○ Stranger Things 4 Launch
■ Netflix had so many great activations in cities around the world to celebrate the return of Stranger Things for season 4.
● It was cool to see the Upside Down being projected onto the Empire State Building in NYC and many other locations across the globe.
● Netflix also partnered with TikTok influencers to drum up excitement about the show via their own videos and by sending them to the Stranger Things experience – an experiential walkthrough of different settings in the show.
○ Google Pixel 4 Launch:
■ I was personally involved in the Google Pixel 4 launch in 2018. Google sought out Domino’s as a partner to promote their new phone and hand deliver the new device to over 90 influencers/celebs.
● Two influencer events in NYC
● Personal deliveries to celebs in NYC and LA
● Personal deliveries to YouTube artists at the Black Creator Summit in ATL
• Drove 35M organic impressions in the first 72 hours.
• 16% of all Pixel impressions were driven at launch.
• 2.5K social mentions.
What have been some influencer campaigns that you’ve spearheaded?
○ Salads (2017): I helped to launch the very first influencer campaign at Domino’s when the brand introduced salads to the menu in 2017. That campaign was in partnership with a network called Popular Pays.
■ Results:
● 2.8M reach across 21 influencers
● 2.54% engagement on their channel
● 105% more engagement than typical Domino’s posts
○ Hotspots (2018):
■ Results:
● 234 total pieces of content
● 68.7M potential impressions
● 94.5 K engagements
○ Home on NYE (Sway – 2019, Influential – 2020):
■ Sway results:
● 197 total pieces of content
● 59.5M potential impressions
● 71.1K engagements
■ Influential results:
● 19.8M impressions across 2 influencers
● 37K engagements
○ Points for Pies (2019):
■ Results:
● 161.3M potential impressions
● 201.5K engagements
○ One-off partnerships:
■ Bubba Wallace
■ Sean Lowe
What influencer platforms are you familiar with?
○ Influential
○ Sway Group
○ IZEA
○ Obviously
○ The Motherhood
○ Open Influence
○ Social Native
○ AspireIQ
○ Linqia
○ Activate
○ Mavrck
○ Social Fabric
What are your favorite digital content trends right now?
○ Digital trends have always been ever-changing. A few of my favorite trends are:
■ NFTs and Crypto – it’s been really interesting to see the way that NFTs and Cryptocurrency have taken off over the past few months.
■ UGC – I have always been a fan of user-generated content and I think it’s great for brands to lean into it for their own marketing efforts.
How do you stay up-to-date on the influencer marketing industry?
○ I use a site called AllTop which aggregates articles and headlines from popular social media sites. I like to scan AllTop each day and find new stories to read so I can stay up-to-date on the latest trends in the social media and influencer marketing industry.
○ I also find it helpful to consistently review what other brands are doing and how they’re partnering with influencers. It’s helpful for benchmarking purposes and to have a general idea of which creators are partnering with which brands.
Are you familiar with FTC guidelines?
○ Yes, I’m familiar with FTC guidelines from working directly with influencers at Domino’s but also from when I used to blog. I know how important it is to ensure that proper disclosures are being used. In my opinion, having a process to communicate and verify that influencers are following FTC guidelines is a critical piece of any influencer relationship.
What are some of the most effective ways to identify influencers for a campaign?
○ I have found that some of the most effective ways to identify influencers for a campaign are to review their social channels to see the types of content they post. For me, I specifically look to see what performs well for them and what people are interacting with. I also like to double check their engagement rate and scan through their followers to determine how genuine their platforms are.
How would you measure the success of an influencer marketing campaign?
○ I would measure the success of an influencer marketing campaign by seeing how many new followers were gained, what the engagement and conversation rates looked like. I’d also review clicks and sentiment to understand if the campaign was received in a favorable way.
Provide an example of a time when you had to manage a campaign with multiple influencers.
○ An example of a time when I had to manage a campaign with multiple influencers would have been when Domino’s rolled out Hotspots (a new carryout service method). For this campaign, I partnered with Sway Network and vetted 20+ influencers/bloggers. After reading through their applications to the campaign, I narrowed down
Do you have experience using analytics to measure the success of an influencer marketing campaign?
○ I have experience using social listening tools to measure the success of influencer campaigns in real-time and after campaigns have wrapped. I also like to use advanced search features on social platforms to find and analyze post performance natively. It’s always helpful to assess performance if posts include hashtags and many of the influencer networks that I’ve partnered with in the past have very intuitive dashboards where you can monitor post performance during the course of a campaign.
What would you do if an influencer you were working with suddenly gained a million new followers overnight?
○ If an influencer that I was working with suddenly gained a ton of new followers, I would become a bit skeptical and would begin looking into the potential cause of the growth. Was the influencer involved in a follow loop with other creators? Did they purchase followers? Did they attend a brand event where they gained a lot of exposure to new potential audiences? There could be a number of reasons, so I’d want to investigate on my own to determine the cause of the increase. If I didn’t find anything alarming, I would most likely continue the relationship with the influencer, but if I did find anything of concern, I would escalate it to the network or influencer themselves to understand more and see if ending the relationship would be the best next step.
How well do you understand the social media landscape?
○ I’ve been working in or adjacent to the social media industry for my entire career. I’ve seen the way that new platforms emerge and how the influencer industry has taken off. I’m comfortable navigating social media platforms and tools. I also have the unique advantage of having blogging/influencing experience myself, so I understand what it’s like from the creator’s perspective.
What’s your view on micro-influencers compared to celebrity influencers?
○ I think micro-influencers can really move the needle for brands compared to celebrity influencers. With any campaign, I think it’s important to assess the overall goal before determining who to partner with. If the goal is awareness, then partnering with creators that have high reach like celebrities do can be advantageous. Overall though, in my experience, I’ve seen that mid-tier and micro influencers are very efficient in driving engagement rate.
How do you measure the results and ROI of your influencer marketing work?
○ I think ROI can be measured in a few different ways when it comes to working with influencers. First, I think it’s important to set benchmarks prior to launching campaigns so that when results come in you have a framework to compare to. The benchmarks could be based on reach, engagement rate, clicks, views, etc. Second, if creators are able to utilize specific promo codes or affiliate links, assessing clicks and sales that they were able to drive is a good indicator of performance.
