How To Become A Content Strategist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a content strategist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Nancy Tag

Content Strategists are creative professionals who create a plan on how and which digital content should be made, based on a company's business plans and general brand. They are in charge of orchestrating the music that is the company's online presence, including their website, blog, and social media.

Due to the nature of the job, the Strategist has to understand editing, article and copywriting, communication, user outreach, design, digital marketing and advertising, SEO, and even some IT knowledge. Their work also requires cooperation with several different teams, such as IT and the creative department.

When it comes to working as a Content Strategist, there is no set requirement in terms of education. Some companies may require that their Strategist have a university diploma, but experience can often tell more about whether a candidate is a good fit or not and is thus valued more.

What general advice would you give to a Content Strategist?

Nancy Tag

Professor, Program Director, Master's in Branding + Integrated Communications (BIC), The City College of New York

Keep learning. Add certificates to your resume. Go to as many industry conferences as you can for advanced learning and networking. Right now, more conferences and panels are online and free than ever before. Watch them - and take notes! As we say in the BIC program: stay curious. The communications industry evolves so rapidly that the ability to absorb and apply new information is critical to being successful and making an impact.

ScoreContent StrategistUS Average

Salary

7.3

Avg. Salary $93,672

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.2

Growth Rate 13%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 10.65%

Black or African American 7.19%

Hispanic or Latino 13.34%

Unknown 6.72%

White 61.67%

Gender

female 55.69%

male 44.31%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress Level

5.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.6

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.8

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a content strategist

Explore content strategist education requirements

Most common content strategist degrees

Bachelor's

78.7 %

Master's

15.3 %

Associate

3.1 %

Start to develop specific content strategist skills

Skills	Percentages
Content Strategy	14.02%
Digital Marketing	9.99%
Digital Content	6.15%
User Experience	4.92%
Content Marketing	3.60%

Complete relevant content strategist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New content strategists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a content strategist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real content strategist resumes.

Research content strategist duties and responsibilities

Manage paid, earn and own content distribution channels including PPC, SEO and SEM.
Manage assets of the major film studios using proprietary CMS technology to monitor copyright material on YouTube.
Manage content-strategy and copywriting engagements for a global interactive ad agency.
Manage implementation of marketing automation software and lead integration with CRM to improve tracking and visibility into campaign performance.

Prepare your content strategist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your content strategist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a content strategist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Content Strategist Resume templates

Build a professional Content Strategist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Content Strategist resume.

Apply for content strategist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a content strategist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do content strategists rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Content Strategist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Pros

I love content and marketing overall. As a former journalist turned marketer, I love connecting with audiences and catering to what their interests may be, whether they know it or not yet. As a content director, I get involved in various departments like business development, finance, presidental level and others. Normally, most expect to only be involved in marketing efforts, but that simply isn't true.

Cons

I do think that depending on where you are employed some companies are not accustomed as to how involved a content department should be. Oftentimes it's either completely dead or pure chaos with workload. I think content director should be given larger authorities, teams and say regarding strategy. Oftentimes, they are overlooked due to old-school employees assuming they're glorified proofreaders or the grammar people.