Using Content Pillars to Enhance Your Social Media Strategy

Trying to appeal to your social media audience can be a daunting task, especially with so many demographics and topics available. While you could try to cover a little bit of everything to please everyone, narrowing down the topics you discuss can help your brand in the long run. Content pillars help you find your niche and deliver the best possible content.

What Is A Content Pillar?

A content pillar is a key topic that you want to focus on and be known for. Most creators will choose up to five topics to discuss, educate, and amplify. By narrowing your content down to these selected topics, your audience will know what to expect from you and the foundation of your accounts.

Why Are Content Pillars Important?

Content pillars help you stay focused on topics you are knowledgeable about, and that your audience is interested in. By posting about your content pillars, you build yourself up as a go-to expert in these areas and grow a more defined audience. When people follow social media accounts, they want to know what they are getting themselves into, and content pillars help keep you from straying into areas your audience is not interested in. They also make planning your content much easier!

How To Choose Content Pillars:

Your content pillars don’t have to be directly related to your brand (although they should be relevant). The goal is to have content that has a common theme, without being repetitive. For example, a marketing firm could choose social media tips, work/life balance, and trending social media topics. A fitness instructor could share quick workouts, healthy recipes, and motivational quotes. If you look at BMT Micro’s pages, we share fun holidays, business updates, and bits of our city. Content pillars should aim to achieve at least one of these: promotion, engagement, education, entertainment, and inspiration. With those goals, you can choose how you want to move forward with your own content pillars!

Creating your content pillars takes some time, especially if your social media presence is not already established. First, consider your business goals. What are you trying to achieve? What content will be most valuable to your audience? Are you looking to drive your audience to your website or create brand awareness?

Next, see what keywords are trending. Typing your industry into the search of Instagram or TikTok is a quick way to help you get an idea of what is popular, and what is working. You can also check Google Trends or your past analytics to see what your audience is most likely to respond to. Any hashtags, social media trends, or keywords will help you learn what you should be doing.

Listen to the feedback that your audience offers you. Is there certain content that tends to get higher feedback? Are there questions you are frequently asked? Listening to your audience is one of the best ways to grow your audience! If you have not been getting much feedback, don’t be afraid to ask them what they want!

Planning out your posts ahead of time can help you stick to your content pillars. Although your topics will mainly revolve around these pillars, branch out and try different types of media to spice it up- graphics, videos, Reels, stories, and interactive content. Content pillars help you make the most out of your social media efforts and help you connect with your audience. If you ever need to phase out one of your content pillars and introduce a new one, that’s completely fine- at the end of the day, the goal is to produce content that your audience loves! Do you have content pillars? If so, let us know what they are in the comments!