My Wholesome Journey as a Content Strategist & 5 Valuable Takeaways!

When I graduated from college, I was lucky enough to find a job that resonated with the kind of person I am. I wanted a role that was creative to appeal to the right side of my brain. But at the same time, I also wanted to pick the left side of my brain.

I came across an incredibly ambitious startup looking for a content strategist – and that’s when I knew I had found what I was looking for.

My days would pass by as I spent most of my time ideating and executing brand posts across social media platforms. The feeling of coming up with an outstanding concept and then bringing it to life is something that I will always cherish.

If you’re anything like me – social media savvy, creative, and open to new challenges – the role of a content strategist might just be what you’re looking for. In this blog, I go over the meaning, job description, key responsibilities, qualifications, principles, and my learnings as a content strategist. It’s everything you need to know as a beginner in this field. So let’s dive right in!

What is a Content Strategist?

Okay, first of all, this question sounds like one of my 50-year-old relatives asking me what I do for a living. So let’s rephrase it. What is the role of a content strategist?

Content and Communications is a sub-division that comes under the Marketing function of an organization (which is why content strategist is used interchangeably with content marketing strategist. This department in particular deals with any messaging that goes out on behalf of the organization – be it audio, visual, or written (Although most organizations would have a further division of teams for different modes of communication, like a separate media team, graphic design team, and content writing team).

In today’s article, my focus is going to be on the written side of content – since that’s the team I’ve been a part of. That’s enough context, now let’s get right into it!

A content strategist is a member of the content team who plans and outlines:
~ What type of content should be created
~ When the content should be published
~ What should be the different platforms for distribution of the content
And other important aspects that make up the Content Strategy of the organization.

The role of the content strategist also includes implementing this strategy by coordinating with other teams like the social media team, publication team, email marketing team, etc.

Depending on the size and scope of the organization, the content strategist may also take on reporting as a function by keeping a close eye on the performance of the content strategy across platforms.

What is the Job Description of a Content Strategist?

An overview of a Content Strategist Job Description would be to plan, create, and manage compelling content across different platforms that propels marketing efforts and aligns with bigger-picture business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Creating a content plan/strategy

The foremost responsibility will be to research the industry and get an in-depth understanding of the business – what problem it’s solving through the product/service/offering, the unique selling proposition, marketing goals, SWOT, etc.

It’s also important to conduct a thorough competitor analysis to understand the approach of other players in the market.

Assimilating all of this information, you will create a content strategy for the business.

Creating a content calendar

The content calendar is a summary of the overall content strategy. As the name suggests, it presents the plan of action in a calendar view, specifying the exact launch details of each and every piece of content. This includes a description of the content idea, the exact copy, date and time of launch, platform/publication details, etc.

The purpose of a content calendar, besides summarizing the content strategy, is to also align different teams on the final plan and ensure everyone is clearly aware of the deadlines in place. It acts as the north star for day-to-day activities.

As a content strategist, you will have to create and maintain this content calendar, updating it regularly on a rolling basis. Some useful tools for this include Sprinklr, Semrush, Hootsuite, etc.

Developing content

This is the day-to-day function that a content strategist will carry out. Once the strategy and plan are in place, the next step is to fill in the blanks with the actual content that will be published.
Depending on the business goals and strategy, the content could range from blog posts to articles, social media posts, videos, infographics, and more.

At this stage, as a content strategist, you will have to put on the hat of a project manager and collaborate with different teams within the organisation to develop content. This may include briefing the teams about the project at hand, the desired outcome(s), assigning deadlines in accordance with the content calendar, etc.

Ensuring consistency in quality

Within a smaller team, it’s easy to maintain a consistent tone of brand voice and deliver high-quality content. However, as the team grows in size, it becomes important to keep a close eye on the output, ensuring that the content meets brand guidelines and quality standards.

Depending on the industry, a legal and regulatory element might also come into play. For example, the financial services industry, alcoholic beverages industry, commercial real estate industry, etc. are required to comply with certain laws and disclose sensitive information. A content strategist may need to stay on top of this too.

Keeping all of this in mind, you, as a content strategist, will set up quality assurance processes at different stages throughout content development and output.

Analysis and reporting

Once the content has been published, it’s important to gather relevant data and assimilate it in a way that provides insights into the performance of the content strategy. Metrics vary across different platforms, and it’s important to have a general, if not in-depth, understanding of these metrics.
While analysing your own past performance, it’s good practice to keep track of competitor performance for the same time period.

