Content Strategist, Appily

About EAB

At EAB, our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We work with more than 2,800 institutions to drive transformative change through data-driven insights and best-in-class capabilities. From kindergarten to college to career, EAB partners with leaders and practitioners to accelerate progress and drive results across enrollment, student success, institutional strategy, data analytics, and advancement. We work with each partner differently, tailoring our portfolio of research, technology, and marketing and enrollment solutions to meet the unique needs of every leadership team, as well as the students and employees they serve.

At EAB, we serve not only our partner institutions but each other-that's why we are always working to make sure our employees love their jobs and are invested in their communities. See how we've been recognized for this dedication to our employees by checking out our recent awards.

For more information, visit our Careers page.

The Role in Brief:

Content Strategist, Appily

The Appily Student Marketing team helps high school students make confident college choices by offering everything students need to plan, decide, and apply to college on appily.com.

Appily is seeking a Content Strategist to join our growing team. This role will support content development from planning through publication, ensuring Appily's blog, website, and tools are informative, engaging, and optimized for SEO/GEO. This role calls for creativity, editorial excellence, strong project management skills, and a growth mindset; it is ideal for someone who loves learning, thrives on details, and enjoys bringing ideas to life with precision and purpose.

Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, are essential, along with the ability to collaborate effectively in a team environment. Familiarity with analytics, CRM, and CMS tools, and an eagerness to stay updated on industry trends will be key. This individual should be a self-starter who is eager to brainstorm and test creative strategies for optimal channel performance. A proactive attitude, attention to detail, and a willingness to learn and grow within the company are highly valued.

This hire may be based in Richmond, VA or Washington, D.C.

Primary Responsibilities:

Content Creation & Editorial Execution

• Write and edit original content for blog posts, guides, and web pages targeting high school students and their parents/guardians, maintaining consistency with Appily's voice, tone, and editorial guidelines
• Manage and execute the editorial calendar in partnership with the Associate Director of Content Strategy
• Coordinate with freelance writers, providing briefs and feedback, and managing drafts through final approval
• Ensure accurate and accessible formatting across all content

SEO & Content Optimization

• Conduct keyword research and help identify gaps and opportunities in existing content
• Optimize new and existing content for on-page SEO, including correct metadata, internal linking, and all best practices for format and structure
• Refresh and improve older content based on changing information and natural content decay
• Track keyword movement and contribute to improving visibility in search and LLM outputs

Content Governance & CMS

• Upload, QA, and publish content within our CMS (Drupal)
• Assist in maintaining evergreen content and ensuring consistency across the site

Performance Support

• Monitor traffic and engagement metrics from Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Looker Studio, and SEMRush
• Assist in content performance reporting and flag underperforming content for updates

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Attend planning meetings with marketing, product, and SEO stakeholders to surface content opportunities
• Collect insights from SMEs, product marketers, and the Appily team to inform content development

Learning & Growth

• Stay up to date with SEO/GEO, content, and marketing best practices
• Research content and format trends to support pilot content or innovative approaches

Basic Qualifications:

• 2-3+ years of experience in content writing, SEO copywriting, or digital marketing
• Strong portfolio of digital content, especially for student/education-facing and military audiences
• Proficiency in SEO tools (e.g., Google Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs)
• Experience working within a CMS (Drupal, WordPress, etc.)
• Understanding of basic web publishing best practices, including accessibility and formatting
• Excellent communication, organization, and attention to detail
• Comfort working across teams and with freelancers
• Minimal travel required

Ideal Qualifications:

• Experience in uniformed services recruitment, college access, enrollment marketing, edtech, or working with youth preferred
• Strong organizational skills with ability to handle multiple priorities and deadlines
• Desire to innovate and improve practices and processes
• Commitment to embracing a continual learning environment and contributing to a dynamic and welcoming culture of fairness, authenticity, and belonging in support of EAB's mission, values, and aspiration.

If you've reached this section of the job description and are unsure of whether to apply, please do! At EAB, we welcome new perspectives and learn from each other's unique experiences. We would encourage you to submit an application if this is a role you would be passionate about doing every day.

Compensation:

The anticipated starting salary (base) range for this role is $55,000 - $67,500 per year. Actual salary varies due to factors that may include but not be limited to relevant experience, skills, and location. At EAB, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the starting salary range for their role.

This hire will additionally be eligible for discretionary bonus or incentive compensation. Variable compensation may depend on various factors, such as individual and organizational performance.

Benefits:

Consistent with our belief that our employees are our most valuable resource, EAB offers a competitive and inclusive benefits package. Our benefits currently include:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans; dependents and domestic partners eligible
• 20+ days of PTO annually, in addition to paid firm and floating holidays
• Daytime leave policy for community service and flextime for fitness activities (up to 10 hours per month each)
• 401(k) retirement savings plan with annual discretionary company matching contribution
• Health savings account, healthcare and dependent care flexible spending account, and pre-tax commuter plans
• Employee assistance program with counseling services and resources available to all employees and immediate family
• Wellness programs including gym discounts, incentives to promote healthy living, and family access to the leading app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation
• Fertility treatment coverage and adoption or surrogacy assistance
• Paid parental leave with phase back to work program for birthing and non-birthing parents
• Access to milk shipping service to support nursing employees during business travel
• Discounted pet health insurance coverage for dog and cat family members
• Company-provided life, AD&D, and disability insurance
• Financial wellness resources and membership in a robust employee discount program
• Access to employee resource groups, merit-based advancement, and dynamic professional growth opportunities

Benefits kick in day one; learn more at eab.com/careers/benefits.

This opening is not eligible for visa sponsorship at this time; EAB will thus consider candidates who possess U.S. work authorization that does not require employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future.

At EAB, we believe that to fulfill our mission to "make education smarter and our communities stronger" we need team members who bring a diversity of perspectives to the table and are committed to fostering a workplace where each team member is valued, respected and heard.

To that end, EAB is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we make employment decisions on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need. We don't discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law.