CAREER OUTCOMES

CONTENT STRATEGIST

SEO STRATEGIST

UI DESIGNER

Content Strategist

Content Strategist

DESCRIPTION

A Content Strategist's job involves planning, creating, editing, and publishing content that suits the

company's goals and meets users' needs. The focus is on developing a content strategy to achieve

business objectives. The goal is to produce content that informs, entertains, inspires, and engages

potential customers. In this role, you'll be responsible for content planning, including creation, curation, and research. You'll need to come up with creative ways to connect with the audience online and produce engaging content.

Content Strategist

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

High Demand 

like SEO strategists, content strategists are also another role many businesses look to acquire. Unlike SEO strategy, content strategy is simpler and less logical. Content strategists benefit from problem-solving skills and idea generation rather than mathematical equations. 

Creative 

Content strategists use analytical skills to determine engagement and utilize an array of creative skills to translate content to viewers. Individuals with a knack for brainstorming ideas, creating visually appealing content, and the ability to translate ideas into art forms will excel in this field. 

Growth 

By being in the forefront of a business, your work reflects your success. Your effectiveness within a business can easily be translated into a portfolio that follows you throughout your life. Being able to move around companies without plateauing leads to promising job opportunities and ensures a secure career field. 

Content Strategist

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Performing exhaustive research to gain in-depth knowledge of all customer personas
  
• Performing extensive research and analysis on consumer thoughts and trends
  
• Creating specifications and content appropriate for the brand's customer personas
  
• Strategizing content pillars and sub pillars
  
• Planning the editorial calendar and content proposition
  
• Collaborating with content management teams, creative teams, and writers to implement the strategy
  
• Overseeing writing style and tone for all content
  
• Developing content governance guidelines for tone, style, and voice of all content, and ensuring they are followed
  
• Developing editorial strategy, so content is consistent across all delivery platforms
  
• Conducting periodic content audits
  
• Tracking and calculating content ROI
  
• Ensuring that content strategy meets business objectives
  
• Strategizing and improving content delivery and promotion
  
• Analyzing content marketing strategy to evaluate whether it's working or not
  

Content Strategist

QUALIFICATIONS

• For many employers, a bachelor's degree is the minimum educational requirement for content strategy positions.
  
• Earn a degree in marketing, communications or a related area, such as journalism or technical writing.
• While earning your degree, consider completing internships to further develop your skills and create professional relationships.
• As you earn your degree and complete internships, begin to build a network for your future career. Develop professional relationships with your colleagues, managers and professors.
• Building your network is an essential step because it can help you learn about open positions and secure references for job applications.
• Most employers prefer content strategists to have prior experience in marketing, communications, advertising or a related field.
• You can also take the following courses :
• Digital marketing fundamentals
  
• Intro to content marketing
  
• Target market research
  
• Branding & buyer personas
  
• Blog writing
  
• Landing page creation
  
• Launching a website
  
• Portfolio case studies
  

SKILLS

• Excellent copywriting skills – if you can't write great content, it doesn't matter how well you strategize it.
  

You need excellent copywriting skills to be able to plan, direct, design, and edit content that get results.

• Content presentation skills – you should be able to determine how content should be packaged for new and existing consumers to induce them to take business actions.
  
• Content delivery skills – you determine the best distribution channel to deliver content to your audience.
  
• You should have experience in handling and strategizing marketing campaigns.
  
• Content monetization skills – as a content strategist, you must be able to plan how your content can get customers to buy your product or service and thereby earn revenue.
  
• Multitasking and organizational skills – you will have to handle several types of projects and people regularly
  
• Editorial competency – you will conduct thorough audits to determine what content should be kept, edited, rewritten, and more
  
• Good analytical abilities to spot patterns and trends in content marketing data
  
• Team-building skills
  
• Having a keen interest in organizational goals and targets
  
• Attention to detail
  
• Leadership qualities
  
• Pressure handling capabilities
  

Content Strategist

Content Strategist

FURTHER EDUCATION

Here are some options for pursuing further learning and development opportunities as a Content Strategist:

Online Courses and Certifications:

1. Content Strategy Specialization on Coursera:
   
• Content Strategy for Professionals
  
• Offered by Northwestern University, this specialization covers various aspects of content strategy.
  
