This blog is part of a series exploring key marketing freelance and contractor roles on the Wripple platform. We’ll dive into what each role does, why they’re essential, and how they can help your business thrive.

First up: content strategist. Content is constantly evolving and spans everything from videos and eBooks to blog posts, social media, and more. Having the right strategy in place ensures your content is impactful and aligned with your goals.

What is a Content Strategist

A content strategist is a marketing professional responsible for overseeing and designing content programs. Their work involves planning, creating, and managing content across various formats, ensuring every piece contributes to your brand’s objectives. Their key responsibilities include:  

• Content planning and development
• Audience research and insights  
• SEO optimization
• Analytics and performance monitoring  
• Cross-functional collaboration  

What to Look for in a Content Strategist?

A successful content strategist combines a range of skills to craft and execute effective content plans. Below is a list of skills that define a well-rounded content strategist who can deliver high-quality content across various platforms and adapt to evolving industry trends.

Must-Have Skills:

• Proficiency with content management platforms
• Content strategy and planning
• Creative content ideation
• Workflow management for content projects
• Developing detailed content briefs
• Establishing and maintaining content voice and tone
• Optimizing content for performance (e.g., SEO, analytics)
• Conducting comprehensive content audits
• Expertise in SEO principles
• Creating and managing editorial guidelines
• Developing and maintaining an editorial calendar
• Conducting data analysis and insights  

Nice-To-Have Skills:

• Familiarity with AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Grammarly)
• Graphic design knowledge (e.g. Canva, Adobe)
• Industry-specific knowledge  
• Video editing skills  
• Social media expertise (LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok)

Why is a Content Strategist Critical for your Business?

A skilled content strategist takes your content beyond just existing–they ensure that it works. They craft content that can:  

Build Trust and Credibility: Well-crafted content should provide value to your audience, whether through entertainment, education, or practical solutions. Over time, this positions your brand as an expert in your industry and instills confidence in your offerings.

Boost Brand Recognition: Consistent, engaging content increases awareness, drives user engagement, and reinforces your brand identity. It helps your audience connect with your brand.  

Enhance SEO: Optimizing your content for targeted keywords can boost your search rankings and organic traffic over time. Unlike paid ads, SEO-driven content can continue to generate visibility and value long after it’s published.  

Drive Lead Generation: Content tailored to attract and guide potential customers through the buyer’s journey can help nurture leads effectively.  

Bringing an experienced content strategist into your business mix can help your brand remain cohesive across all media while also creating content aligned with your brand goals—highlighting the key messages you want your audience to remember.

Insights from the Frontlines: A Content Strategist’s Perspective

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We interviewed Nicole Victor, a brand planner and content strategist on the Wripple talent marketplace, to get her thoughts on where content marketing is headed:

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‍‍Q: Where do you think the content strategist role is headed in the next 5-10 years?

A: The content strategist role is evolving from traditional content planning and copywriting and becoming more strategic, technical, and data driven. While AI will reshape their day-to-day tasks, strategists will have to become more customer-centric and experiential in their approach, where content isn’t just communication but a key driver of customer engagement and business growth. Some changes I see on the horizon:

• Integration of behavioral science/economics and data analytics will become central, with strategists needing to deeply understand how content influences user behavior and decision-making and be part of an integrated, cross-functional approach to content.
• Familiarity with video and audio strategy as non-textual interfaces continues growing in importance.
• Understanding personalization technologies and analytics will become more important, as content strategists will rely heavily on analytics to map content to specific audience segments and life stages to create more personalized experiences.
• Brand-fluency to best build and grow a brand, while tapping into global trends and niche content needs to build brand attraction, relevancy, and loyalty.

Q: What is the impact of AI on content strategy?  

A: AI is both a disruptor and an enabler for content strategists. Its influence can be categorized as follows:

• Efficient: AI tools can streamline content creation, helping strategists focus more on high-level planning and storytelling. ‍
• Analytical: AI enables creation of dynamic, personalized content through predictive analytics, SEO, user behavior analysis, and AI-driven segmentation. ‍
• Creative + Strategic: Using AI to help balance creativity will be critical. It’s not yet a tool to replace content and strategists need to resist over-reliance on AI-generated content. Recent examples from Meta show that AI is not yet an ethical, global, and inclusive approach to content, so strategists need to view results with a discerning and experienced eye

Q: Are there any exciting trends that could impact this role?  

A: Exciting trends impacting the role:

• Combinations of text, voice, video, and AR/VR as content, requiring strategists to think about content in more multi-dimensional ways.
• Growth of audience segments will put greater emphasis on inclusive content that looks at users/audiences as more than just members of a generation. Multi-cultural, multi-generational audiences will shape core strategic considerations rather than be afterthoughts.
• Evolution of real-time content optimization using SEO, AI, and machine learning to dynamically adjust content based on user behavior and context. The ability to test/optimize/test will be a part of this advancement.
• Development of more sophisticated content intelligence tools that provide deeper insights into content performance and user engagement patterns which will be part of CRM programs.