How it works
A vetted creative strategist on your account, no sales call.
We place creative strategists inside DTC brands and agencies, full-time or fractional. You meet two or three finalists within 14 days, and if we haven't placed one with you within 60 days, you get your money back.
- Fee
- $3,000 per strategist
- One time, paid when you sign up
- Guarantee
- Placed in 60 days
- Or we refund the fee in full
- Speed
- Finalists in 14 days
- From the day you send your brief
The process
Everything before the interviews happens in writing.
From brief to a strategist on your account takes about three weeks.
- 1
Send your brief
5 minutesWhat you sell, who buys it, your ad spend, what your creative is doing now, and whether you want full-time or fractional.
- 2
We confirm the fit
Within 2 business daysIf we can place for you, we send the placement agreement to accept online. If we can't, we tell you straight away and you pay nothing.
- 3
Sign up
$3,000, one timeYou pay the placement fee when you accept the agreement. Your 60 days guarantee starts that day.
- 4
Meet your finalists
Within 14 daysTwo or three strategists matched to your account, each with a written profile, their vetting scores and notes from their live session with us.
- 5
Interview and hire
Your calendarYou book calls with the finalists directly. These are the only calls in the process. If none of them is right, we send more.
- 6
Placed, or your money back
Within 60 daysIf we haven't placed a strategist in your business within 60 days of your payment, we refund the fee in full.
The vetting
Four gates. Almost everyone is cut before the last.
Real ad accounts
We go through accounts they have actually run: which ads were theirs, what they changed, and what the numbers did before and after.
The same question for everyone
What would you do with a losing account over one week, day by day? Vague answers are cut.
Results with a baseline
A result only counts if they can say what the control was, what beat it, and by how much.
A live hour on a real account
No take-home and no panel. We watch them diagnose an account, which is the one thing you cannot test in an interview.
Pricing
One fee, one time, with your money back if we don't place.
Sending your brief and hearing whether we can place for you costs nothing.
| Full-time hire | Fractional hire | |
|---|---|---|
| Placement fee | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| How it's paid | One time, when you sign up | One time, when you sign up |
| Guarantee | Placed within 60 days, or a full refund | Placed within 60 days, or a full refund |
| The strategist's pay | Your salary, paid by you | Their monthly rate, paid by you |
| Typical market rate | $90k to $160k a year | $4k to $12k a month |
The strategist's salary or rate is between you and them; our fee is separate. Strategists never pay us anything.
The guarantee
Placed in 60 days, or your money back.
We place a strategist in your business within 60 days of your payment. If we don't, we refund the $3,000 in full.
Placed means hired. A strategist we introduced has accepted your offer to work with you. Until then, if the finalists aren't right, we keep sending more.
The guarantee asks one thing of you: interview the finalists we send and tell us within 5 business days whether you want to move forward, and why not if you don't. It doesn't apply if you pause or close the search. The full terms are in the placement agreement you accept online.
Who it's for
Brands and agencies whose creative is holding performance back.
A good fit
- DTC and ecommerce brands running Meta or TikTok ads
- Agencies that need strategists for client accounts, full-time or fractional
- Teams that ship enough creative to keep a strategist busy, or plan to
Not a fit
- Looking for someone to film or edit ads. We place strategists, not content creators.
- No ad spend yet, so there is nothing to test
- A one-off project rather than a role
Questions
What does a creative strategist actually do?
A creative strategist decides what ads get made and why. They read the ad account to work out which angles and formats are carrying it, research the customer until they can name the objection worth attacking, write the brief and the hook, and then run the testing loop to see what beats control. Designers, editors and media buyers all work from that direction, and the strategist is the person who sets it.
What does it cost to hire a creative strategist?
Our placement fee is $3,000 per strategist, one time, paid when you sign up. Sending your brief and hearing whether we can place for you is free. If we haven't placed a strategist with you within 60 days, we refund the fee in full. In the wider market a full-time creative strategist typically runs $90k to $160k a year depending on seniority and category, and fractional engagements usually land between $4k and $12k a month.
How fast can you place someone?
You meet two or three finalists within 14 days of telling us what you need. Because everyone on the roster was vetted long before you spoke to us, the only thing left to arrange by then is the calendar.
What is the guarantee?
We place a strategist in your business within 60 days of your payment, or we refund the fee in full. Placed means a strategist we introduced has accepted your offer. Until then, if the finalists are not right, we keep sending more.
Should I hire a fractional or a full-time creative strategist?
The answer tends to follow how much creative you need rather than how much revenue you do. If you are shipping fewer than roughly twenty new concepts a month, a fractional strategist working a few days a month is usually the better buy. Past that point the cost of coordinating a part-time person starts to outweigh what you save on salary, and you are better off hiring full time. Tell us your spend and your concept volume and we will give you a straight answer on which one fits.
Which industries do you place into?
Mostly DTC and ecommerce brands, some SaaS, and the agencies that serve them. If you sit outside that, mention it when you get in touch, because we would rather tell you we are the wrong fit than hand you someone who is guessing at your category.
How are your creative strategists vetted?
There are four stages, and almost everyone is cut before the last one. We go through the real ad accounts someone has run instead of reading a case-study deck. Everyone answers the same process question, which is what they would do with a losing account over a single week, day by day. Any result they quote has to come with a baseline before we count it. Then we spend a live hour with them on a real ad account, with no take-home.
Why is there no sales call?
Because everything a call would cover is written down, and your time is better spent interviewing finalists. Send the brief, and if anything is unclear, reply to our email and we answer in writing the same day.
Do strategists pay to join the roster?
Strategists never pay anything, at any stage. The hiring brand or agency pays the placement fee.
Anything else? Write to hello@creativestrategists.io and we answer in writing the same day.
Send your brief. Meet finalists in 14 days.
It takes about 5 minutes, and costs nothing until we confirm we can place for you.
Join the waitlist