The one thing I’ve realised in the last 3 years (or a little more) is that everyone is now a content strategist. And now that everyone has access to AI, there is just no threshold to who gets to call themselves a content strategist.
In fact, with all due respect for my peers, the use of AI has also led to diminishing the understanding of who a content writer, marketer and strategist is. That’s precisely why most companies are struggling to create a content engine that helps with both search visibility and lead generation.
You see it in the form of continually pivoting content strategies, failure to scale beyond 0 to 1, hiring and firing of writers, SEO specialists, pausing or stopping content efforts and the worst of it all – changes in what the company wants to be known for.
If you flinched a little reading that paragraph, you’re probably in this situation.
So if I had to share one thing for you to not fall into the AI slop of marketing and growth, let me share the 15 things that help you hire the best content strategist.
TL;DR
If you’re hiring a content strategist, don’t evaluate them like a writer or channel manager. Look for someone who can:
- Think in systems, not isolated content pieces
- Connect content to revenue, pipeline, and business outcomes
- Understand both SEO and AI visibility (ranking + citation)
- Start with audits and diagnosis, not random ideas
- Bring a clear point of view, not generic advice
- Build topical authority, not just target keywords
- Identify and fix content decay, not just create more
- Prioritize distribution, not just publishing
- Ask sharp, strategic questions about your business
- Simplify complexity into a clear, actionable roadmap
- Balance strategy with execution reality
- Show visible proof of thinking (not just past work)
- Tell you what not to do, not just what to do
- Align content with sales, product, and real buyer journeys
- Focus on authority and compounding impact, not output
15 things that the best content strategists bring to the table
I’ve repeated these time and again over calls, LinkedIn posts, podcasts and webinars. But I’m going to put these down for you again:
1. They Think in Systems, Not Content Pieces
A strong content strategist doesn’t talk about blogs, posts, or campaigns across different channels/ departments in isolation.
They think in content systems. They strategise and explain how everything connects to build your brand’s authority, visibility, and pipeline over time, because content is not a one-time effort; it’s a continual one!
2. They Can Connect Content to Revenue (Not Just Traffic)
I’ve seen content strategists shy away from measuring metrics that are directly tied to business growth. Most would spend time measuring the success in impressions, clicks and rankings, that give you only half the picture.
While this is equal parts the fault (and overobsessive push) of the company stakeholders, the right content strategist would nudge you to collaborate on your:
- Pipeline
- Conversions
- Influence on deals
Yes, it may require your sales team to collaborate with marketing like our client ZenAdmin does. It may take them an added 30 minutes. But it brings results that give you the right direction to scale your content strategy in.
3. They Understand AI Visibility, Not Just SEO
I’m now one of the few who is continually telling companies that there is no such thing as SEO ‘or’ AI SEO. It’s both, and that’s exactly what a good content strategist will tell you if they understand the game in depth.
A content strategist should go beyond telling you how to rank. They should be able to explain:
- Ranking vs citation
- AI search behavior
- How content gets chosen, not just discovered
No matter how volatile the landscape is right now, they should be able to put two and two together and tell you how things really work.
4. They Start With Audit and Diagnosis (Not Ideas)
I might get a lot of hate for saying this, but most (weak) content strategists jump to: “Let’s create content on X topics.”
But that’s exactly what you don’t need. With AI, there’s already a lot of content on every possible topic. So all you’re going to do is add more noise to the landscape without creating a distinction for your company.
Strong content strategists will always start with:
- What exists
- What’s broken
- What’s decaying
- Where authority is leaking
- What competitors are doing (and where the gaps are)
- What your content tilt is going to be
Yes, it might take them a week to go from start to getting your content published. But they fix before they scale.
5. They Have a Clear POV (Not Generic Advice)
Have you ever had a call where the answers to your questions about content marketing or search visibility are always “it depends” or “we’ll test and see”. From one Founder to another, that’s not strategy; that’s hesitation and that is the red flag you shouldn’t skip on.
The best content strategists will take a stance, challenge assumptions, do the research, document the plan of action and bring conviction to the success of your strategy.
