How to Create Content Pillars for Social Media
Small business owners and content creators *LISTEN UP*.
If you haven't established 5 content pillars for your brand, then you are in desperate need of this blog post.
Feel free to save this and come back to it later if you can't take the time to read it now. TRUST ME, you don't want to miss out on all of the value that lies within this.
So first off, let's answer the question many of you might be asking - What are content pillars and why do I need them so badly?
Content pillars act as a foundation (hence why we call them pillars) for every successful content marketing strategy.
Pillars are necessary to support the overall objectives of a content strategy. They help ensure that your efforts are spread evenly across all social media platforms. Without content pillars, your content pieces lack direction, leading to lower reach, engagement, and overall brand recognition. Yikes.
Using content pillars for social media is a great way to stay organized, be consistent, and create high-quality content that your audience is sure to love.
Your brand's pillars should be the 5 topics you discuss or share most about. For example, if you’re a nutritionist or fitness coach, your content pillars might include nutrition, workouts, mindset, healthy recipes, and recovery.
Your niche will help you establish your authority in the space, while your content pillars will identify the specific topics you’re an expert in. The more focused you are, the easier it is for you to grow on social media. Your content pillars will also make mapping your content calendar so much easier; so it’s crucial that you establish them ASAP.
Carve out some thinking time in your calendar, and decide on 5 content pillars for your brand. The content pillars that you choose should encompass and be consistent with your brand’s purpose, values, tone of voice, positioning, and general aesthetic look and feel on social media. Remember that your content pillars will need to be specific to your brand, but can encompass multiple themes. For example:
An independent bookstore could focus primarily on new book releases, indie authors, cozy reading spots, and local coffee shops
A birth worker’s content pillars could be nutrition during pregnancy, self-love, and yoga
A marketing strategist could focus on entrepreneurship, marketing tips, and mental health
A fashion content creator’s pillars could be street style, body positivity, beauty, and mindset
Once you have your 5 content pillars, you can move on to the next step in this post. Go ahead - I will wait...
Once you’ve established your content pillars, the next thing you’ll want to do is create a Google Doc with a page dedicated to each pillar. This document will be an ever-evolving list of ideas that you and your team will refer back to whenever you are in content creation mode.
For this reason, I highly recommend creating your lists on Google Docs. This way, you’ll be able to maintain this ongoing list without running out of room for ideas, and your team can toss in ideas any time as well.
Personally, I set aside time each month to add all my ideas to this document. Whether they’re your own organic ideas or ideas sourced from a trend you’ve seen, this list will keep them all organized by the appropriate content pillars. And if you’re stuck and don’t have any ideas, here are 3 places you need to look to in order to fill this document up with strategic ideas that serve both your growth and your audience.
Your Analytics
Before you sit down to fill out your document, refer back to your analytics for the previous month. This could be your analytics from Instagram, your website, podcast, or any platform you’re brand lives on. Reviewing your analytics will help you determine the best-performing topics. This information will indicate how well your audience resonated with that specific type of content.
When looking at your analytics, take note of the details of your post that got people engaged. Ask yourself — what did we write in our caption, and what type of image did we post?
Industry Launches, Trends, and News
Take a look at the latest launches, trends, and news within your niche. A simple idea would be gift guides around Black Friday and the holidays. Or if you’re in the health and nutrition space, creating healthy holiday recipes would be great in the months of November/December.
Your Audience
The most important way to source content ideas is through listening to your audience. Take note of all the requests you receive. Pay attention to any questions your audience sends you through DMs or your comments section. Can you create content that’ll address those topics?
You can even use Instagram stories to poll and ask them about the type of content they’ll like to see. Remember, the relationship you have with your audience should be a reciprocal one. This means you can’t just create what you want to for your audience, but you need to listen to what they want and create content that serves them.
Conclusion:
Not only will content pillars lay the foundation for a killer content strategy, but they’ll help you feel more confident about your ability to be consistent on every platform!
The addition of content pillars to your brand's social media calendar could really level up your content efforts.
Be strategic in your approach, by carrying out competitor research, auditing your brand's social media channels, and most importantly, using your brand's marketing personas to guide every piece of content you create for social media.
We can't wait to see what you come up with!
