Could you build a house without first laying a foundation? Clearly, the answer is no. When crafting a social strategy, your content pillars are the foundation from which all your ideas flow. And regardless of whether your business is one or 15 years old, your social strategy should be based on structured content pillars that comprehensively reflect your brand.

Today we’re taking a look at what social content pillars are, the importance of them, and some best practices for identifying and implementing these strategies to ensure that your brand’s social presence resonates well with your target audience…and to prevent your ‘house’ from caving in.

What are social content pillars?

At the core, content pillars are the cornerstone topics that your brand consistently communicates across social media platforms. They embody the essence of your brand's mission and objectives, offering a guiding framework for content creation. Like the North Star guiding travelers, content pillars ensure you stay on track, hit your talking points, and deliver the content your audience expects. They instill a sense of purpose, fostering consistency and authenticity in your brand's narrative.

How to identify and define your social content pillars

Content pillars simplify content calendar planning by providing focus and clear themes. To build your pillars, begin by identifying themes that encapsulate your brand identity, business objectives, and audience preferences. For example, imagine you’re the owner of a coffee shop with a co-working space. Your social goals include driving traffic to your business, educating about on-premise events, and demonstrating your commitment to the local community. Your social pillars might include:

• Announce new menu items
• Highlight vegan and gluten-free options
• Educate on coffee origins and selection process

• Promote upcoming performances
• Encourage audience participation and song requests

• Share info on networking events
• Emphasize free Wi-Fi and workspace availability

• Engage audience with book club selections
• Showcase creations from Sip & Paint events

• Drive donations and attendance
• Involve the community in choosing fundraisers
• Share personal stories and importance of fundraisers

• Discuss benefits of having a Third Place
• Explore origins of the concept
• Highlight unique aspects of your Third Place

Content pillars help your brand maintain consistency across different social media platforms, giving your brand a strong identity. By creating content that belongs to your brand, your followers will quickly learn what to expect and can follow along as you piece together your brand story.

But how will you know if your content pillars resonate with your audience? Your social media analytics will reveal what’s working and what’s not, giving you the opportunity to make changes to your content pillars.

Best Practices for Developing Content Pillars

Ready to get started? We’ve outlined a process to effectively develop content pillars for your brand. By incorporating these strategies, you can develop content pillars that align with your business objectives and drive engagement on social media.

Assess Business Goals and Audience Needs

• What are you trying to achieve with your social media presence?
• What content would resonate most with your target audience?
• Are you aiming to be primarily educational, inspirational, entertaining — a mix of all three?
• Is your priority driving traffic to your website or enhancing brand awareness?

Perform Keyword Research

Paying attention to what's happening in your industry and monitoring trends can significantly aid in shaping your social media content pillars. To do this, prioritize keyword research to see what's growing in popularity, what content gaps exist, and where you can offer your expertise or perspective. Not only does this approach enhance your long-term SEO strategy by increasing discoverability through targeted keywords, but it also fosters engagement with your audience.

• Instagram and TikTok Search: Type your niche in the search bar and take note of the relevant keywords that pop up, hashtags being used, and content being created.
• Pinterest Search: Use the search tool to look up your industry. The Pins that show up at the top are a good indicator of the type of content people want to see.

Review Content Analytics and Performance

Looking at your analytics is a great way to find out what content performs well, is engaged with the most, and resonates best with your audience.

• Make note of high-performing social media posts, their captions, the visuals you used, and any hashtags (or keywords) you added.

Pay Attention to Audience FAQs and Feedback

Another way to gain inspiration for content pillars on social media is by listening to your audience and making note of FAQs.

• What do they frequently ask you about or want to know?
• Don’t just post — listen to what your followers are commenting or DM’ing you. Interact with their feedback and use it to understand what they want more of from you.
• And when in doubt, create Stories or posts that specifically ask your community what they’d find helpful.

Our expert team works with some of the world’s leading brands to develop social strategies that resonate with their target audiences. Contact us to learn how our suite of creative solutions can help build your brand’s social presence.

Written by Greer Hardy, Client Engagement Manager