Social Media Strategist

Summary/Objective:

The Social Media Strategist owns platform strategy, platform management, and cultural relevance across the agency's assigned client portfolio. This is a senior, integrative role that operates at the intersection of data, culture, creativity, and brand strategy — responsible for the analytics, KPIs, and content prioritization logic that inform what gets made, on which platform, and when.

This role functions as a paired strategic partner to the Content Strategist: the Content Strategist owns brand-wide narrative and content pillars; the Social Media Strategist owns how that narrative performs platform by platform, backed by data. Together, they co-develop the strategic framework that drives all social content activity across assigned client accounts.

The Social Media Strategist works directly alongside each client's creative, brand, and media teams — not just briefing them, but partnering through execution — ensuring campaigns translate into platform-native social content that is culturally resonant, algorithmically informed, and measurably effective. This is a senior, integrative function that touches analytics, editorial planning, creative development, and influencer strategy recommendation — often across very different brand environments within the same week.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Platform strategy & management

• Lead strategic content development across all social platforms for assigned client portfolios.
• Design content strategies adapted to each platform's strengths and audience behavior — Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, and emerging platforms under evaluation.
• Own ongoing platform management: track algorithm shifts, feature rollouts, and format best practices; translate findings into working guidance for the Content Creator and Social Media Manager.
• Conduct competitive analysis and identify innovation opportunities in formats, platforms, and brand narratives.

Trends & cultural intelligence

• Identify cultural trends, consumer behavior shifts, and conversation opportunities to develop timely, relevant content recommendations.
• Maintain constant cultural observance — detecting opportunities worth acting on before they become obvious trends.
• Produce a monthly "Culture + Category Insights" report that feeds the editorial calendar and creative briefs for each assigned client.
• Respond with agility to real-time events and emerging opportunities — with a same-day or next-day go/no-go recommendation on brand participation.

Analytics, metrics & KPIs

• Define, monitor, and optimize social KPIs across the full business funnel: awareness, consideration, engagement, traffic, conversion, and loyalty.
• Build the KPI framework per platform and per content tier; partner with the Social Analyst on data pull, dashboard management, and reporting cadence.
• Analyze content performance and translate insights into strategic recommendations for the Content Creator and Social Media Manager.

Content prioritization & calendar

• Own the prioritization logic for what enters the content calendar and in what order, based on strategy, performance data, and cultural relevance.
• Partner with the Social Media Manager on final calendar sequencing and publishing logistics — Social Strategist defines what and why; Social Media Manager determines when and how it publishes.
• Flag calendar conflicts or gaps against the quarterly content plan before they become production issues.

Creative & cross-functional collaboration

• Partner directly with the Content Creator and creative team on how campaigns execute on social — platform-native adaptation, format-specific storytelling, and best-practice application.
• Provide platform expertise during creative development — as an active partner from the start, so platform fit is built in rather than retrofitted.
• Ensure campaign executions remain platform-optimized without diluting the brand consistency owned by the Content Strategist.

Influencer & creator strategy

• Recommend and shape influencer and creator collaboration strategies aligned to brand objectives, platform behavior, audience fit, and cultural relevance.
• Define categories, tiers, and creator archetypes worth pursuing per campaign or content moment.
• Hand off qualified strategic recommendations to the Influencer & Partnership function for sourcing, vetting, negotiation, and contracting.
• Co-develop the quarterly content plan with the Content Strategist before it is handed to the Content Creator for production planning.
• Present jointly with the Content Strategist at Editorial Board reviews and Quarterly Business Reviews where strategy and platform performance intersect.
• Co-own monthly reports and the annual recap with the Content Strategist and Social Analyst, including a clear recommendations roadmap: double-down, stop, or test.
• Represent social and platform strategy in client-facing meetings and strategic presentations alongside account leads.

Essential Functions:

On a daily basis, the Social Media Strategist is expected to:

• Scan category news, competitor social activity, and trending conversations to surface relevant signals (30–45 min).
• Monitor the social listening dashboard and live content performance for early-warning indicators.
• Flag same-day cultural opportunities to the Content Creator and Social Media Manager with a clear go/no-go recommendation.
• Review in-progress content to ensure alignment with platform best practices across assigned clients.

On a weekly basis, the Social Media Strategist is expected to:

• Attend studio standup covering pipeline, capacity, and prior week's performance.
• Review the weekly KPI dashboard with the Social Analyst and flag needed strategy adjustments.
• Prioritize and re-sequence the upcoming content calendar based on strategy, performance data, and cultural relevance.
• Join creative team sessions with the Content Creator on in-flight campaign executions.
• Sync with the Social Media Manager on calendar sequencing and organic/paid alignment.