2. HubSpot Academy:
   
• Content Marketing Certification
  
3. LinkedIn Learning:
   
• Content Marketing: Strategy
  
• Content Marketing: Blogs
  
4. Udemy:
   
• Content Strategy & Marketing Course
  
5. Skillshare:
   
• Content Strategy: Building a Content Plan
  

Online Platforms:

1. edX:
   
• Content Strategy - University of California, Irvine
  
2. Content Marketing Institute:
   
• Content Strategy for Marketers
  

Canadian Institutions with Digital Marketing or Content Strategy Programs:

1. University of Toronto:
   
• School of Continuing Studies - Digital Marketing Management
  
2. Seneca College:
   
• Social Media and Digital Marketing Management
  
3. British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT):
   
• Media Studies - Digital Communications
  
4. McGill University:
   
• Digital Marketing and Social Media
  

Content Strategist

POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS

• Digital Marketing Agencies
  
• E-commerce Companies
  
• Technology Companies
  
• Content Marketing Agencies
  
• Startups
  
• Travel and Hospitality Industry
  
• Healthcare Providers
  
• Education Institutions
  
• Real Estate Agencies
  
• Financial Services
  
• Nonprofit Organizations
  
• Consulting Firms
  

SEO Strategist

SEO Strategist

DESCRIPTION

An Search Engine Optimization Strategist is a digital marketing professional. Their work holds a lot of importance in a company. SEO strategy is an essential method for any marketing strategy. It makes your website trackable and basically, possible to find for search engines. Be responsible for providing mentorship and support to junior team members and ensuring the success of the best SEO practices that reliably drive qualified traffic to a website.

SEO Strategist

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

High Demand 

SEO (search engine optimization) is highly sought after as their services provide businesses with access to a rapidly growing clientele. Consequently, this provides good job security as SEO strategists are invaluable and irreplaceable. 

Competitive Job Opportunities 

With high demand comes competitive pay. With the market demanding so many SEO experts, individuals can negotiate aggressive pay margins. Alongside the promise of a healthy salary, individuals searching for jobs have a larger pool of opportunities to chose from. 

Specialization 

Within the world of SEO strategy are much more niche careers. Career choices are not limited to SEO strategists. In the world of search engine optimization, careers such as search engine marketing (SEM), digital marketing, marketing analysis, and SEO management are also pursuable. 

SEO Strategist

QUALIFICATIONS

• A bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, business, information technology, or a related field is often preferred.
  
• Some employers may accept equivalent experience or additional certifications in lieu of a degree.
  
• Knowledge of effective link-building strategies and the ability to build and manage a backlink profile.
  
• Experience in programming in HTML, PHP, etc.
  
• Expertise in WordPress or Joomla
  
• The SEO landscape is dynamic, and successful SEO strategists need to stay updated on industry trends, search engine algorithms, and best practices.
  

Skills

• In-depth keyword research
• Studying traffic and analytics
  
• Split-testing similar pages
  
• Analyzing the client’s competitors
  
• Maximizing local search exposure
  
• Developing strong calls to action
  
• Working with writers and designers
  
• Creating effective ranking strategies
  
• Researching the latest SEO practices
  
• Need 2-3 years of experience

SEO Strategist

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Running the company’s PPC campaigns.
  
• Preparing up-to-date, continuous SEO strategy reports.
  
• Reviewing clients’ sites for the purpose of optimization and improvement.
  
• Finding the most powerful and effective keywords for SEO content.
  
• Writing enticing calls to action that converts the visitors.
  
• Writing and filling blogs and websites with quality content and related keywords.
  
• Developing smart link building strategies.
  
• Keeping track and analyzing the SEO techniques and keywords in the specific industry.
  

SEO Strategist

MEDIAN STARTING SALARY

.

SEO Strategist

FURTHER EDUCATION

Here are some options for pursuing further learning and development opportunities as an

SEO Strategist:

1. Skill Share

https://www.skillshare.com/en/search?query=seo+strategies

2. LinkedIn Learning Certificate

https://www.linkedin.com/learning/search?keywords=seo%20strategies%20certificate

.

