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Here’s how to hire a creative strategist. They decide what to test, write the brief, and tell the video editor which hook to cut. The media buyer still does the button clicking.
What follows is the scorecard, a paid test on a live account (hook, problem, awareness), and what US vs LATAM seats cost.
What follows is the scorecard, a paid test on a live account (hook, problem, awareness), and what US vs LATAM seats cost.
Zabota has placed these seats for ads agencies and brands.
25+
countries
$12M+
in payroll saved
400+
placements
After the Meta Andromeda update, creative volume became incredibly important. That is why the creative strategist and the media buyer have to work closely together.
Creative strategist, media buyer, video editor
A creative strategist (paid social) decides what to test. Angles, hooks on paper, the brief. They read the ad account and the comments. They do not live in Ads Manager all day, and they are too high level to be editing videos. A good creative strategist focuses on copy and writing briefs.
A media buyer owns spend, structure, kill rules, and the blended number. After Andromeda they have to care about creative. They are not the person writing 20 concepts a week.
A video editor for ads cuts the variants. Hooks, captions, 9:16. They execute the brief.
A copywriter writes words. A creative strategist who cannot write a hook is missing the job. A copywriter who has never opened the ad library is not a creative strategist.
What the creative strategist actually owns
Always
Angles. Hooks on paper. The creative brief the video editor cuts from.
Often
Comment and review mining. Ad-library research. Winner recycling: new angles off an ad that already spent. Static concepts when the team has no designer. Talking to the media buyer about what died and why.
Never
Daily bid changes (that is the media buyer). Twenty UGC hook cuts a week (that is the video editor). Landing page copy.
If the list keeps growing (“also edit, also buy the media, also run the client call”), then this splits into two jobs.
Creative Strategist Scorecard
Score
What “good” looks like
What to ignore
Score
Paid-social work
What “good” looks like
Concepts that ran. What the hook was, what the media buyer killed, what they briefed next.
What to ignore
Organic social calendars. Brand films. “I also do content.”
Score
Research
What “good” looks like
They start in the ad library, the comments, reviews, and Reddit — then write the brief.
What to ignore
“I just brainstorm.” Three variants of one angle.
Score
Volume
What “good” looks like
Comfortable with the concepts-per-week the seat actually needs. A new angle is the job, not a favor.
What to ignore
Two days to write one concept.
Score
Brief quality
What “good” looks like
Angle, claim, proof, hook, format. The video editor can cut from it without a meeting.
What to ignore
“Make it pop.” A vibe. A Pinterest board with no offer.
Score
Feedback loop
What “good” looks like
They ask what spent and what died. They can talk thumb-stop and CPA without pretending they buy the media.
What to ignore
“Creative is subjective.”
How to hire a creative strategist: 5 steps
1. Write the job
Platform (Meta, TikTok, both), concepts per week, brand vs ads agency, whether they write statics or only video briefs, and who they work with — media buyer, video editor, or both.
If the company also needs someone in Ads Manager every day, that is a media buyer.
If the company also needs someone in Ads Manager every day, that is a media buyer.
2. Pick the market
US in-house if absolutely necessary. Direct-hire in LATAM when the company wants a dedicated creative strategist on US hours. LATAM is the first market for creative and performance seats that have to overlap the US day.
A freelancer is fine for a burst — a launch, a refresh, a 90-day angle library — if someone in-house still owns the testing loop. A creative agency retainer is overflow. Don’t use it as the only creative strategist.
A freelancer is fine for a burst — a launch, a refresh, a 90-day angle library — if someone in-house still owns the testing loop. A creative agency retainer is overflow. Don’t use it as the only creative strategist.
3. Screen the ads they briefed
Open the portfolio. Look at ads that actually ran. Ask what the hook was, what made it work, and what they changed when it died. Ask how they research before they write. Look for the ad library, comments, reviews.
4. Pay them to brief against a real account
Pay the finalist. Give read-only access to the ad account, or a tight export plus the live ad library for the category. Ask them to name the three biggest creative gaps, then write three briefs — three different angles, not three trims of one hook.
Score the ads they point at, and the briefs they write, on hook, problem, and awareness level. Also score whether they used in-market evidence, whether each brief has angle / claim / proof / hook / format.
Score the ads they point at, and the briefs they write, on hook, problem, and awareness level. Also score whether they used in-market evidence, whether each brief has angle / claim / proof / hook / format.
5. References, then a 90-day scorecard before the offer
Ask a reference (preferably a media buyer or founder they briefed for): “On a 1–10, how would you rate them on research, brief quality, and volume — and what did they struggle with?” Then write 30/60/90 before they start: concepts per week, how many first briefs the video editor can cut without a rewrite, and whether winners get a second angle or die in a folder.
Red flags
Organic-only portfolio.
They cannot name a hook that died, or how they improved.
They cannot walk you through their research process.
They hate volume. “I like to get one campaign right” is a red flag.
“I don’t look at Ads Manager.” After Andromeda, the creative strategist has to be in the loop with the media buyer.
What it costs
Model
You employ them?
Fits when
Cost shape
The catch
Model
US in-house
You employ them?
Yes
Fits when
Local / on-site, or a US remote seat the company will pay market for
Cost shape
$9–15k+
a month
The catch
Slow search. Expensive.
Model
LATAM / EU direct-hire
You employ them?
Yes
Fits when
Recurring tests, US-hour overlap, a creative strategist on the team
Cost shape
$5k+
a month
The catch
Still need the paid case test.
Model
Freelancer
You employ them?
No
Fits when
Burst work, a launch, someone in-house still owns the loop
Cost shape
Cheap
hourly or project, split attention
The catch
Not always reliable.
Model
Creative agency retainer
You employ them?
No
Fits when
Overflow when someone in-house still owns the brief and the QA
Cost shape
$5k–15k
per month
The catch
Overflow only. The creative strategist is not on your team.
Zabota is the LATAM / EU direct-hire option in that table. One-time fee, no retainer, no wage markup, 90-day replacement. The client employs the creative strategist.
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