Building a brand is not for the faint of heart.

The sheer volume of roles required gives you an indication of the depth of the challenge.

Brand-building often requires the skill sets of a brand strategist, designer, copywriter, video editor, developer, media buyer, analytics specialist, SEO specialist and of course a marketing strategist.

The latter is often described as “a specialist who implements the marketing strategy” but that’s not exactly helpful is it?

So let’s unpack what a marketing strategist is and the marketing strategy tasks they fulfill, so we can understand their role in building brands.

What is a Marketing Strategy?

A marketing strategy refers to a company’s overall game plan for reaching and targeting prospective consumers and then converting those prospects into customers.

Put more simply, it’s the plan detailing how you will convince people to buy your stuff.

A value proposition should be a vital element of any marketing strategy. A value proposition is a clear statement detailing why a customer should buy your product or service.

A good strategy is based on considerable market research of your target demographic.

The core elements of a marketing strategy go back to any rudimentary marketing class you took during business studies at school; it’s all about establishing the 4 Ps – product, price, place, and promotion.

Therefore, a marketing strategist’s job includes a whole host of duties and responsibilities that establish marketing goals to direct marketing campaigns, ultimately intending to achieve business goals.

Excellent marketing teams implement marketing plans and strategies that help businesses reach their goals by effectively communicating a sustainable competitive advantage.

Marketing Strategist v Brand Strategist

Before we get into the intricacies of being a marketing strategist, let’s also take the time to differentiate between a marketing strategist and a brand strategist.

Brand strategy and marketing strategy share similar goals, but they are developed differently and have different end goals.

A brand strategist defines the methods by which a brand is communicated to the target audience.

It’s the brand strategist’s job to build a relationship with the audience over time by nurturing the brand personality through all messaging over time.

It’s about shaping the perception of the brand in the mind of the audience.

Marketing is more transactional. A marketing strategist executes the plan of brand communication through tactical decision-making and then measures results.

The brand strategy, including audience research, positioning, personality, brand voice, messaging, storytelling and visuals provides the tools for the execution of the marketing strategy.

In smaller teams, brand strategy and marketing strategy is the responsibility of one person, but larger teams often separate these into two positions.

We’ll explore the role of a marketing strategist here to see what that entails.

So, What Does a Marketing Strategist Actually Do?

So, they’re involved in establishing marketing goals and implementing marketing plans, but what do those involve on a daily basis?

Here are a few job responsibilities you’ll see listed in marketing strategist job descriptions to give you an idea:

Forecast market trends

Provide analysis (using Google Analytics) and give recommendations to other team members of the Marketing team

Help shape brand positioning for the target audience

Build brand awareness campaigns

Analyse marketing and sales teams’ KPIs (key performance indicators)

Ensure marketing strategies align with overall business strategies

Again, these active verb sentences can often be a little dry, and it can be challenging to understand what ‘forecast market trends’ really entails.

What’s key to remember is that it’s a Marketing Strategist’s responsibility to bring all marketing channels together in a coherent manner that best steers a brand in the desired direction.

That means keeping track of various aspects of marketing efforts- email marketing, content marketing, social media, and more – to ensure everybody is moving in the right direction.

To give you a better idea of what that might look like, let’s zoom through a day in the life of a marketing strategist.

A Day in the Life of a Marketing Strategist