Hiring a Creative Strategist: Six Lessons Learned and Best Practices
Hiring the right creative strategist can be a game changer for any team. Whether it’s someone who can revamp your ad creative or guide you through the next big campaign, finding the right fit is crucial. In a recent internal conversation, we broke down the steps and key takeaways from our process for hiring creative strategists—and what we've learned along the way.
Here are six actionable insights to help you nail your next creative strategist hire.
1. Defining the Role Clearly
The first step in hiring a creative strategist is defining what the role entails for your specific needs. A creative strategist can mean different things depending on your goals. For some, it involves sourcing brand-new content, while for others, it focuses on remixing and iterating on existing assets. Clarifying whether you need someone who can manage net-new content creation or a strategist who excels at maximizing existing resources is key. We’ve found that, for us, the primary need is for someone who can take existing ad assets and rework them into fresh campaigns. However, if you’re looking for someone who will brief and create content from scratch, it’s a different skill set, so define it early in the job description.
Tip: Be very specific in your job description. Are you looking for someone to source content or to iterate on what’s already there? Make sure the applicant knows exactly what the role requires from the outset.
2. Screening for Experience
We’ve learned the hard way that not all creative strategist experience is equal. When reviewing resumes, it’s crucial to identify candidates who have done the specific type of work you need. While agency experience can be a plus due to the fast-paced environment, it's not a strict requirement—but experience in paid social creative strategy is non-negotiable for us. We’ve encountered a lot of applicants who have broader campaign planning or organic social backgrounds, which doesn’t necessarily translate to the granular, tactical work required in paid social. Avoid vague roles that don’t align with your needs.
Tip: Filter resumes by looking for specific experience with paid social creative strategies. This is especially important if you need someone to hit the ground running and require minimal training.
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3. Testing for Skills Early On
To avoid spending hours in interviews only to realize a candidate doesn’t have the skills needed, we implement test projects right away. We lose a lot of candidates at this stage, but that’s a good thing—it helps us focus on the most qualified people before investing too much time. The first test involves creating an ad brief from existing content. We leave the instructions vague on purpose because we want to see how candidates approach the project and whether they have their own processes in place. Can they create something compelling with little hand-holding? That’s the key test.
Tip: Use a test project early in the process. It will quickly reveal whether a candidate can deliver the creative thinking you need. Keep the brief open-ended to see how they manage ambiguity and create their own structure.
4. Evaluating Analytical Skills
In addition to creative abilities, we test for analytical thinking. After the first test, we ask candidates to analyze ad performance data. While we’re not looking for them to get every answer right, we want to see their thought process and whether they understand the data that matters. For example, we’re not necessarily fans of focusing on click-through rates or thumb-stop rates. But if a candidate presents logical arguments for why these metrics matter, that’s a good sign. What’s important is that they can walk through the numbers and offer strategic insights based on the data.
Tip: Include a section on data analysis in your hiring process. Ask candidates to walk through performance metrics and explain how they’d use the data to make creative decisions.
5. Skip the Calls Until It’s Worth It
It’s tempting to jump on a call with promising candidates early on, but we’ve found it more efficient to wait until we’re confident in their skills before investing time in interviews. This also helps to remove any biases that might come from first impressions. Instead, focus on the work. If the candidate delivers solid test projects, then it's worth hopping on a call to ensure they’re a good fit for the team. By this stage, you already know their skill level, so the interview can focus on team compatibility and communication.
Tip: Hold off on interviews until after you’ve seen strong work from the candidate. This saves time and ensures you’re not wasting energy on people who aren’t a fit for the role.
6. Paying for Test Projects
Finally, we strongly recommend paying candidates for their time on test projects, especially once they pass the initial screening stage. While we don't always pay for the very first brief, we’re more than happy to compensate candidates for more in-depth projects later in the process. It’s a small investment to ensure you’re getting quality work and showing respect for the candidate’s time.
Tip: Always offer to pay for longer test projects. It demonstrates that you value the candidate’s time and sets the tone for a respectful working relationship from the start.
Final Thoughts
Hiring a creative strategist can be time-consuming, but the process is crucial for finding someone who can add real value to your team. Define the role clearly, screen rigorously, and don’t be afraid to challenge candidates with test projects. By focusing on the work first and compensating candidates fairly, you’ll end up with a hire who is not only skilled but also a great fit for your team. If you're looking to bring a creative strategist on board, make sure you're prepared to invest time in testing, evaluating, and compensating the right candidate. The payoff? A creative partner who understands your goals and can help take your brand's campaigns to the next level.