SEO Strategist

POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS

• Digital Marketing Agencies
• E-commerce Companies
• Technology Companies
  
• Content Marketing Agencies
  
• Startups
  
• Travel and Hospitality Industry
  
• Healthcare Providers
  
• Education Institutions
• Real Estate Agencies
• Financial Services
  
• Nonprofit Organizations
  
• Consulting Firms
  

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UI Designer

UI Designer

QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong understanding of UI design principles.
  
• Ability to multitask and work under deadlines.
  
• Solid understanding of prototyping and wireframes.
  
• Ability to communicate design ideas to leadership and stakeholders.
  

WHAT MOST COMPANIES LOOK FOR

• UI design roles typically require a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, art, web design or a
  

related field.

• Strong portfolio of previous UI design experience and projects.
  

HARD SKILLS REQUIRED

UI designers typically have a multitude of hard skills that are centered on visual design and research.

• Knowledge of typography, colour theory, and layout principles that align with
  

information architecture.

• Knowledge of user experience (UX) design principles.
  
• An understanding of the user journey, and how to incorporate user flows into the
  

interface designs.

• Familiarity with various UI design tools, such as Adobe Photoshop, Figma, and InVision.
  
• Ability to create high-fidelity screens and prototypes.
  
• An understanding of graphic design, and how to incorporate it into a digital product or service.
  

SOFT SKILLS REQUIRED

The soft skills of a UI designer focus on communication and attention to detail since their role is to take complex ideas and create pixel-perfect, user-friendly designs out of these ideas.

• Strong communication skills, so you can work seamlessly with other team members.
  
• Ability to collaborate with other team members since you’ll be essentially bridging the product gap between UX design and development.
  
• Problem-solving skills, which will allow you to create impactful design solutions, despite challenging requirements.
  
• Organizational skills, which will help you to keep your design files tidy and utilize product design systems across multiple projects.
  

UI Designer

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Understand user needs through user research and design a UI that meets those needs.
  
• Incorporate any existing visual design requirements to ensure the product is aligned with the existing brand identity.
  
• Use various UI design tools to create high-fidelity interface designs, mock-ups, and prototypes that represent how the product will look and function once it's released to the public.
  
• Work with teams of product managers, UX designers, and developers to create an effective and appealing user interface.
  
• Conduct usability testing to ensure that the UI is effective and easy to use.
  
• Iterate on the design based on feedback from users, stakeholders, or other team members.
  

UI Designer

UI Designer

FURTHER EDUCATION

Here are some options for pursuing further learning and development opportunities in Edmonton

• ·NAIT offers a UX and UI Certificate.
  

https://www.nait.ca/coned/ux-ui-certificate

• ·Grant MacEwan University has a DXD (Digital Experience Design) Post-Diploma Certificate.
  

https://www.macewan.ca/academics/programs/digital-experience-design/

• The University of Alberta has a UX/UI Design Certificate
  

https://ext.ualberta.ca/enroll/uxui

UI Designer

POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS

• Creative/Design Agencies
  
• Digital Agencies
  
• Marketing Agencies
  
• Web-design Agencies
  

UI Designer

DESCRIPTION

User Interface (UI) Designers are responsible for how a product, website, or app looks and feels like.

They work with teams consisting of product managers, UX designers, and developers to create

high-fidelity screens and prototypes that represent how the product will look and function once it's released to the public. The goal of a UI designer is to create a user interface that is both functional, effective, and appealing to the users.

UI Designer

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

High Demand

UX design is a newer concept than UI design. With the ever-growing need to make the internet a more accessible place, UX designers are now more desired than ever. More and more businesses run solely online every year making user-friendly web pages traffic centers.

Human-centric Work

UX designers have the unique opportunity to create web interfaces that indirectly improve people’s lives. Whether you’re making a public health page more accessible or making a banking page more efficient, your purpose is to make people’s lives easier.

Transferable

Switching to become a UX designer can benefit from previously working in a number of other different industries. Backgrounds such as sales and marketing can be used to support your abilities in UX design by utilizing people skills and individual assessments to fulfill needs from a designer's perspective. Graphic designers also benefit from their innate ability to create appealing visuals as a UI designer.