As a content strategist, you will identify key performance indicators across different platforms and establish benchmarks according to industry and competitor standards. Then, at regular intervals, you will measure performance in terms of the KPIs established and draw actionable insights and conclusions.

Review and optimization

This is the final stage in a content cycle, wherein you review the insights and conclusions from the analysis alongside the content from that particular time period.

You will identify shortcomings and areas of improvement in the content strategy. By collaborating with other teams, the goal for the next content cycle will be to fill in any gaps and optimize the strategy, eventually aiming for better results.

You will also ensure that the content strategy is directly complementing the marketing goals. Preparing analysis reports and presenting them to marketing managers will fall under your umbrella of responsibilities.

How to Become a Content Strategist?

If the functions and responsibilities listed above sound exciting, then the role of a content marketing strategist might be suitable for you. So how should you proceed? What are the skills and capabilities required to take on a role like this?

Now if I’m being fully honest, every company out there would prefer if you had some proof of work. This is not necessarily the same as work experience or a content portfolio.

A proof of work document, just like a portfolio, is a compilation of any sort of relevant projects that you’ve completed in the past. The main point of difference is that you can include mock projects, assignments, competition submissions, etc. Basically, even projects that aren’t actually live, or associated with any organisation(s).

Apart from this, the following qualifications, skills, and achievements will assist you in landing a job role as a content strategist:

Educational Qualifications – Bachelor’s Degree

As a content strategist, most companies will expect you to be a college/university graduate, at the least, unless you’re applying for an internship. Nevertheless, it’ll be expected that you’re pursuing a bachelor’s degree, if not already completed one.

The requirement for a bachelor’s degree (in a specific field) will depend on the company and the industry to which it belongs. However, generally speaking, a bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications or journalism will suffice.

When you’re applying for a senior position, some companies may prefer a master’s (post-graduate) degree in similar fields.

Relevant Work Experience

As content marketing teams grow across the board, the demand for content writers, creators, and content strategists is increasing. An increasing number of opportunities are coming up across all fields, from SaaS companies to EdTech startups, IT companies, consumer product startups and so on.

Since content marketing is a relatively new field, there aren’t enough experienced folk to meet the growing demand. This leaves room for those who are just starting off on their employee journeys, including freshers.

So unless you’re looking for a senior position, you don’t really need to have years and years of work experience. Brownie points: even if you’re a fresher, companies prefer if you have some internship/volunteer experience in content-relevant roles.

Understanding of Content Marketing Principles

As a content strategist, you will be responsible for planning and strategizing content. That means, you should have a fair understanding of the different content marketing principles. Don’t worry, I got your back.

If we don’t over-complicate things, these aren’t too far from general marketing principles. With only a few slight changes in the approach, you’ll catch up to speed in no time.

Principles of Content Marketing

~ Audience-Centric : Content should be created keeping in mind the audience’s needs, preferences, pain points, and behaviours. In simple terms, your content should provide some value to the person(s) consuming it. I’ll take a little bit more about value further in the article.

~ Engagement-Focused : Create content that encourages your audience to react in some way. If your audience is reaching out to you via an email, a comment, through private messages, be sure to respond to them and foster a relationship.

~ Relevance : Your content should be relevant and align with industry trends. Whatever your niche may be, you should aim to stay up-to-date and produce content that matters to your audience. (Further reiterating the first point)

~ Consistency : One of the most important principles! Publishing content consistently, regardless of the ups and downs that fall in the way is non-negotiable. I’ll throw some more light on this in the coming section.

~ Big-picture View : The bitter reality of being a content strategist is that not every content piece is going to shine. Think of the 80-20 rule: 20% of the content you create will actually drive 80% of your marketing goals ahead. That’s also why creating content consistently is important. In the bigger picture, your cumulative effort is what will result in success, not day-to-day content pieces. So if something doesn’t perform as well, simply take in the learnings that you can, and move along.

A Robust Set of Soft Skills

As I’ve mentioned already, as a content strategist, you’ll end up collaborating with various teams, and might also take on the role of a project manager. This calls for various soft skills including:
~ Effective communication and people skills
~ Excellent time management
~ Attention to detail
~ Lateral thinking (the ability to think of solutions to the same problem from different points of view).

Edge!

What sets you apart? No, not your skills and qualifications. What sets you apart as a person?

Too often, we shy away from expressing our personality in an attempt to keep things ‘formal’. However, as someone working in a creative role, it’s crucial that you let other parts of your life bleed into your work – because that is what’s going to make your content unique from the rest.

Let your portfolio reflect this – and give your manager a reason to hire you!

My Learnings as a Content Strategist!

