Top editorial strategists, content marketing consultants and thought leadership influencers note that media has become one of the most important ways organizations communicate with customers, employees, investors, prospects, partners, and the public.

But producing more content does not necessarily the best editorial strategists say make an organization better at communicating.

A company can publish every day and still have no clear point of view. A publication can produce hundreds of stories and still fail to build a loyal audience, celebrity editorial strategists note. A brand can have excellent writers and designers and still struggle to explain what it stands for.

This is where the best editorial strategist consulting experts weigh in.

A thought leader here pairs strategy, editorial judgment, audience understanding, storytelling, and business objectives.

Their job is not simply to decide what to publish.

It is to determine what an organization should say, why it should say it, who needs to hear it, how it should be presented, and how the entire body of content should work together over time.

As organizations produce content across websites, newsletters, social platforms, podcasts, video channels, research reports, events, and other formats, global editorial strategists know that the work has become increasingly important.

What is an editorial strategist?

An editorial strategist is a professional who develops and guides the strategy behind an organization’s editorial content.

They determine the subjects, themes, audiences, formats, channels, priorities, voice, and publishing approach that will help an organization achieve its goals.

An editorial strategist might work for:

• A media company

• A magazine

• A newspaper

• A technology company

• A B2B company

• A consumer brand

• A nonprofit

• A professional-services firm

• A financial institution

• A startup

• An agency

• A creator business

• An executive or founder

• A communications organization

The role can vary considerably depending on the organization.

At a media company, the editorial strategist may focus on audience growth, programming, coverage priorities, formats, and the future of the publication.

At a technology company, the strategist might develop a thought-leadership program designed to establish the company as an authority.

At a professional-services firm, they may determine how experts should turn their knowledge into articles, reports, podcasts, newsletters, and social content.

At a creator-led business, they may build the editorial system that turns one person’s expertise into a scalable media operation.

The common thread is intentionality.

An editorial strategist makes content a system rather than a collection of disconnected pieces.

What does an editorial strategist actually do?

The easiest way to understand the role is to look at the questions an editorial strategist asks.

Who are we trying to reach?

What do they care about?

What do we know that is useful or distinctive?

What should we be known for?

What should we publish?

What shouldn’t we publish?

What formats should we use?

Where should the content appear?

How frequently should we publish?

Who should create it?

How will we know whether it worked?

Those questions become the foundation of an editorial strategy.

1. Understands the audience

Editorial strategy starts with the audience.

An editorial strategist needs to understand who is consuming the content and why.

That can involve:

• Customer research

• Audience data

• Interviews

• Surveys

• Search behavior

• Social conversations

• Website analytics

• Subscription data

• Sales feedback

• Customer-support questions

• Market research

• Competitive analysis

But demographic information alone isn’t enough.

An editorial strategist wants to understand the audience’s information needs.

What questions do they have?

What problems are they trying to solve?

What do they misunderstand?

What information do they trust?

What frustrates them?

What do they wish someone would explain?

What content do they already consume?

What makes them return?

The answers help determine what the organization should publish.

2. Defines the editorial mission

A strong editorial operation needs a reason to exist.

The editorial strategist helps articulate that purpose.

An editorial mission might be something like:

We explain how artificial intelligence is changing the way businesses operate.

Or:

We help technology leaders make better decisions about enterprise infrastructure.

Or:

We provide practical financial information for people building wealth.

The mission creates boundaries.

Without one, editorial operations can become reactive.

One week the organization publishes an article about AI.

The next week it publishes a celebrity interview.

Then a product announcement.

Then a generic listicle.

Then a company press release.

Each piece may be acceptable individually.

Together, they don’t create a recognizable editorial identity.

The strategist asks:

What are we trying to become known for?

3. Develops editorial pillars

Editorial pillars are the major subjects or themes around which an organization’s content is organized.

