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Creative Strategist

Creative Strategists develop performance-driven ad concepts for paid social campaigns, usually on one or two core platforms. They combine consumer psychology, data analysis, and storytelling to produce briefs and frameworks that drive measurable results, often for US-based DTC and e-commerce brands. They work closely with media buyers, content creators, and brand teams to make sure creative execution is aligned with growth objectives. They plan and brief the creative rather than produce it, so most teams pair them with a video editor, designer, or content creator.

Salary Ranges

All ranges are for full-time, permanent hires working 40 hours a week.

Salary ranges are set by market rates for what the role involves, not the job title. Candidates at the lower end of each range are stepping into the level, while those at the higher end have done it for a while. If a role includes even one senior responsibility, it sits in the senior range.

Professional with 2-3 years of experience.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop creative briefs for performance-driven paid social campaigns, usually on one or two core platforms (e.g., Meta, TikTok, or YouTube).
- Analyze creative performance data to extract insights and inform future concepts.
- Script and storyboard UGC or in-house video ads. Directing production is more typical at the higher end of the range.
- Collaborate with media buyers to align creative output with paid media strategy.
- Run structured creative testing frameworks (hooks, angles, formats) and report on results.
- Coordinate with content creators or video editors to execute on briefs.
Autonomy & Decision-Making
Operates with moderate independence. Assists in the creative brief and testing process with minimal day-to-day supervision. May escalate on high-investment decisions or when navigating brand-sensitive content. Comfortable presenting recommendations backed by data.
Tools & Skills
- Proficient in the ads manager for their core platforms (e.g., Meta or TikTok) and Google Analytics.
- Experienced in scripting and storyboarding for direct response video ads.
- Strong grasp of creative testing methodology and performance frameworks.
- Comfortable using project management tools (Asana, Notion, ClickUp).
- Experienced in briefing UGC creators and giving feedback on their content.
- Understanding of DTC and e-commerce consumer behavior, ideally with US brands.
Ideal For
- Scaling DTC brands that need a strategic creative partner to own the brief-to-test process.
- Paid media teams that need a creative strategist who can bridge data and storytelling.
Across the range
At the lower end, expect strong briefs, scripts, and testing on one or two core platforms, with guidance on bigger calls. At the higher end, expect US DTC experience, a track record of improving ROAS or CAC, and directing production.
Professional with 3+ years of experience.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead end-to-end creative strategy for paid social channels, owning the full funnel from awareness to conversion.
- Build and manage a structured creative testing system to continuously improve ROAS and reduce CAC.
- Define creative frameworks, messaging hierarchies, and angle banks used across the team.
- Present creative performance reviews to senior stakeholders with clear recommendations. At the higher end of the range, they'll often present to clients directly.
- Mentor junior and mid-level strategists and review brief quality. Overseeing a team of strategists is more typical at the higher end of the range.
- Partner with media buying, brand, and growth teams to align creative strategy with business goals.
- Identify creative trends and translate them into scalable, performance-driven concepts.
Autonomy & Decision-Making
Highly autonomous on strategy and execution across the range. At the higher end of the range, candidates are fully autonomous, lead client-facing conversations, make high-stakes creative calls, and manage team output. At the lower end, candidates are making the step up into full ownership. Acts as a thought leader on creative performance within the organization.
Note: this level of autonomy assumes a support structure is in place, this is not a fully standalone, solo-operator role. A senior hire still needs someone to report into and a team to collaborate with (see below).
Tools & Skills
- Expert-level knowledge of their core paid social platforms, usually one or two (e.g., Meta, TikTok, or YouTube).
- Deep command of creative analytics and attribution. Incrementality testing experience is more common at the higher end of the range.
- Experienced in managing creative production pipelines, including briefing editors, designers, and UGC creators.
- Skilled in presenting data-driven creative recommendations to executive stakeholders.
- Familiarity with tools like Triple Whale, Northbeam, or other MER dashboards.
- Strong understanding of US consumer psychology and direct response copywriting principles.
Ideal For
- High-growth DTC brands that need a strategic creative leader to own performance creative from concept to results.
- Agencies or in-house teams looking for a senior hire who can build systems and drive measurable impact. Leading a team is more typical at the higher end of the range.
- Companies with a support structure already in place: someone for this person to report into (a creative director, head of marketing, or senior stakeholder), plus a team to work alongside (media buyer, designer, or video editor). This is a senior hands-on role that can lead its own area or a small team. If you’re looking for one person to take over the entire creative function with no oversight or team, that’s usually a head of creative or US-based hire. This is a senior hands-on role that can lead its own area or a small team, not a head of department hire.
Across the range
Everyone in this range can own creative strategy for paid social. Candidates around $5,000 are just stepping into the senior level, so expect someone still building the experience described above, not a seasoned senior strategist. What moves a candidate toward $7,000 is a proven track record of improving performance, building testing systems, leading a team of strategists, and owning client relationships. If you need all of that in one hire, plan for the higher end. If you need a strategist who also edits the videos, designs the statics, runs the media buying, or sources and manages your UGC creators and influencers, that's usually two or three roles, not a higher salary.