On a monthly basis, the Social Media Strategist is expected to:

• Deliver the Culture + Category Insights report per assigned client.
• Deliver the monthly platform performance summary against established KPIs.
• Co-develop next month's content plan and priorities with the Content Strategist.
• Finalize next month's channel strategy briefs for the Content Creator.
• Develop and present monthly performance reports to clients.

On a quarterly basis, the Social Media Strategist is expected to:

• Update the channel strategy playbook per platform.
• Run competitive benchmarking against category peers.
• Co-present at the Quarterly Business Review with the Content Strategist and Social Analyst.

Other Duties:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Supervisory Responsibility:

The Social Media Strategist does not carry formal direct reports. This role operates as a senior, integrative function — providing strategic direction and framework to peer and adjacent roles (Content Creator, Social Media Manager, Social Analyst) rather than managing them in a hierarchical sense. The Social Strategist defines the strategic priorities, KPI frameworks, and content logic that others execute within. Senior-level candidates may be expected to informally mentor junior strategists or analysts as the team grows.

Job Competencies

• Platform Mastery:

Speaks credibly and specifically to what performs differently on Instagram vs. TikTok vs. LinkedIn vs. YouTube — in format, pacing, algorithm behavior, and audience mindset, not generalities.

• Cultural Intelligence:

Spots what's worth acting on before it becomes obvious — and can move fast enough to make that foresight actionable across multiple brand environments simultaneously.

• Analytical Rigor:

Owns the KPI framework — doesn't just read dashboards someone else built. Translates data into strategic decisions, not just observations.

• Strategic Integration:

Operates across strategy, creative, analytics, and media as a connective function — fluent in all of them, siloed in none.

• Creative Partnership:

Contributes platform thinking during creative development — not after — so briefs arrive with platform fit already built in, not retrofitted at the end.

• Adaptability Under Pressure:

Able to shift gears between a compliance-paced regulated client and a same-day-response brand within the same week, without losing quality or strategic discipline on either.

Preferred Education and Related Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Advertising, Business, or a related field required.
• 4–7 years of experience in social strategy, digital strategy, or content strategy — with demonstrated work spanning both considered-purchase categories (finance, insurance, health) and fast-moving consumer or entertainment brands (QSR, retail, lifestyle) preferred.
• Proven experience owning KPI frameworks and platform analytics — not just contributing to reports, but defining the metrics and making strategic recommendations from them.
• Demonstrated fluency in platform-native content strategy across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X.
• Experience working inside regulated brand environments with compliance review cycles is a significant advantage.
• Background in running or briefing social listening tools — Meltwater, Brandwatch, Talkwalker, or equivalent.
• Experience partnering directly with creative teams during campaign development — not just reviewing finished work.
• Bilingual English/Spanish fluency is required for the Puerto Rico market.

Knowledge and Critical Skills Required:

Strategy & platform skills

• Platform-native strategy across all major social channels — with specific knowledge of content formats, algorithm behavior, and audience dynamics per platform.
• Editorial calendar ownership and content prioritization logic based on strategy, data, and cultural signals.
• Real-time marketing (RTM) decision-making — assessing and responding to cultural moments with speed and brand judgment.
• Competitive analysis and category benchmarking for social content and brand presence.
• Influencer and creator strategy recommendation — defining fit, tiers, and archetypes aligned to brand and campaign objectives.

Analytics & tools

• Social KPI framework development and funnel-level metric translation (awareness → consideration → engagement → conversion → loyalty).
• Social listening tools: Meltwater, Brandwatch, Talkwalker, or equivalent.
• Native platform analytics (Meta Business Suite, TikTok Analytics, YouTube Studio, LinkedIn Analytics) and third-party reporting tools (Sprout Social, Emplifi, or similar).
• Comfort operating inside regulated environments with compliance review cycles.
• Strong presentation and data storytelling skills — monthly and quarterly performance reporting to clients and agency leadership.

Physical Demands & Travel:

• Primarily office and desk-based; requires sustained use of computers, screens, and digital collaboration tools.
• Regular client-facing meetings and presentations — in person and via video conference.
• Occasional attendance at brand activations, campaign launches, or live events for real-time content monitoring and on-the-ground cultural intelligence.
• Travel of approximately 10–15% for client visits, market research, and agency or industry events.
• All physical requirements are subject to reasonable accommodation as needed.

Work Environment:

• Standard Monday–Friday schedule; the nature of real-time social strategy requires responsiveness outside core hours for same-day cultural moments, trend flags, and campaign launches.
• This role may operate across very different brand environments simultaneously — from compliance-paced regulated industries to fast-moving consumer brands. The ability to context-switch between these rhythms without losing strategic discipline or quality is a core requirement.
• Highly collaborative agency environment with regular interaction across Strategy, Creative, Account, Media, and client teams.
• Must be comfortable with ambiguity, shifting priorities, and the pressure of maintaining strategic accountability across multiple high-profile clients simultaneously.