Using Content Pillars to Uplevel Your Social Media Strategy
We’ve all been there. Sitting in front of our computers or staring at our phones, trying to think of what to post on social media, but coming up blank. Consistently creating new content is challenging. But you can make it easier. By using content pillars, or buckets, you can make your content creation process more efficient and more effective. So, let’s start at the beginning. This blog will cover what content pillars are, why you should use them, and how to create them.
What are Content Pillars?
Content pillars are the foundation of a strong social media strategy. They are the main categories of content that you will share on social media, keeping your content focused and relevant to your niche and your audience’s interests.
Content pillars determine what content you share, as each piece of content that you write, each post that you publish, should fall into one of these core themes.
We recommend creating 3-5 content pillars to use as the basis of your content strategy.
Why Do You Need Content Pillars?
Content buckets make your content creation process quicker, more organized, and ensure that each piece of content you create is relevant and valuable to your audience.
When you have established content pillars, you can always refer back to them when trying to come up with ideas for what to post on social media. They act as a guide for creating content and providing value to your audience.
How to Create Content Pillars
When determining what to use for your core content themes, there are two main things you should consider:
your niche and
your audience
Starting with your niche, you need to get clear on what your area of expertise is and what differentiates you from your competition. Consider:
what industry you’re in
what’s trending in that industry
what makes you stand out from your competition
When it comes to creating content, you should always have an audience-first approach. Ask yourself, “How can I provide value to my audience?” and “What is my audience interested in?” You can also review your current social media analytics to see what’s working and what your audience has been responding well to in order to get insight on what you should continue to post.
When in doubt, you can always ask your audience what they want. Using polls or the question sticker on Instagram Stories is a great way to get direct feedback from your audience.
With these things in mind, you can decide on your core content themes, the main categories of content that are relevant to your niche and area of expertise and that will provide value to your audience.
Examples of Content Pillars
Some brands keep it simple and use the following for their content pillars:
Educate
Entertain
Connect
Other brands create content pillars that are more related to their industry and content. For example, a makeup company could have the following pillars:
Tutorials
Product Features
Finished Faces
It’s up to you how broad or specific you want your content pillars to be, but they should serve as a guide for what content you will create. Within each pillar, you should be able to brainstorm a number of different, specific content pieces that you could create.
Creating content pillars can help you to connect with your audience by providing them with content that is relevant and valuable to them. And it makes your job in creating content quicker and easier.
Need help with your social media strategy? The team at Media Shop Collective is here to help. Check out our services, or send us an email.