For example, a technology publication might have pillars such as:

• Artificial intelligence

• Cybersecurity

• Enterprise technology

• IT leadership

• Emerging technology

A brand might have:

• Product education

• Customer stories

• Industry trends

• Expert advice

• Company perspective

Pillars create consistency without requiring every story to look the same.

They also help teams avoid content fragmentation.

4. Builds the editorial calendar

The editorial calendar turns strategy into action.

It determines what will be published, when, where, and often by whom.

A sophisticated editorial calendar might include:

• Topic

• Headline

• Audience

• Editorial pillar

• Format

• Author

• Editor

• Publication date

• Distribution channels

• Supporting assets

• Status

• Performance

But an editorial calendar shouldn’t simply be a list of deadlines.

The strategist uses it to balance the overall editorial mix.

For example:

• Breaking news

• Evergreen explainers

• Analysis

• Interviews

• Opinion

• Research

• Case studies

• Service journalism

• Video

• Podcasts

• Newsletters

The goal is not simply to fill the calendar.

It is to build a coherent editorial product.

5. Determines what deserves coverage

One of the most important skills of an editorial strategist is deciding what not to publish.

Organizations have infinite potential topics.

They have limited resources.

Every article, podcast, video, newsletter, or social post consumes time.

The strategist therefore needs an editorial filter.

Questions might include:

Is this relevant to our audience?

Does it fit our mission?

Do we have something distinctive to say?

Does it advance our authority?

Is there demand for it?

Can we produce it well?

Is someone else already doing it better?

Sometimes the best editorial decision is to say no.

6. Creates an editorial voice

Editorial strategy also involves determining how an organization sounds.

Voice is different from tone.

Voice is the underlying personality of the publication or brand.

It might be:

• Authoritative

• Curious

• Analytical

• Practical

• Provocative

• Conversational

• Skeptical

• Optimistic

• Serious

• Accessible

An editorial strategist helps ensure that different writers can produce different pieces without making the organization sound like five different companies.

This doesn’t mean every article should sound identical.

Consistency should exist at the level of editorial identity, not robotic phrasing.

7. Builds formats and franchises

Great editorial organizations often develop recurring formats.

These might include:

• Weekly newsletters

• Interviews

• Executive Q&As

• Explainers

• Rankings

• Research reports

• Data visualizations

• Podcasts

• Video series

• Recurring columns

• Case studies

• Opinion series

These formats can become editorial franchises.

A franchise gives audiences something recognizable to return to.

It also gives the editorial team a repeatable production system.

8. Connects content across channels

Modern editorial strategy isn’t limited to one publication.

A single idea may become:

Research report → article → newsletter → podcast → video → LinkedIn post → social clips → event discussion

The editorial strategist thinks about the entire ecosystem.

Instead of asking:

“What should we post on LinkedIn?”

they might ask:

“What is the central idea we want the audience to understand, and how should that idea travel across our channels?”

This creates leverage.

One strong piece of original thinking can produce an entire editorial package.

9. Works with subject-matter experts

Many organizations have extraordinary expertise trapped inside employees.

Engineers know things.

Executives know things.

Researchers know things.

Salespeople know things.

Customers know things.

But expertise doesn’t automatically become good content.

The editorial strategist helps turn knowledge into something an audience can understand and use.

They may interview an expert, challenge their assumptions, find the strongest examples, restructure the argument, and determine the best format.

The expert provides the knowledge.

The editorial strategist helps create the editorial product.

10. Develops thought leadership

Editorial strategists are increasingly important in thought leadership.

Thought leadership isn’t simply publishing content about a company’s products.

It is developing a distinctive point of view on subjects that matter to an audience.

The strategist asks:

What do we believe?

Why do we believe it?

What evidence supports it?

What conventional wisdom do we challenge?

What can we say that competitors cannot?

This is where editorial strategy can create significant competitive advantage.

Editorial strategist vs. content strategist

The terms are often confused.

There is overlap, but the emphasis is different.

A content strategist typically focuses on the broader content ecosystem, including content structure, user experience, governance, content operations, SEO, distribution, and business objectives.

