What is a digital strategy freelancer?
A digital strategy freelancer is an individual experienced in helping businesses grow by building strategies and using a wide range of skills including copywriting, content writing, SEO, social media, search engine marketing, design, and more.
Hiring a digital strategy freelancer can be helpful for business owners and organizations because it will help them set a direction for their digital marketing across different digital channels: content marketing, social media platforms, email campaigns, and search engine optimization, and more.
What does a digital strategist do?
A digital marketing expert is a professional dedicated to building a brand image in the digital space. They are well acquainted with how consumers use the Internet and what devices they use it on. Their job is to use this digital marketing knowledge to create marketing campaigns and strategic advertising to approach consumers.
They may take on many different roles related to your digital strategy. Their primary role is to give advice about the direction your business needs to take when it comes to your use of digital technology.
They focus on particular tasks such as implementing your social media marketing strategy, acting as your social media manager, or managing and creating your blog posts to attract attention. This takes a significant burden off your shoulders, as it allows you to focus on creating and developing your products and services that heep current clients happy, while somebody else is looking after your social media platforms and content marketing.
A good digital strategist can connect all the aspects of your digital strategy into a cohesive whole and make the process run smoothly. Their in-depth understanding of social media platforms and content marketing will allow them to think of a strategy that unites all aspects of your digital presence and pushes you towards your business goals.
Simply put, you can view digital strategists as highly-skilled digital marketers who manage your relationship with consumers. Their job is to share your message with prospective customers make your brand stand out from the others in your niche.
How much does a digital strategist cost?
The cost of hiring a digital strategist depends on their experience, skill set, and the amount of work they need to put into your project. However, according to Comparably, digital strategists in the United States make an average salary of $87,008.
The lowest digital strategist salaries are around $45,000, while the top salaries are around $175,000. The amount of money you'll pay will vary, of course, but you can use these numbers to roughly guess how much money you'll have to invest in your digital strategist.
What makes a good digital strategist?
Since strategic planning freelancers must perform a plethora of different roles and handle a variety of tasks, the most important character trait for them is flexibility. Being able to adapt and overcome hurdles on the go is what will set apart great digital marketing managers from the average ones.
Having excellent communication skills is another must. Your digital strategist will be handling client relationships among many other things, which is not something they can do without first-class communication skills.
However, a digital strategist must also communicate with you all the time. They must be able to get the right information and data from you to do their job, and they must present their ideas to you clearly and efficiently, which is where communication skills come into play again.
A digital strategist will also have a difficult time without a healthy dose of creativity. Firstly, they will have to strategize your written content and have a say in producing your visual material. Both are creative tasks that require imagination and a bit of artistic talent.
Secondly, the situation in the digital space is always unpredictable and your digital strategist will face new challenges regularly. Overcoming new and unexpected challenges requires a creative mind capable of quickly coming up with solutions for staying on top of them.
How to hire the perfect digital strategy expert
Let’s take a look at the most effective ways of finding the perfect digital strategist, so you don’t have to waste time endlessly browsing the Internet.
1. Check out freelancing platforms
There are a few freelancing platforms that can help you find the right digital strategist. Upwork is one of the biggest, and it can easily help you connect with various digital marketing freelancers. It's home to many digital marketers and may help you find experts in various fields. Whether you're looking for a social media manager, somebody to take care of your graphic design, or something else entirely, you'll be able to find the right person even if you're on a tight budget.
Another platform that might be useful is Toptal. It's a bit more exclusive than Upwork, so you'll be able to find better talent, but you'll probably also have to invest more money in it, so it may not be a good option if you're just starting out with your business.
If you’ve just started your business, you can check out People Per Hour. It's been a useful platform for businesses that require flexibility and need to hire experts on a temporary basis.
Fiverr is another versatile platform that hosts many freelance digital marketers at different price ranges, so you can find the right freelancer regardless of whether you're just starting out or already have an established business. You'll be able to see freelancers' gigs and contact them if you think they're the right match for you.
2. Search on social media
Since you’re looking to find someone who can help you handle your social media, it makes sense to go use social networks to find the right person. One way of doing this is simply creating an ad that advertises your job opening. Instagram ads are extremely good at targeting people, so it’s very likely that you’ll find someone suitable in no time.
There are also lots of freelancers on social platforms who are advertising their freelance business and looking for clients. You might come across someone this way and there’s nothing stopping you from reaching out to them and offering them a job.
3. Use job boards
More traditional job boards can always help you in your search for the perfect freelancer. You can always Browse Indeed, Linkedin, or even Craigslist and see who you can find. These platforms allow you to contact potential freelancers directly, see what they’re experienced in, and hire them quickly if they’re a good match.
4. Hire with Mayple
If you're looking for a freelance digital strategy expert, the most convenient way of finding one is by working with Mayple. We can connect you to hundreds of digital marketers, freelancers, and agencies who specialize in various niches and can handle all your digital strategy needs.
