Types of Strategist in Creative Industries
It’s confusing, all of these strategist positions that appeared over the last decade. When starting a creative project, whether marketing or retail, it feels like you need a strategist. But which one(s)? Let’s look into what some of these roles are and how they begin to cross-over.
Account Strategist
Develop strategic plans and solutions to help clients achieve their goals, while managing and growing relationships. Leverage insights, data and product offering to improve solutions and planning for clients.
Brand Strategist
Create a strategic recommendation, connecting brand objectives to a vision, purpose and plan. Establish brand positioning, architecture, naming, identity, visual comms, etc.
Business Strategist
Determine targets for organisations and prepare an approach on how to achieve this. Analyse existing plans, practices and data. They can focus on specific areas or the overall business.
Channel Strategist
Identify the best way to expose potential consumers to a company’s product or service. This includes the end goal of both selling the product, as well as delivering a relevant, meaningful consumer experience.
Client Strategist
Define business objectives based on client needs to craft concepts, brief and framework for new client projects. Guide existing client projects on an ongoing basis.
Communications Strategist
Develop communication and media approach across numerous platforms. This should be scaled according to reach, promote products and tell brand stories.
Content Strategist
Conceptualise, generate and manage digital content for a consumer- or business- based audience. Content should reflect the brand’s or company’s positioning and expertise.
Creative Strategist
Translate brand strategy into consumer experiences for the short to medium term. This can then be used by design teams to execute campaigns, environments, advertisements or interactions.
Customer Experience Strategist
Orchestrate a positive, purposeful experience between the consumer and the business, pre- and post- sales. This involves setting an overarching approach and managing multiple touchpoints.
Digital Strategist
Develop an approach to connect the brand to an online consumer. This can include connecting through a website, social media, email, mobile or e-commerce platform.
Influencer Marketing Strategist
Manage influencer partnerships to drive brand awareness and acquire new customers. Source talent, as well as execute and optimise campaigns across multiple channels.
Marketing Strategist
Identify and implement an effective approach to promote a product and/or gain customers. This is done through data analysis, market research, budget management and campaign development.
Media Strategist
Plan and execute custom media partnerships for content development across display, video, mobile and social channels.
Omnichannel Strategist
Create a seamless, interconnected experience across multiple marketing and sales platforms. This includes both on and offline channels.
Product Strategist
Define, develop and create products and solutions for a client or target market. This includes scaling existing products, while identifying new opportunities.
Qualitative Strategist
Provide insights into the consumer through market research, while identifying key opportunities. Utilise various methodologies to gather information and communicate this to key stakeholders.
Retail Strategist
Develop an overarching plan to expose consumers to a product or service. Identify the relevant retail channels, as well as the price, presentation and promotion around the offering.
Social Media Strategist
Create an approach around the brand’s use of social media to reach, inform and influence its target audience. Each social media channel will feed into this, while having their own nuances.
Web Strategist
Plan, develop and create a long-term plan around the brand’s online presence. It is necessary to understand the consumer, brand and the business’s technical abilities.
This is only a handful of strategy types within creative industries. As you dig deeper, each of these also differs in description depending on the industry and company needs. It demonstrates that complexity continues to increase around creating a brand and profitable offering, while connecting with a target consumer.