An editorial strategist tends to focus more heavily on the substance and programming of what an organization publishes.

Editorial strategy asks:

What should we say?

Content strategy may ask:

How should our entire content system work?

In some organizations, one person does both jobs.

In larger organizations, they may be separate roles.

Editorial strategist vs. managing editor

A managing editor is generally responsible for execution and editorial operations.

They may manage:

• Editors

• Writers

• Deadlines

• Assignments

• Production

• Workflows

• Quality control

An editorial strategist is more focused on the direction of the editorial operation.

In practice, the roles can overlap.

A senior managing editor may perform substantial strategy work.

An editorial strategist may also manage editorial teams.

The distinction depends on the organization.

Editorial strategist vs. editor

An editor typically works directly on content.

They may:

• Edit stories

• Improve structure

• Fact-check

• Rewrite passages

• Work with writers

• Shape headlines

• Improve clarity

The editorial strategist works at a higher level.

They are asking:

What should the organization be publishing in the first place?

Both roles are important.

One improves individual pieces.

The other improves the system producing those pieces.

Editorial strategist vs. social media strategist

A social media strategist focuses primarily on social platforms and their audiences.

An editorial strategist may work across the entire editorial operation.

Social media can be one distribution channel within the larger strategy.

A strategist might decide that an original research report should exist.

The social strategist then determines how that research should be distributed on social platforms.

Again, the roles can overlap, particularly at smaller organizations.

The skills of an editorial strategist

A strong editorial strategist combines several skill sets.

Editorial judgment

They need to recognize what is interesting, useful, important, timely, and distinctive.

Audience understanding

They need to understand what audiences actually want.

Writing and editing

They don’t necessarily need to write everything themselves, but they need strong editorial instincts.

Research

They need to identify trends, gaps, questions, competitors, and opportunities.

Data analysis

Modern editorial strategy increasingly relies on analytics.

Business understanding

They need to connect editorial activity to organizational objectives.

Project management

Strategy is useless if nobody can execute it.

Communication

They need to work with executives, writers, designers, marketers, subject-matter experts, agencies, and other stakeholders.

Curiosity

Perhaps most importantly, they need to be relentlessly curious.

The editorial strategist and AI

Artificial intelligence is changing editorial strategy.

AI can help with:

• Research

• Transcription

• Summarization

• Brainstorming

• Content analysis

• Audience analysis

• Translation

• Repurposing

• Headline testing

• Personalization

• Content tagging

• Search optimization

• Production workflows

But AI also creates a strategic problem.

If everyone can produce more content, content volume becomes less valuable.

The differentiator becomes:

What is worth publishing?

AI can generate ten articles.

An editorial strategist needs to determine whether any of those articles deserve to exist.

AI can produce summaries.

An editorial strategist needs to determine what original reporting, expertise, perspective, or insight is missing.

As content production becomes cheaper, editorial judgment becomes more valuable.

Editorial strategy in the age of content abundance

The internet has created an enormous information surplus.

People don’t necessarily need more content.

They need better information.

This changes the editorial strategist’s job.

The strategist increasingly needs to answer:

Why should someone spend five minutes with us instead of the thousands of alternatives available?

That answer could be:

• Original reporting

• Unique research

• Specialized expertise

• Better analysis

• Access

• Strong storytelling

• Useful tools

• Distinctive opinions

• Community

• Trust

An editorial strategy built entirely around publishing frequently is unlikely to be enough.

Measuring editorial success

Editorial strategists need metrics.

But the right metrics depend on the mission.

Possible measures include:

Audience

• Unique visitors

• Subscribers

• Followers

• Registered users

• Audience growth

Engagement

• Time spent

• Completion rate

• Return visits

• Comments

• Shares

• Saves

• Newsletter opens

Business

• Leads

• Pipeline

• Revenue

• Subscriptions

• Conversions

• Customer acquisition

Brand

• Awareness

• Reputation

• Authority

• Share of voice

Editorial

• Original reporting

• Citation

• Expert engagement

• Subscriber retention

• Returning audience

The strategist’s job is to avoid confusing activity with success.