6. They Think in Topics, Not Keywords
Keyword thinking is outdated on its own. To be honest, I have always nudged companies to focus on setting up their pillars and clusters instead of chasing keywords and their volumes only.
A strong content strategist thinks BIG when it comes to establishing your presence in a sustainably growing manner. Which means their strategy covers:
- Topic ownership
- Pillar-cluster models
- Semantic depth
They know how to build topical authority, not just rank pages. Simply put, they know how to help you stand out in the most competitive of markets.
7. They Understand Content Decay and Maintenance
Most content doesn’t fail. It decays. And that’s not a positive signal to the search engines (whether traditional or AI).
If your content strategist only talks about creating new content, and not content:
- Updates
- Consolidation
- Pruning
- Repurposing
…you’ll end up with volume, not authority. You might see a few quick wins like spikes in your search charts, but no concrete business outcomes like leads.
8. They Care About Distribution as Much as Creation
Publishing is not a content strategy. A good strategy should always include how you’re going to take your content to the audience, and get it discovered.
A good content strategist will always talk and push you to distribute content on channels like:
- Quora
- Social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc)
- Newsletters
- Ad campaigns
- External mentions
Because visibility doesn’t come from your website alone anymore.
9. They Ask Better Questions Than You Do
In a discovery call, pay attention to what they have to say as much as the questions you take with you.
Pay attention to them asking:
- Sharp, uncomfortable questions?
- About your pipeline, not just content?
- About what hasn’t worked before?
The quality of their questions = quality of their thinking. It signals how much cross-collaboration and depth they will bring to your content strategy once work begins.
10. They Can Simplify Complexity
Content strategy is multi-folds and complex.
But a great content strategist can help you:
- Break it into clear steps
- Explain trade-offs for each approach
- Give you a clear roadmap
If their answers or approach to strategy confuses you, they sure as hell won’t be able to align your team.
11. They Balance Strategy With Execution Reality
Some content strategists are too high-level. Others are too tactical. And the one you hire, should be suited to your market maturity.
The right one:
- builds strategy
- understands execution constraints
- makes it actually work within your team
One of the red flags I’ve seen first hand include strategists who walk in and immediately – replace your agencies/ partners, your team, ask for 10x more budgets without clarity on ROI, want to activate all strategies in one go in the name of ‘building presence’.
12. They Have Visible Proof of Thinking
Don’t just look at portfolios (logos and names). I want you to go one step further and look at a few more things that give you a better picture of who they are, and how they think:
- Their LinkedIn
- Blogs
- Newsletter
- Public content
Do they:
- Share insights?
- Challenge norms?
- Demonstrate thinking consistently?
This is one of the strongest credibility signals today
13. They Know When to Say “Don’t Do This”
Most content strategists out there are who I call ‘yes men’. In order to appeal to stakeholders and get the projects, most people will either agree with what you have in mind or simply tell you what to do.
The best content strategists tell you:
- What NOT to do
- What to stop
- What’s wasting your time
Even if it comes at the risk of them sounding too pushy, this is where real leverage comes from.
14. They Align Content With Sales and Product Reality
Content that doesn’t reflect:
- Real objections
- Real use cases
- Real buyer journeys
…won’t ever convert. It’s almost like finding a trending topic and deciding to write on it because everyone else is; without knowing how it ties to your business goals.
A strong content strategist bridges marketing, sales and product. I for one, love to loop in the customer support and success teams too – even if it takes an additional day to get the strategy finalised.
15. They Optimize for Authority, Not Output
This is one of the biggest shifts I recommend founders to understand.
A weak content strategy will only cover:
- more content
- more keywords
- more volume
But a strong content strategy will push you towards:
- deeper content
- stronger positioning
- compounding authority
The Real Test
If you remember just one thing from this blog, make it this: “A content strategist is not someone who helps you create content. It’s someone who helps you build visibility, authority, and demand systematically with scale in mind.”
I’ve been helping B2B and SaaS companies build content strategies that help them stand out in competitive markets for over 13 years. And I’m taking on a few projects in Q2.
Reach out to me today and let’s build your content strategy.
