Whenever I get asked about my job title as a Digital Strategist, I quickly realize it’s not a one-sentence answer. That’s because on any given day, I might be writing ad copy, creating an email, digging through campaign data, or hopping on a client call.

In reality, I do a little bit of a lot of things. Plus, the role of a “Digital Strategist” can mean different things depending on the business or marketing agency you work at.

Yes, Digital Strategists wear a lot of hats, but the biggest part of the job is making sure all the pieces fit together into one complete digital presence.

Whether you’re thinking about becoming a Digital Strategist or just curious who’s behind the curtain of your marketing campaigns, it takes a certain mix of qualities to do what we do. Here are five qualities that make a standout Digital Strategist.

1. A Marketer’s Mindset

Our work covers search engine optimization (and now also answer engine optimization), digital advertising, email marketing, reporting, analysis, and, of course, strategizing.

Seems like a lot, right? The good news is that most of these skills can be taught, and 9 Clouds encourages continual learning through webinars and conferences.

What you can’t teach as easily is the mindset of a marketer.

It starts with curiosity: always asking why something works, or why it doesn’t.

It means putting the client first and asking, “What value can we offer them?”

It means being willing to test new ideas, even when you’re not sure they’ll work.

And it means looking beyond vanity metrics to the numbers that actually move a client’s business.

2. A Writer’s Creativity

Words are everything. They’re how we attract our audience’s attention and keep it — whether through an ad, email, or blog post like this one.

Words are also how we communicate with our co-workers and clients on a daily basis, including Slack messages, project updates, meeting recaps, and internal strategy notes.

And no matter how you feel about it, AI is part of the writing process nowadays. Sure, AI can easily whip up an entire blog post or come up with tons of ad copy ideas for you, but it can’t replace real humans (that’s us!) who know the client, their audience, and what words will resonate with them.

How 9 Clouds is Using AI in 2026

3. A Designer’s Eye

You don’t need to be an expert graphic designer to work at 9 Clouds, but you do need to have a creative eye. 

A lot of our design happens in-house, and most of it happens in Canva. I personally love Canva because I think it’s much more user-friendly than Adobe Creative Cloud (that’s a discussion for another time).

Our team uses this tool to make short videos, infographics, slideshows, business cards, and flyers, along with the ad graphics, email headers, and landing page visuals that go with our campaigns.

A Digital Strategist needs a good eye for design, but also the flexibility to fit whatever the client needs, even when that means speaking to very different audiences in different places.

4. An Analyst’s Precision

Writing, designing, and learning are only half the job! The other half is reviewing the data, understanding what it’s telling you, and strategizing what to do next.

At 9 Clouds, we’re always testing our work in different ways to learn more about what our clients’ audiences prefer. That means checking the stats of a blog post, running A/B tests on emails, or refining the targeting of digital ads to try and get the best results.

Every deliverable has benchmarks, and it’s up to us to reach (and exceed) them.

If numbers aren’t your passion, that’s okay. You’ll get comfortable with them fast, because they’re how we know what’s working or not.

Digital Marketing Results Require Honest Analysis

5. A Team Member’s Mentality

So much of our work at 9 Clouds is collaboration. We each have a specialization, but the great part is that every one of us knows how to work across the marketing channels.

For example, an email specialist also knows how to create Meta ads, and a Meta specialist can also do SEO work on a website. 

This means we can jump in on each other’s client work when needed, and it makes teamwork so much easier. I know I can ask anyone on the team for an idea, a quick fix, or a second set of eyes, and they’ll know exactly what’s needed or what can be done.

Our teamwork carries over to our clients too. We (Digital Strategists and Account Managers) join client meetings and help them understand their digital marketing so they feel confident about where their budget is being allocated. 

Above all, communication is key. I’ve learned I need to ask the questions, share what I’m working on, and speak up early when something’s off. This makes work much easier for everyone!

Continue Learning Like a Digital Strategist

If you want to learn more about digital marketing, subscribe to our blog for tips on digital advertising, SEO, email marketing, and the like.

And if you’re interested in becoming a Digital Strategist at 9 Clouds, read more about us & send your resume to jobs@9clouds.com anytime!

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