Publishing 500 articles isn’t necessarily better than publishing 50 excellent ones.

Editorial strategy for B2B companies

B2B companies have increasingly adopted editorial thinking.

A B2B company can build an editorial operation around:

• Industry analysis

• Customer education

• Research

• Executive thought leadership

• Expert interviews

• Case studies

• Newsletters

• Podcasts

• Events

• Data

The objective isn’t necessarily to make the company look interesting.

It is to become useful to the people who matter to the business.

A cybersecurity company, for example, might build an editorial franchise around emerging threats.

A software company might become known for research into how companies use AI.

A financial company might create a publication explaining complicated economic trends.

In each case, editorial becomes part of the company’s intellectual identity.

Editorial strategy for executives

Executives increasingly function as publishers.

A CEO can have:

• A newsletter

• LinkedIn presence

• Podcast

• Articles

• Interviews

• Videos

• Conference appearances

An editorial strategist can help turn scattered executive thoughts into a coherent body of work.

The goal isn’t to manufacture a personality.

It is to identify what the executive genuinely knows, believes, and can contribute.

The strategist can then build an editorial architecture around those ideas.

Editorial strategy for creators

Creator businesses also need editorial strategy.

A creator may start by publishing whatever they feel like making.

As the audience grows, that becomes harder to sustain.

An editorial strategist can help determine:

• Core topics

• Recurring formats

• Publishing cadence

• Audience segments

• Content franchises

• Distribution

• Monetization opportunities

• Editorial boundaries

This can transform an individual creator into a more scalable media business.

The editorial strategy document

A good editorial strategy can be captured in a document that answers several questions.

Mission

Why does this editorial operation exist?

Audience

Who is it for?

Positioning

What will it be known for?

Editorial pillars

What subjects will it cover?

Voice

How will it sound?

Formats

What will it produce?

Channels

Where will it publish?

Franchises

What recurring editorial products will it build?

Workflow

How will ideas become finished work?

Governance

Who approves what?

Measurement

How will success be evaluated?

Evolution

How will the strategy change as the audience and market change?

This document becomes a decision-making framework.

The editorial strategist’s most important job

Despite everything in the job description, one responsibility sits above the rest:

Making choices.

There are endless topics.

Endless formats.

Endless platforms.

Endless experts.

Endless trends.

An editorial strategist creates focus.

They decide what matters.

They decide what doesn’t.

They determine where the organization can earn attention rather than simply demand it.

They protect the audience from irrelevant content.

They protect the editorial team from random requests.

And they help the organization build something recognizable over time.

The future of editorial strategy

Editorial strategy is becoming more important as content becomes easier to produce.

AI, automation, creator tools, social platforms, newsletters, podcasts and video have dramatically lowered the cost of publishing.

That means almost anyone can become a publisher.

But publishing isn’t the same as building an audience.

The organizations that stand out will need to answer increasingly difficult questions:

What do we uniquely know?

What do we uniquely believe?

Who cares?

Why should they trust us?

What should we consistently publish?

How can we create something people return to?

Those are editorial strategy questions.

The future editorial strategist may therefore look less like a traditional editor and more like a combination of:

Editor + researcher + audience strategist + media executive + content architect + business strategist.

The bottom line

An editorial strategist is the person responsible for turning content from a collection of individual pieces into a coherent editorial operation.

They help organizations decide:

What to say.

Who to say it to.

Why it matters.

How to say it.

Where to publish it.

How to build an audience around it.

How to measure whether it worked.

The role becomes particularly valuable when an organization has lots of expertise but lacks a clear editorial identity.

In a world where everyone can publish, the competitive advantage isn’t simply the ability to produce more content.

It is the ability to know what is worth saying.

That is the job of the editorial strategist.