Here at Mint, we consider content pillars to be the ‘bread and butter’ of social media marketing.
They help to give direction and inspiration for posts and result in consistent, varied content. Content pillars are completely unique to each business and work to communicate value to your audience.
Want to know how content pillars could work for you? We catch up with our in-house social media expert Suse Berwick, to hear her tips for creating and using content pillars.
Firstly, how would you define what content pillars are?
Great question! Content pillars are the ‘foundation’ of your content, and can also be called content themes, topics or buckets. They’re key groupings of content ideas that are designed to meet your overarching business and social media goals, which ensure that you’re always showcasing the most important facets of your business.
Often we get caught up in posting content that’s easy to source or that gets lots of likes, even though that might not be aiding our overall goal. By having 5-6 content pillars that demonstrate core elements of your business, you showcase this variety without ever really actively thinking about it.
Why are content pillars important for your social media marketing?
First and foremost, they make the life of a social media manager or content producer significantly easier. Instead of having to sit down and reinvent the wheel every time you need to plan content, you create ideas under pre-selected themes that you're sure will meet the needs of your audience.
If your posting strategy is once a month (which isn't something we’d advise!), then you might not need this level of strategic thinking. But if you’re posting twice weekly, for example, you’re really going to benefit from having a set of pillars to guide the content creation process seamlessly.
What is your top tip for starting out with content pillars?
There’s a little bit of thinking that needs to happen before you get to creating content pillars. First, define your business and social media goals. These will set the foundation for your pillars, as we need to ensure that every piece of content is created with those goals in mind.
Next up, define your target audience - who they are, how they access you, and the pain points that your offering helps solve for them. With them in mind, try to determine what your unique selling points are.
From here, select 5 key content pillars or themes that you can a) consistently source and create content about and b) will play an instrumental role in achieving your social media and business goals. We tend to suggest people choose a content pillar that aligns with the below themes, but there are plenty of approaches to take:
- Product or service
- Customer pain point
- Business values
- Additional unique selling points
- Milestones/special dates
Think about how an aspect of your business could be championed within each of those pillars, and then rename them so that they resonate with you and your team. From here, get creative!
How do you use content pillars?
Once you’ve created them, the next steps are relatively easy. First, generate a set of post ideas for each of your content pillars. For example, if one of your pillars was about your sustainable approach, at this stage you'd think of 3-4 high-level post ideas that demonstrate this pillar - one on your supply chain, one on how you repurpose materials, and one testimonial from a client or customer about how they sustainably use your product.
Once you’ve got your post ideas sorted, slot them into a fortnightly or monthly calendar in a way that meets your frequency goals. Then, start creating your next post! By using the content pillars at the start of this planning process, you’ll save a significant amount of time at the ideation stage. This ultimately gives you back time in the actual content creation process.
If you’re looking for more insight into social media marketing, get in touch with the team today to learn about our social media workshops.
