In this post, you’ll learn what is a content strategist, their roles, responsibilities, skills, salary expectations, and industries.
Content strategists are in high demand across multiple industries.
However, this profession requires a spectrum of skills, experience and an impressive portfolio.
But before we get started on how to be a content strategist, let us clear the basics:
What is a Content Strategist?
A content strategist plans, create and curate the content that:
- Maximises the conversion rates
- Creates brand awareness
- Improves google ranking
- Attracts new customers and retain them
- Builds audience trust and communication
- Educates the audience
What Does a Content Strategist Do?
The key role of a content strategist is to develop the content according to the brand’s or company’s objectives and user’s needs.
They are responsible for creating actionable content to be shared across various social media platforms. Additionally, they perform data analysis to measure the performance of their content strategy.
Check out this infographic on their roles and responsibilities:
What Industry needs Strategists the most?
Strategists in a marketing team can be a powerful asset to help businesses reach their target audience and generate more business.
- Professional Services
- Advertising
- Real Estate
- Marketing
- Digital Transformation
- Cybersecurity
- Manufacturing
- Industries That Rely on Events
Any business with the following goals needs content marketing strategist:
- Building brand name
- Creating brand awareness
- Grow market
- Monetising website
- Generating leads
- Increasing conversion rates
Content Marketing vs. Content Strategy:
In digital business, content marketing backed with a great content strategy is a foolproof recipe for developing a powerful brand and greater ROI.
Although content strategy and content marketing are pieces of the same cloth, there are hairline differences.
Here is what makes them different:
Content Marketing:
Content marketing is simply the creation, publishing, and distribution of great content.
The purpose of content marketing is to create, publish, and distribute engaging content.
The goal is to build the audience’s trust and brand name.
As a result of your content marketing campaigns, you will be able to drive targeted traffic to your site, and once they arrive, your on-site content strategy will be able to convert that traffic into leads and customers.
Content Strategy:
Content strategy is the foundation on which a successful content marketing is built.
Think of content strategy as a map. If content marketing is the journey toward brand success, content strategy is the blueprint that directs it.
Content strategy is:
- Goal-oriented: content strategy clearly defines the goal of specific content.
- Audience-centred: it defines which audience to target at the right time and place.
- Performance-driven: performance is continuously analysed for higher and better results.
Content strategy creates chiselled content. And, combined with effective marketing efforts, one achieves the desired results.
Types of Content Strategists?
Front-End Content Strategist:
These strategists have more of a creative edge as they emphasise the content.
They are responsible for the following:
- Whether the content meets the user demand
- Whether it fulfils SEO objectives
- Editing and beautification of content
- On which channels can it be delivered
- The content layout
Back-End Strategist:
These strategists lean more toward the analytical side.
Their task is:
- To scale the performance of the content.
- Analysing user content engagement
- Updating old content
- Metadata
- Project organisation and management
Content Strategist Salary:
Average salary of an entry-level strategist in the US is $45,000 – $50,000 per year. While it is over $70,000 for mid-career employees:
In India, a mid-career content marketing strategist with 5 years of experience earns an average salary of ₹5.7 lakhs per year:
An experienced Content Strategist in India earns around 10.8 LPA:
What degree do you need to be a Content Strategist?
Generally, a bachelor’s degree in communications, business, marketing, journalism or english is preferred. Besides the degree, they should have at least five years’ experience in any of the following:
- Digital content managers
- Copywriting
- Content Editors
- Content Writer
- Content Marketer
What are Content Strategist Skills?
Content strategists shoulder various responsibilities depending on the projects. Therefore, they have various skills up their sleeves.
This further opens them to career paths, such as digital marketer, content strategy manager, marketing manager etc.
1. Copywriting Skills:
Every strategy is bound to fail if the writing is not engaging. Therefore, having copywriting experience is valuable for a content strategist.
Solid copywriting skills will allow content strategists to direct, plan and design the content to be more readable and digestible.
2. Storytelling Skills:
People love stories.
Storytelling is not akin to copy. Yet, it is a great way to engage the audience. Each piece of content tells a story which connects the reader to other content on your site.
Therefore, storytelling is a skill to add to your inventory.
3. Editing skills:
A content strategist is accountable for content planning, presentation, creation and organisation. Therefore, editing skills are a must-have.
Poorly edited content (likely to have grammatical errors, low readability and less appealing to the public) marks failed content strategy.
4. Observation Skills:
Content strategists must have keen observation skills.
They tend to see the big picture.
As a content strategist, leaving a tiny detail can mess up the entire content. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to details.
Although this is more of a personal trait, it can be developed with effort.
5. Organisational and Management Skills:
A career as a content strategist is messy.
Strategists usually work with their plates full. From content research to its delivery and analysis, top-notch organisational skills are on top of the list.
They are also expected to work on various projects with diverse team members. Therefore, it is difficult to guide and direct them.
6. Analytical Skills:
Analysing what appeals to the audience, how the current content can be edited to people’s taste, what can be done with data collected from various platforms, and which platform best suits the content needs and analytical mind.
As a content strategist, you must read between the lines and conclude.
7. SEO Skills
Avoid creating content if it isn’t SEO optimised.
A content strategist’s most important skill is being well-versed in the SEO bible.
A properly executed SEO planning will lead to the following:
- Consistent content quality
- Higher ranking on google search
- Direct audience/customer engagement
Getting your hands on SEO tools is also a value-added skill.
8. Collaboration:
Being in charge of content, you must collaborate with the marketing team, clients, etc.
And not everyone will be on board with your planning. So to keep the work streamlined, practising teamwork is important.
9. Ability to Work Under Pressure:
Content strategists run on tight schedules. With multiple tasks on their hands, the ability to stay calm and execute plans is highly valued.
Remaining cool-headed in unpredictable situations makes efficient content strategists.
10. Ability to understand clients’s goals and objectives:
A good content strategist has deep insight into the company’s goals and market.
The better they understand its objectives, the better strategy they make.
Content strategists must also have the following skills:
- Leadership skills: to guide the marketing team
- Decision-making skills: their role is to plan content that sells.
- Respect for time: the projects they take on are time bound. They are on their toes to get things done quickly without compromising quality.
- Technical know-how: understanding various content management systems.
FAQs
What is a Content Marketer?
Content marketers or Content Marketing Strategists plan, create, and share valuable content to attract and convert prospects.
What is a Social Media Content Strategist?
The goal of social media content strategists is to create quality content for their clients’ (or company’s) social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Their task is to identify target audiences and schedule posts so that social media exposure is maximised. Additionally, social media content strategist keep up with the latest social media trends and measure the effectiveness of content strategies implemented.
What are the roles of a content strategist?
The role of a strategist include the following:
Improving content delivery
Responsible for content promotion
Editing the content produced to the audience’s taste
Measuring and analysing the content marketing campaign performance.
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