In today’s digital age, social media has become an essential platform for businesses to connect with their target audience. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn provide businesses with the opportunity to share their brand story, build their community, and ultimately, drive sales.

However, social media can be a daunting task for many businesses. Creating content that resonates with your audience, while also maintaining a consistent brand image can be a challenging task. This is where content pillars come in.

Content pillars are a strategy that businesses can use to organize their social media content. Content pillars are the foundation of your social media strategy, and they provide a roadmap for creating content that is on-brand, relevant, and valuable to your audience.

In this blog, we will explore what content pillars are and how businesses can use them to create a successful social media strategy.

What are Content Pillars?

Content pillars are the main topics or themes that your brand is known for. These topics are the foundation of your social media strategy and help you to create content that aligns with your brand values, mission, and vision.

Content pillars can be created by identifying the main topics that your brand covers. For example, a fashion brand may have content pillars such as fashion trends, style tips, and brand news. A health and wellness brand may have content pillars such as nutrition, fitness, and mental health.

Once you have identified your content pillars, you can start to create content that aligns with these topics. Your content pillars should be broad enough to cover a variety of topics, but narrow enough to ensure that your content is consistent and on-brand.

Why are Content Pillars Important for Social Media?

Content pillars are essential for creating a successful social media strategy. Here are some reasons why:

Consistency

Consistency is key when it comes to social media. Your audience expects to see content from your brand on a regular basis. By using content pillars, you can ensure that your content is consistent and on-brand. This helps to build trust with your audience and can lead to increased engagement and sales.

Organization

Content pillars provide a framework for organizing your social media content. This makes it easier to plan your content in advance, which can save you time and ensure that your content is always on-brand and relevant.

Branding

Content pillars help to reinforce your brand image and values. By consistently creating content that aligns with your content pillars, you can build a strong brand identity and increase brand awareness.

Engagement

By creating content that is relevant and valuable to your audience, you can increase engagement on your social media channels. Content pillars help you to understand what your audience is interested in and create content that resonates with them.

How to Create Content Pillars

Creating content pillars requires a deep understanding of your brand, your audience, and your goals. Here are some steps you can follow to create content pillars for your brand:

Step 1: Define your brand

The first step in creating content pillars is to define your brand. This includes your brand mission, values, and personality. Understanding your brand is essential for creating content that aligns with your brand image and values.

Step 2: Identify your target audience

The next step is to identify your target audience. This includes their demographics, interests, and behaviors. Understanding your audience is essential for creating content that resonates with them and drives engagement.

Step 3: Brainstorm topics

Once you have a clear understanding of your brand and audience, you can start to brainstorm topics for your content pillars. These topics should align with your brand image and values, as well as be relevant and valuable to your audience.

Step 4: Narrow down your topics

After brainstorming a list of topics, you should narrow down your list to create

a set of 3-5 content pillars. These pillars should be broad enough to cover a variety of topics, but narrow enough to ensure that your content is consistent and on-brand.

When narrowing down your topics, consider the following:

• Relevance: Are the topics relevant to your brand and audience?
• Differentiation: Are the topics unique and different from what your competitors are doing?
• Breadth: Are the topics broad enough to cover a variety of sub-topics?
• Alignment: Do the topics align with your brand values and mission?

Once you have narrowed down your topics, create a list of sub-topics that fall under each content pillar. These sub-topics should be specific and provide a framework for creating content that aligns with your content pillars.

Step 5: Create a Content Calendar

Once you have created your content pillars and sub-topics, you can start to plan your content calendar. A content calendar is a schedule of when and what content you will post on your social media channels.

Your content calendar should align with your content pillars and sub-topics. This ensures that your content is consistent and on-brand. When creating your content calendar, consider the following:

• Frequency: How often will you post on each social media channel?
• Timing: What time of day is best for posting on each social media channel?
• Format: What type of content will you post? (e.g., images, videos, text)
• Call-to-action: What action do you want your audience to take after viewing your content?

Creating a content calendar can save you time and ensure that your content is always on-brand and relevant.

How to Use Content Pillars for Social Media

Once you have created your content pillars and content calendar, it’s time to start creating content. Here are some tips for using content pillars for social media:

1. Create content that aligns with your content pillars

When creating content for social media, ensure that it aligns with your content pillars. This ensures that your content is consistent and on-brand. For example, if one of your content pillars is “nutrition,” create content that aligns with this topic, such as healthy recipes or nutrition tips.

2. Use your content pillars to guide your content creation

Your content pillars should be a guide for creating content. When brainstorming content ideas, refer back to your content pillars to ensure that your content aligns with your brand values and mission.

3. Use your content pillars across all social media channels

Your content pillars should be consistent across all social media channels. This ensures that your brand image and values are consistent across all platforms. For example, if one of your content pillars is “fashion trends,” create content that aligns with this topic on all social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

4. Use your content pillars to track your content

By using content pillars, you can track the success of your content. For example, if one of your content pillars is “mental health,” you can track the engagement of content related to this topic. This helps you to understand what content resonates with your audience and can inform future content creation.

5. Experiment with different content formats

While your content pillars should provide a framework for creating content, don’t be afraid to experiment with different content formats. For example, if one of your content pillars is “fitness,” try creating a video workout instead of a written article.

Ultimately, your content pillars are a core part of your brand messaging and brand voice.  Aligning your values, ideal client’s needs and wants, and your niche focus together with rotating areas of content will help strengthen your marketing and messaging.  Want to know more about how to create content pillars? Feel free to get in touch via my contact form, and we can work together to create your focus areas!