Content writer vs content strategist

The differences between content writers and content strategists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a content writer, becoming a content strategist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a content strategist has an average salary of $93,672, which is higher than the $58,918 average annual salary of a content writer.

The top three skills for a content writer include digital marketing, wordpress and web content. The most important skills for a content strategist are content strategy, digital marketing, and digital content.

Content writer vs content strategist overview

	Content Writer	Content Strategist
Yearly salary	$58,918	$93,672
Hourly rate	$28.33	$45.03
Growth rate	4%	13%
Number of jobs	19,621	14,660
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Average age	42	37
Years of experience	2	4

What does a content writer do?

The job of content writers is to create the best possible written or visual content ranging from blog posts to press releases. They produce the content for various types of websites, including social networks, news aggregators, and e-commerce sites. The job of content writers is not limited to writing, but also ensuring that the content connects or is relevant to the website pages. They are expected to set the tone of the website and revise the content upon customers' or clients' requests. They are also responsible for assisting in the creation of style guides.

What does a content strategist do?

A content strategist specializes in creating engaging and captivating content to increase brand awareness and shape company image. One of their responsibilities is to conduct marketing research and analysis to understand the current trends among consumers and determine what kind of strategy would work best with the public. Moreover, a content strategist mainly coordinates with writers and content managers, collaborating with them in developing marketing materials. A content strategist may also perform administrative tasks such as managing schedules, producing progress reports, creating presentations, and maintaining the projects' documentation.

Content writer vs content strategist salary

Content writers and content strategists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Content Writer	Content Strategist
Average salary	$58,918	$93,672
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $84,000	Between $67,000 And $129,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Cisco	Meta
Best paying industry	Finance	Technology

Differences between content writer and content strategist education

There are a few differences between a content writer and a content strategist in terms of educational background:

	Content Writer	Content Strategist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Most common major	English	English
Most common college	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Northwestern University

Content writer vs content strategist demographics

Here are the differences between content writers' and content strategists' demographics:

	Content Writer	Content Strategist
Average age	42	37
Gender ratio	Male, 39.8% Female, 60.2%	Male, 44.3% Female, 55.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 5.0% White, 75.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 7.2% Unknown, 6.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.3% Asian, 10.6% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	16%	9%

Differences between content writer and content strategist duties and responsibilities

Content writer example responsibilities.

Implement and manage Salesforce and Marketo for client to establish lead nurturing campaigns.
Maintain guest blogging strategy and policies to achieve a consistently diverse authorship and to grow readership.
Manage the editorial production of the pamphlets, brochures and graphic material to target worldwide audiences including china.
Manage proposal process from RFP (request for proposal) receipt to writing and editing various contributions to final RFP submission.
Collaborate with overseas team and manage documents using SharePoint to conceptualize and generate new marketing content.
Produce a wide array of literature ranging from poetry to short stories.

Content strategist example 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.

Content writer vs content strategist skills

Common content writer skills

Digital Marketing, 10%
WordPress, 9%
Web Content, 6%
Blog Posts, 6%
Digital Content, 3%
Content Marketing, 3%

Common content strategist skills

Content Strategy, 14%
Digital Marketing, 10%
Digital Content, 6%
User Experience, 5%
Content Marketing, 4%
Content Creation, 3%

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Content Writer vs Content Strategist

Updated January 8, 2025

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