What it tests

Platform-native content thinking, understanding of organic social mechanics, and ability to build a consistent content engine across channels

Format

1Candidate receives a fictional brand brief: product, audience, three competitors with strong social presence, and a channel goal ('grow LinkedIn from 2K to 10K followers in 6 months')
2They audit the three competitors' social content and identify one thing each does well and one gap to exploit
3They produce a 4-week content plan for one channel: content pillars, posting cadence, 8 specific post concepts with format and hook
4They write two posts in full — one designed to maximize reach, one designed to drive follows — and explain the strategic difference

What to look for

Is the channel strategy platform-native, or is it 'repurpose the blog post'?
Do the eight content concepts show genuine variety across pillars, or is it eight versions of the same thing?
Is the reach vs. follows distinction understood — do they make different structural choices, or just swap CTAs?
Does the competitor audit surface non-obvious insights, or just describe what they see?

Adaptation guide

Use your actual company and current social accounts. Ask the candidate to audit your profiles too — the notes they take tell you as much as what they produce.

Full description

Format:

Candidate receives a fictional brand brief: product, audience, three competitors with strong social presence, and a channel goal ("grow LinkedIn from 2K to 10K followers in 6 months")
They audit the three competitors' social content and identify one thing each does well and one gap to exploit
They produce a 4-week content plan for one channel: content pillars, posting cadence, 8 specific post concepts with format and hook
They write two posts in full — one designed to maximize reach, one designed to drive follows — and explain the strategic difference

Time: 90 minutes

What to look for:

Is the channel strategy platform-native, or is it "repurpose the blog post"?
Do the eight content concepts show genuine variety across pillars, or is it eight versions of the same thing?
Is the reach vs. follows distinction understood — do they make different structural choices, or just swap CTAs?
Does the competitor audit surface non-obvious insights, or just describe what they see?

Adaptation: Use your actual company and current social accounts. Ask the candidate to audit your profiles too — the notes they take tell you as much as what they produce.

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