98 Must-Ask Questions for Your Marketing Mentor

Questions to Ask Your Mentor…

About Growth Marketing

Growth marketing, because it’s a not a well-defined area, can often be one of the hardest skills to learn as a marketer. But an experienced growth marketing mentor can help get you more clarity on your path. Here are the kinds of questions you can ask:

1. What’s your take on the difference between growth marketing and other types of marketing?
2. If I don’t have a technical background, will I need to study certain topics to understand growth as an area overall? What skills do I need to develop to become a good growth marketer?
3. How can I build a growth marketing strategy that aligns well with the business’s overall goals?
4. How can I get better at the systems-thinking element of growth and growth marketing?
5. I’ve been in growth marketing for a while and want to become a Head of Growth. What skills do I need to learn or areas do I need to study to be able to run a growth team well?
6. Since growth teams are usually cross-functional, how can I learn to work well with my product and engineering teammates?
7. How do I build proper experimentation processes into my growth marketing?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Go to Market Strategy

GTM is a complex area that involves a lot of moving parts. Instead of trying to wing it on coordinating everything, talk to your mentor! Ask questions like:

1. What kind of market research should I conduct before building a GTM strategy?
2. How much do I need to know about our target audience when building a GTM strategy? Do I need to guard against not having enough information vs. having too much?
3. We’re in a very niche market. What can we do to amplify our GTM plan’s reach?
4. What metrics and KPIs do you prioritize to measure the success of a go-to-market plan?
5. What methods have worked for you in the past to determine the best channels for a GTM plan?
6. We’re in a very crowded market. What do we need to do to make our product stand out and make the most of our GTM plans?
7. At what point should we consider pivoting our GTM plans? Have certain pivoting strategies worked for you in the past?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Content Marketing

Like product marketing, great content marketing touches on tens (if not hundreds) of marketing components and requires careful coordination. But don’t let it overwhelm you. Instead, ask your mentor questions such as:

1. How can I ensure that my content strategy reflects and feeds into my company’s overall business and marketing goals?
2. We need to increase our blog’s conversion rate. Should we focus primarily on bottom of the funnel content, middle of funnel, or top of funnel content?
3. What metrics and KPIs should we track to measure the success of our content marketing?
4. Are there any best practices for incorporating data into our content marketing strategy?
5. How can I ensure I’m aware of emerging distribution channels for our content?
6. How do I build and lead a strong team of content writers, especially if we’re not working with an in-house team?
7. What processes worked well for you in the past to keep your content publication process organized?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Conversion Rate Optimization

CRO can be a tough topic to tackle for a couple of reasons: first, it requires a great grasp of data and experimentation and second, it’s hard to know what success looks like. But a mentor can help you get clear super quickly, especially if you ask questions like:

1. How does an understanding of design and UX play into CRO?
2. How do you determine the optimal placement and design of calls-to-action (CTAs) to maximize conversions?
3. Are there best practices for determining audience split percentages (i.e. 50/50 vs 60/40) in an A/B test?
4. How do you adapt CRO strategies for different traffic sources and audience segments?
5. We’re wondering how to determine what success looks like for CRO improvements. What should we compare our results to, industry benchmarks or past site performance?
6. How do you strike a balance between a seamless user experience and gathering valuable user data for CRO?
7. How do you approach identifying and prioritizing areas for improvement in the conversion funnel?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About PPC

Ah yes, PPC. It can be a fantastic route to acquiring more customers quickly…or make you wonder if you’d be better off burning the dollars as a PR stunt instead. Make sure your campaigns stick to the positive, high ROAS, “raking in customers” route by asking your mentor these types of questions:

1. How do you determine an appropriate budget for PPC advertising and allocate resources effectively?
2. How do you stay updated on changes in ad platforms and adjust PPC strategies accordingly?
3. What are some best practices for keeping your ad creatives and copy fresh over time?
4. What’s the best way to determine which PPC channel our company should use (or which channel we should move to if current channels flatten out in terms of ROAS)?
5. What indicators should we watch out for that signal our attribution and tracking may be malfunctioning?
6. How do you address challenges related to click fraud and ensure the quality of traffic in PPC campaigns?
7. At what point do you typically consider pivoting your ad campaigns if you’re not seeing results?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Email Marketing

Whatever you’ve seen on LinkedIn, email marketing is most definitely not dead. But like PPC and social media, you’ll need a lot of fresh angles to keep customers opening your emails. Ask your mentor things like:

1. How can we ensure our emails don’t end up in our users’ spam folders?
2. We’re considering moving to a different platform. What do we need to keep in mind during the migration process?
3. How do you address challenges related to email list hygiene and ensure a clean and engaged subscriber base?
4. How do you handle data privacy and compliance issues in email marketing?
5. How can we ensure we’re focused on needle-moving KPIs and metrics rather than vanity metrics in our email marketing?
6. What considerations should be made for A/B testing in email marketing to optimize for open rates and click-through rates?
7. How do you ensure email campaigns are optimized for mobile devices and provide a seamless user experience?