Now, I’ve spoken about this in my previous blog – I joined a B2C startup as a creative strategist, where I learnt a lot about branding and content creation. I’ve also worked at a B2B SaaS startup as a content strategist, which was a whole different world of content. Currently, as of September 2023, I work with an MNC as their social media content strategist.

Every place has given me a different and unique perspective on content strategy as a marketing sub-division, and I’m going to summarize some of my most important learnings for you. Here goes:

Everything is Content

Like I said before, you have to let some of your personal life bleed into your work. All that you consume in your day-to-day life is subconsciously processed and translates into content that you create. That means everything around you is content waiting to be recreated by you.

The catch, however, is that you can’t retrieve information from your subconscious mind as and when you’d like to. It’s simply not in your control. Because of this, so much of what you consume is just lost.

One way I like to tackle this problem is by practising mindfulness in small ways. For example, when I see something on Instagram or LinkedIn that inspires me or evokes any emotion within me, I’ll save it to a folder for later. I’ll randomly send myself links so that when I look back, I have a curated list to get my creative juices flowing. That’s sort of why I started unwindr in the first place.

So live in the moment, be observant of things around you and try to make note of even small things that entice you.

Repurpose Resources

If you join a startup as a content strategist or set on an entrepreneurial journey, chances are that you’ll be responsible for publishing content on more than just one platform. In the blink of an eye, your tasks will start piling up and you’ll find yourself overwhelmed with a tonne of backlog work.

The one hack that will save your life is repurposing content. That simply means, if you create a blog for a website, use the same content for 2 LinkedIn posts, 5 tweets, an Instagram reel and a post, a couple of Pinterest pins … you get the drift.

This is something I’ve been practising since my first ever job. Make the most out of your content and also make your life slightly easier by publishing and republishing content. If it’s been a while, don’t shy away from reposting old content too.

Bit-by-Bit

Your content strategy is a long-term strategy. It’s not something that will materialize overnight. It’s going to take several months of consistent efforts before you can see any tangible results. And that’s okay.

In a traditional marketing campaign, your timeline is much shorter, generally 2 to 3 months, at the most. You introduce your brand in 3 phases, namely pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. You wrap up the analytics and move on to the next campaign.

Content marketing is so much different from that. You introduce your brand bit by bit, one content piece at a time. Your timeline is stretched out and analysis and reporting is a continuous, regular function.

So be patient and enjoy the journey.

Rapid Adaptability

Building off of the previous point, since you analyse content much more frequently as a content strategist, you’ll be able to derive insights and notice patterns much more before a marketing manager does so.

If you see a particular format of content exceed benchmark expectations, you should be able to adapt to this insight and include more of it in your content strategy. Similarly, if something doesn’t seem to be yielding results as you had anticipated, feel free to phase it out of your strategy.

The point is, with experience, you’ll be able to intuitively tell whether or not something is going to work. Don’t ignore this instinct. Instead, find a way to work around it, adapt to whatever the circumstance is and remember: the show must go on.

Value

I’ve learnt this thing about value in the context of content strategy: the audience will find your content to be valuable if you’re able to do one of the following:
~ Educate
~ Entertain
~ Evoke Emotion

So with every piece of content that you create, let these three elements that represent value dictate whether or not your content meets quality standards. If the content isn’t of any value, your audience is not likely to engage with it.

So, strive to provide value to your audience and they’ll stick around for sure.

Example of Content Strategy

My first ever blog on unwindr was about content strategy. I delve into the different content categories that Binance uses to keep its Twitter community active and lively. I’ll list out the broader headings here, but for a better understanding, you can read the full blog over here.

Seven content bucket ideas that’ll give your Social Media page the creative & humourous boost that it needs:

7) Show off your product – but don’t forget – product placement is key
6) Brand reminders are important – but moderately funny reminders are better than in-your-face ones
5) Be relatable and hit where it hurts
4) Don’t shy away from using the face of your company (your founders) every now and then
3) Rule #1 of the content game is that – you’ve got to hop in on the trend – always
2) Festive (topical) posts are great for that extra engagement
1) Don’t take yourself too seriously

I’d say since all of this is Twitter-centric, it counts as Social Media Content Strategy, rather than overall content strategy. Nevertheless, it should give you some inspiration to build that proof of work document and get you started as a content strategist.

That’s going to be all for today’s blog. You can drop a comment if you have any questions, and I’ll answer them to the best of my abilities.

If you need any help with your content strategy, I’d be happy to help out with that too!

Until next time, Tiddles out!

Frequently Asked Questions!