About the role of a freelance strategist at Column Five

Column Five is seeking freelance Strategists to work on B2B marketing engagements. We are hoping to partner with client-facing strategists who can work alongside other experts, absorb their thinking, and carry it into C5’s strategic creative work to generate aggressive leads, brand experiences and revenue goals for our clients.

What we’re looking for in a freelance strategist

• You can take a strategy developed by someone else and make it your own, finding the through line that connects positioning to specific content.
• You understand how enterprise buyers move, and you can design nurture and CRM journeys that meet them where they are.
• You know search is changing with AI, and you can guide strategies that improve traditional search visibility and discoverability in AI models alike.
• You think in connected systems, understanding how paid media, organic content, search, website experiences, email programs, and sales enablement work together.
• You're comfortable translating campaign media performance, audience behavior, and funnel data into meaningful insights and actionable strategic recommendations.
• You can make website copy, design, and development recommendations based on optimizing for conversion and performance.
• You’re comfortable operating in ambiguity, knowing that messaging and activation priorities will evolve as a program takes shape.
• You can present and defend your strategy with confidence directly to senior client stakeholders.
• You collaborate well, and you know how to partner with others so strategy and editorial move together.

Requirements for a freelance strategist

• More than 3 years in brand, content, and/or email marketing strategy.
• B2B SaaS or enterprise tech experience, AI or data products a plus.
• New-market positioning experience a plus.
• Working knowledge of SEO and AEO.
• Experience developing messaging and content for senior operational buyers.
• Familiarity with paid media, performance optimization, ABM, product-led growth, or product launch experience.

Responsibilities for a freelance strategist

• Translate strategy into clear messaging frameworks and creative briefs.
• Build nurture campaigns and CRM journeys that move enterprise buyers from first touch to conversion.
• Help shape SEO and AEO strategy & content priorities that build visibility.
• Partner day to day with the C5 team on strategy, editorial plans, and creative direction.
• Present strategy and recommendations directly to client stakeholders; this is often a visible, client-facing role.

Work samples - with your application

Please include 1–2 examples demonstrating how you've translated business or brand strategy into an integrated marketing program, ideally showing how you connected channels and used performance learnings to evolve the work. Any of the following: Examples of email nurture programs, CRM journeys, content/search strategies, or launches. We'd love to understand both your strategic thinking and the business results it helped drive.

Engagement

We engage either on a retained hours contract or flat-rate per project, depending on the opportunity.