Get started now and find the perfect digital strategist for your business. Mayple will ensure that you're connected to the most suitable marketer for your business and rid you of the hassle of sifting through freelancers on various freelance platforms.
5 skills every digital strategist should have
A digital strategist is a jack of all trades to some extent, but there are some crucial skills they must have if they want to do their job successfully.
1. Technical proficiency
Since a digital strategist must take on so many different roles, they must be a jack of all trades when it comes to software. While they don't need to be an expert in every app or program they need to use, they should:
- Have at least a basic understanding of graphic design and video editing, so they need to be familiar with the Adobe Suite.
- Be knowledgeable in Microsoft Office and Google Workspace is a must.
- Be proficient in content management systems such as WordPress.
- Be savvy with project management software such as Confluence, Jira, or Trello.
2. Social media knowledge
A big part of a digital strategist's job is creating and uploading social media posts and managing social media accounts. Even more importantly, they will be responsible for creating your social media strategy and handling your social media presence. That's why having an in-depth knowledge and understanding of social media is crucial for every content strategist.
3. Marketing knowledge
Since digital strategists are essentially digital marketers, a broad and in-depth knowledge of marketing is an indispensable skill. Your digital strategist will have to know how to research your consumer base and your competitors, how to identify and analyze your performance indicators, and how to manage and run marketing campaigns, for example.
It's also crucial to be great at handling Google Ads and Google Analytics. A digital strategist must know how to analyze and interpret the data from these platforms and adjust campaigns accordingly to make the most of them.
Additionally, proficiency in other social media advertising platforms such as Facebook Ads is crucial. Many businesses rely on Facebook Ads with great results, so you'll want to hire digital marketers who can launch and run a great campaign on the platform.
4. Analytical thinking
Analytical thinking is crucial for every job that demands juggling different tasks and analyzing different factors that are important for creating and implementing ideas. It is especially important for digital marketers, as they have to analyze various factors such as demographics, consumers' interests, the best channels for advertising, and other similar matters.
These factors are extremely important when launching a campaign, but the necessity for analytical skills doesn't stop after a campaign launches. It's important to constantly monitor and analyze the campaign's performance to figure out ways of improving it and maximizing the ROI.
5. Project management skills
Digital strategists typically act as social media managers and are in charge of creating and implementing your digital marketing strategy. This means that they can't do without strong project management skills. They must ensure that the marketing team is working smoothly and cohesively and that every task is carried out diligently and on time.
Strong project management skills also help digital strategists to stay within the budget. This is particularly important if your budget is tight or if you need to save some money.
9 questions to ask your digital strategist before you hire them
You need to be quite careful when conducting an interview with a potential freelance digital strategist. Here are some questions you should ask to see if they’re a good match for you.
1. What education and training in the field do you have?
Being a freelance digital strategist typically requires a degree in marketing, communications, or a related field. However, you should also inquire about other courses they have done and certifications they have acquired, especially when it comes to Google Ads and Google Analytics.
2. Which software are you familiar with?
As we've already mentioned, your freelance digital strategist must be savvy with many digital tools to do their job properly, so it's important to find out if their digital toolbox aligns with what your business needs.
3. What salary do you expect?
It's always important to know how much you will have to invest in your team, particularly when employing freelancers. Ask them about their hourly rates and the salary they're expecting, so you know if they fit your budget or not.
4. Can you give us some examples of campaigns you've executed?
It's important to inquire about your prospective freelance digital marketer's digital marketing career and achievements. Even if they seem to be well-rounded, they might not be the most reliable person if they don't have results that back up their claims. However, if they talk confidently about their well-executed campaigns and can clearly show you the results, you know you can rely on them.
5. How could your experience benefit our business?
This could be a good follow-up question to the previous one. You want to look for digital strategists who have clear ideas on how to implement their digital marketing skills and use them to help you achieve your goals.
6. What are your favorite techniques to build loyal customers?
A good digital marketing consultant knows that marketing is about more than just "converting" people into buyers. It's also about happy clients happy to recommend your products or services to their peers. Ask your digital marketing expert about their approach to loyalizing customers to see how they think and whether they have experience in this area.
7. What tools do you use in your digital marketing activity?
From tools used in building a content strategy to tools that help them schedule social media posts, digital marketing expert use a wide range of software applications to make their job more efficient. Asking them about their toolstack will help you better gauge their experience, how they maximize their efforts, and how you could help them perform at their best.
8. Have you ever done any guest post outreach?
While guest post outreach is a digital marketing specialization on its own, you may want to ask your freelancer about it. Some may have experience in doing this and they might want to help you with it.
9. How did you start your freelance marketing career?
While this question may not tell you a lot about your candidate's skills, it can show you where they come from, how they ended up in the marketing landscape, and where they want to go from here. This will help you better understand how passionate they are, and how willing they are to go the extra mile to help you succeed.
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