How to hire a content strategist

How to hire a content strategist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step content strategist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a content strategist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new content strategist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a content strategist do?

Post a content strategist job for free, promote it for a fee

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your content strategist job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a content strategist for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect content strategist also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of content strategist salaries for various roles:

   Type of Content Strategist	Description	Hourly rate
   Content Strategist	Web developers design and create websites. They are responsible for the look of the site... Show more	$32-62
   Java/J2ee Developer	Java developers are in charge of the design, development, and management of Java-based applications. Whereas, J2EE or Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition developers are responsible for developing web and software enterprise-internet level applications... Show more	$33-56
   Java Developer	A Java developer is responsible for developing Java-based applications, including its strong efficiency and smooth operations for the clients and business' use. Java developers implement application designs, diagnosing ineffective processes, and conducting troubleshooting... Show more	$32-54

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Content Strategy
   • Digital Marketing
   • Digital Content
   • User Experience
   • Content Marketing
   • Content Creation
   • Content Development
   • Project Management
   • Style Guides
   • WordPress
   • Google Analytics
   • Client Facing
   • Web Content
   • Editorial Calendar

   Check all skills

   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.
   • Leverage analytics to increase marketing ROI and provide leadership with marketing effectiveness reports.
   • Implement new strategies for PPC & SEO campaigns.

   More content strategist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the content strategist job description is a good way to get more applicants. A content strategist salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a content strategist in Arkansas may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level content strategist. Additionally, a content strategist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average content strategist salary

   $93,672yearly

   $45.03 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level content strategist salary

   $67,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average content strategist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$123,928	$60
   2	Washington	$110,252	$53
   3	Connecticut	$105,889	$51
   4	Ohio	$101,004	$49
   5	Maine	$93,326	$45
   6	Arizona	$93,121	$45
   7	Utah	$92,031	$44
   8	Massachusetts	$91,841	$44
   9	Oregon	$91,048	$44
   10	Michigan	$90,915	$44
   11	Minnesota	$90,543	$44
   12	New York	$90,325	$43
   13	Alabama	$89,771	$43
   14	Pennsylvania	$88,889	$43
   15	Rhode Island	$88,740	$43
   16	District of Columbia	$88,556	$43
   17	Nevada	$87,956	$42
   18	Virginia	$87,422	$42
   19	Georgia	$87,244	$42
   20	Illinois	$86,538	$42

   Average content strategist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$135,333	$65.06	59
   2	Coursera	$128,920	$61.98
   3	Google	$127,919	$61.50	32
   4	Apple	$126,936	$61.03	8
   5	DoorDash	$115,211	$55.39
   6	First Republic Bank	$113,845	$54.73
   7	MongoDB	$113,427	$54.53
   8	Barclays	$112,471	$54.07	2
   9	Sonos	$112,123	$53.91
   10	SoCalGas	$111,770	$53.74
   11	ByteDance	$109,933	$52.85	1
   12	Workday	$109,456	$52.62
   13	Invesco	$106,872	$51.38	2
   14	ServiceNow	$106,533	$51.22	10
   15	Box	$106,119	$51.02
   16	Q2ebanking	$105,200	$50.58
   17	Intel	$104,717	$50.34
   18	Adobe	$103,050	$49.54	20
   19	Lyft	$103,005	$49.52
   20	General Motors	$102,959	$49.50

4. Writing a content strategist job description

   A good content strategist job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a content strategist job description:

   Content strategist job description example

   You will design and deliver industry-leading solutions that balance the needs of consumers, and advertisers across a wide range of needs for the client ads family of products.
   
   Creating a foundational change in our organization as it relates to the design and delivery of great user experiences for enterprise products is the cornerstone of your work here.
   
   To achieve that, you will partner closely with UX Researchers, UX Designers, Information Architects, Product Managers, and Engineers and other UX Writers.
   
   As a team member, you will excel at creating clear, concise, and reusable content and copy, informed by qualitative and quantitative data.
   
   You will also contribute to delivering high-quality and intuitive navigation and metadata schemas while also helping to clarify and document product and content strategy.
   
   You will be a strong advocate for creating guidelines, refining processes, codifying content and terminology, championing localization and accessibility, and thinking big picture about how language affects not only each product flow, but the greater user experience across client.
   Responsibilities: Work with Product, Eng, and UX (research and design) to understand our advertisers pain points and build more inclusive and efficient experiences for them to accomplish their day-to-day tasks, including: Plan, write, document, and maintain clear, concise user-interface text. Help design and implement complex information architecture which may include taxonomies, ontologies, and metadata models. Support the development and governance of navigation schemas, controlled vocabularies, and tagging systems. Partner with research to understand our user's POV and iterate based on feedback. Work with design to brainstorm and problem-solve for complicated workflows that improve a wide variety of user journeys. Support foundational content strategy, by writing guidelines and creating/contributing to word lists for internal stakeholders. Collaborate closely with designers, researchers, prototypers, product managers, and engineers to define requirements. Identify opportunities and define UX content solutions to evolve our product offerings across the Google Ads platform and ecosystem.
   Requirements: Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience. 3+ years' experience in writing and/or designing product experiences. Experience designing and writing content and an understanding of content strategy. Proven experience working on information architecture including taxonomy, ontologies, metadata or navigation schemas. Portfolio of UX design projects and/or writing samples. Able to work as a W2 employee of Genesis10 (no Corp-to-Corp).
   Desired: Bachelor's degree or higher degree in English, Information Management, Design, Human-computer Interaction or Library Science. Portfolio of demonstrated UX design, IA, and writing work. Strong verbal and written communication skills, including developing presentations and deliverables. High level of comfort with ambiguity and strong problem-solving skills. A deep understanding of the design thinking process including research and testing. Familiarity with developing design principles and best practices.
   If you have the described qualifications and are interested in this exciting opportunity, please apply!
   
   About Genesis10:
   Genesis10 is a leading U.S. business and technology consulting firm with hundreds of clients needing proven talent and solutions to power their strategic initiatives. If you are a high performing business or IT professional with solid, referenced experience, we want to meet you. Genesis10 recruiters and delivery professionals are highly accomplished career advocates, who get to know you beyond your resume to position you with the opportunities that fit your skills, experience and aspirations. We have benefit options to fit your needs and a support staff that works with you from placement throughout your engagement project after project. To learn more about Genesis10 and to view all our available career opportunities, please visit us at www.genesis10.com . "Genesis10 is an Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/V "

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right content strategist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your content strategist job on Zippia to find and recruit content strategist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dribbble, authentic jobs, working not working, coroflot.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting content strategists requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview content strategist candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new content strategist

   Once you've decided on a perfect content strategist candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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