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About SEO

SEO is another marketing domain prone to constant changes thanks to Google’s algorithm updates. And it can be difficult to keep up. Instead of doing guesswork, chat with your mentor about what really works. Ask these questions:

1. What role does on-page optimization play in ensuring that content is both user-friendly and search engine-friendly?
2. How do you stay updated on changes in search engine algorithms and adapt SEO strategies accordingly?
3. What considerations should be made for optimizing content for featured snippets and voice search?
4. What strategies do you recommend for optimizing images and multimedia content for search engines?
5. How do you approach SEO for different types of content, such as blog posts vs. landing pages?
6. Is it better for an early stage company to go after high volume, low competition keywords or long tail keywords?
7. How do you address and recover from SEO penalties or drops in search rankings?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Marketing Automation

With more and more AI tools popping up every day, marketing automation is a hot topic (even if it’s been around for longer than most non-marketers think). Learn from your mentor on how you can make the most of these tools with questions like these:

1. What marketing automation tools have you found most useful throughout your career?
2. How do we ensure that our automation process is cohesive rather than scattered?
3. Are there best practices for implementing marketing automation processes, especially for early stage startups?
4. Can you walk me through an example of a marketing automation process you found particularly useful?
5. What’s the best way to use marketing automation in the context of marketing personalization?
6. What areas should we focus on implementing marketing automation in first?
7. How do we know when we should refine our marketing automation processes?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Copywriting

Copywriting: love it or hate it, you’ve got a 90 to 95% chance you’ll do it at least a few times in your marketing career. Whether you’re just learning the ropes or having to adapt your copy skills to a new industry, your mentor can help. Talk to them about questions like:

1. I need to learn copywriting, fast. What skills should I start with to get up to speed quickly on how to write copy?
2. Part of our team is staunchly opposed to using Chat-GPT, but we need to publish at a very fast cadence. Is there a way to use AI to balance the need for speed with respecting writing as a craft?
3. How much research should I conduct before starting work on copywriting?
4. What considerations should be made for optimizing copy for search engines (SEO) while maintaining readability?
5. I’m in a very technical industry. How can I write copy that’s compelling and demonstrates our company’s expertise without being dry or too detailed?
6. What are some best practices for writing attention-grabbing headlines?
7. Is it better to be clear or creative when it comes to writing copy? Should I prioritize one over the other?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Product Marketing

Just like content marketers, product marketers, you have a ton of moving parts to coordinate. But it doesn’t have to feel like trying to herd cats. Instead, chat with your mentor and ask questions about:

1. I’m looking at moving into product marketing from another sector of marketing. Are there specific areas I should focus on honing my skills in first?
2. How do you approach iterative improvements to product positioning and messaging based on performance data and market feedback?
3. Can you share strategies for using customer feedback to refine the product positioning and messaging over time?
4. What’s the best way to ensure our messaging stays consistent across all of our channels?
5. How can you both highlight benefits for customers while also explaining unique features or selling points?
6. What’s the best way to identify and articulate a unique value proposition to set our product apart in a crowded market?
7. Can you share your experience with effective campaign execution, including coordinating various marketing channels for maximum impact?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Social Media

Social media managers, our hats are off to you. Every company wants to go viral, but it’s rare they’re willing to put in the content work and take the risks necessary (Duolingo’s mascot videos, anyone?) to make it big. But, your mentor can help you knock your social campaigns out of the park. Ask:

1. How do you prioritize and set realistic expectations for social media KPIs and performance?
2. Do you have any personal experience with utilizing niche or emerging social media platforms? What did you take into consideration when evaluating those platforms?
3. How can we design social media campaigns that encourage users to share user-generated-content (UGC) with us?
4. How do you adapt social media measurement strategies when dealing with B2B products versus B2C products?
5. Do you have any examples of campaigns where social media played a pivotal role in achieving broader marketing goals?
6. Do you have recommendations for including iteration and testing in a social media program?
7. Can you share examples of reports or presentations that effectively communicated the ROI and value of social media efforts to stakeholders?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Understanding Data

There was a great meme shared by Elena Verna on LinkedIn:

You don’t want to be that marketer. Fortunately, you can learn how to use data to your advantage, and your mentor can teach you. Ask questions like:

1. What data platforms do I need to be most familiar with as a marketer?
2. How can I collaborate better with our data analysts (or our data science team)?
3. How do you ensure you’re staying up to date with data changes on a team, company, and industry-wide level?
4. Can you provide recommendations for working with unstructured data, such as social media comments or customer reviews, to generate marketing insights?
5. I feel like my understanding of data is a weak point. Do you have recommendations for courses I can take or resources I can use to improve my understanding?
6. What are some signs that our data reporting, tracking or analytics may be facing technical issues that we need to resolve?
7. As a team leader, how can I instill a data-driven approach into our marketing team?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Growing Your Career as a Marketer

Because marketing is such a huge umbrella, it can be hard to figure out where you should go next. The great news is that an experienced mentor can help walk you through a plan for your next career steps. Ask:

1. How can I figure out my skill-gaps and “what I don’t know?” And how can I start improving those skills?
2. I’m not sure whether I want to become a team leader or manager. Do you have any advice on how to determine if these roles would be a good fit for me?
3. Is it better to be a specialist or a generalist in marketing?
4. What strategies do you use to communicate complex marketing strategies and insights to stakeholders with varying levels of marketing expertise?
5. What advice do you have for marketing professionals looking to pivot or transition within the industry to enhance their career trajectory?
6. What’s the best way for me to build my network as a marketer, especially if I’m a solo marketer or part of a small team?
7. How can I ensure I’m regularly improving my skills and learning new ones to keep myself competitive in the job market?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

About Handling Stress and Preventing Burnout

Great marketing is not an easy job to pull off, especially if you’re part of a small team or a solo-marketer. Which is why we encourage all marketers to keep an eye on their mental and physical health. And to chat with a mentor about those topics, because they’ve done it before and can share what works. Talk about questions like:

1. How do you avoid burnout as a solo-marketer wearing multiple hats?
2. What do you typically take into account when prioritizing marketing tasks, especially in a fast-paced industry?
3. What habits have you found most effective for staying productive?
4. How do you maintain work-life balance? Do you have any strategies you found particularly useful?
5. I’m concerned I’m getting burnt out. What preventative measures do I need to take now before I hit real burn-out?
6. I’m not sure how to say “no” when my teammates or other teams ask me to take on other tasks. Can you walk me through the best ways to start developing those boundaries while still maintaining good relationships with my coworkers?
7. How do you know when to delegate a task versus taking it on and doing it yourself?

Our Mentor Recommendation for This Topic:

How to Find A Marketing Mentor Through GrowthMentor

So now that you’re armed with plenty of questions to ask your mentor, you’ve hopefully got the confidence to schedule a session with your mentor and start chatting marketing.

But what if you don’t already have one?

Well, this is exactly why GrowthMentor exists! Here’s how you can find a mentor on our platform:

First, you’ll want to visit the “browse mentors” page. You could just start scrolling.

But, since we have more than 600 mentors, you’ll want to narrow down your options first.

Within our mentor search, you can apply filters to search for mentors with specific skills, software expertise, industries, or current and former companies. There are 275 different software areas to filter by, 30 skill areas, 300 industries, and more than 100 mentor companies.

For example, let’s say you’re facing questions about starting a growth marketing program at an early stage SaaS startup and you want a mentor with experience in both of those areas. All you have to do is check “Growth Marketing” under skills, for 271 mentors:

And then, after a quick search for “SaaS” under “Industries”, check that box to narrow your field down to 113 mentors:

We usually recommend applying no more than 2 filters at a time, as certain filters (such as a mentor’s previous or current company) can pinpoint fairly specific results.

But in some cases, your filters may still yield a fairly large pool of potential mentors, like our 113 SaaS mentors with growth marketing experience above.

To focus your options even more, you can search for specific keywords in our general profile search. Within our “SaaS” and “Growth Marketing” filters, a search for the keyword “app” produces 46 mentor options, a search for “Head of Growth” yields 21 options, and a search for “CMO” produces 24.

From there, it’s just a matter of browsing your options and determining which mentor seems like the best fit for you.

However, sometimes you’re in the throes of decision fatigue and simply don’t have the time or energy to sort through even five or ten mentor options.

Situations like these are exactly why we built our new AI matching engine:

Simply describe your primary pain-point, add your desired outcome, and in a matter of minutes, you’ll be matched with three different mentors who will be a great fit to help with your challenge.

Then, it’s just a matter of booking your call and asking your questions.

So if you want the fastest way to talk to a huge pool of experienced, pre-vetted mentors, we recommend joining GrowthMentor.