Content Pillars for Social Media: How to Create & Use Them

Social media contented pillars are cardinal themes oregon wide topics that usher contented instauration efforts for your business’s societal media profiles.

They support your contented accumulation focused, guarantee consistency, and assistance you make authorization astir applicable topics.

We urge selecting 3 to 5 contented pillars. And immoderate contented you nutrient should autumn nether astatine slightest 1 pillar.

For example, accidental you ain a location decor brand. Your contented pillars mightiness be:

• Inspirational interiors 
• Styling tips
• Color theory
• Company news

You could station astir 1 oregon much of these topics each day.

If you support doing this consistently, fans of interior plan volition commencement seeing your marque arsenic an authorization connected these topics. And arsenic a trusted root of assistance and inspiration. 

And they whitethorn beryllium much apt to deliberation of your marque erstwhile searching for caller location decor products. 

Social media contented pillars are utile due to the fact that they assistance you:

Establish Brand Identity

Using a acceptable of contented pillars helps radical travel to subordinate your marque with those topics. 

That’s wherefore choosing the close contented pillars is important. 

They should beryllium topics that:

• Interest your people customers
• Help your customers execute their goals
• Fit with your marque ngo and values

For example, see a marque selling gardening equipment. Their people assemblage includes some beginner and experienced gardeners who privation to execute a beauteous garden, larn caller gardening techniques, and person fun.

The brand’s ngo is to assistance gardening enthusiasts astatine each levels amended their skills. And its values are to beryllium helpful, encouraging, inspiring, and inclusive.

That gardening marque mightiness take the pursuing contented pillars:

• Garden inspiration: Videos, images, and user-generated contented showing aspirational gardens
• Gardening for all: Posts that showcase gardeners from each antithetic backgrounds and communities
• Gardening tips: Videos, infographics, and lists with adept tips connected increasing and gardening

Over time, the marque volition beryllium capable to foster an individuality that reflects their property and what they attraction about.

Diversify Your Content Offerings

Content pillars springiness you a scope of ideas to station about. To support things absorbing and alteration you to talk to aggregate audiences.

For example, a moving footwear marque wouldn’t conscionable privation to station astir moving shoes. 

But they mightiness person a pillar connected moving tips, 1 connected assemblage stories, and 1 connected sharing updates astir nationalist and section moving events.

That way, the contented is diversified truthful there’s thing for each the brand’s followers.

Ensure Consistency

Sticking to a fistful of contented pillars keeps you from having to perpetually travel up with caller ideas. That consistency tin physique spot with audiences.

And the much trustworthy your marque appears, the more likely it is that radical volition bargain from you.

For example, accidental a marque that utilized to station connected societal media each time hasn’t posted for a while. 

A prospective lawsuit mightiness deliberation the institution doesn’t attraction astir its followers. And beryllium tense astir buying from them.

Content Pillars vs. Content Buckets

Some radical usage the presumption contented pillar and contented bucket interchangeably. But they’re not rather the same.

Content pillars are the overarching topics your marque creates contented around. 

Content buckets are the wide categories oregon types you tin usage to signifier your content. And program retired your societal calendar.

That means you tin screen astir each your pillars with each bucket type.

Let’s spell implicit 4 of the astir communal contented buckets to illustrate:

The Educational Content Bucket

An acquisition contented bucket helps your assemblage summation cognition they request to execute their goals. And found your institution arsenic an authority. 

Educational contented is simply a halfway constituent of Wells Fargo’s societal media presence. And they’re capable to screen aggregate topics done this bucket.

They regularly station astir things similar staying up of scams and fraud and however to acceptable fiscal goals.

The Inspirational Content Bucket

Inspirational contented reminds radical of what they privation to achieve. And it helps them subordinate your marque with making advancement toward those goals.

Tombow posts a batch of inspirational contented to amusement its assemblage what astonishing creation they tin create.

This inspires the brand’s audience. So they privation to travel backmost clip and again to spot what other they tin create.

Wix is different bully example. The marque regularly shares inspirational posts showing lawsuit websites that were created with their website builder.

Showing what tin beryllium achieved utilizing the Wix level taps into people’s aspirations of having professional-looking websites.

The Entertainment Content Bucket

Creating humorous oregon different entertaining contented tin assistance your marque thrust much engagement. And beryllium much memorable.

A 2022 Oracle report recovered that 91% of radical similar brands to beryllium funny. And 72% would take a marque that uses wit implicit the competition.

Social media is the cleanable spot for brands to research this side. Since radical are usually connected societal media to beryllium entertained.

The Cheesecake Factory has made amusement portion of their brand. They regularly station silly oregon comic contented crossed their societal media platforms.

But the cardinal is to retrieve your contented pillars. Because posts meant to prosecute users done wit tin autumn level if they’re not applicable to your brand. 

The Promotional Content Bucket

Having a dedicated contented bucket for promotions tin assistance you showcase your offerings without paid ads. And assistance summation conversions.

You wouldn’t privation each your contented to beryllium promotional. Because radical besides privation to beryllium entertained and inspired by societal media.

But sharing regular posts astir the benefits of your products oregon services, promoting sales, etc. is simply a bully mode to support customers informed. And promote them to bargain from you.

Just look astatine Target.

Target includes a batch of promotional contented connected its societal media channels. And those posts support followers informed. 

Even with promotional content, you tin screen a assortment of pillars. 

For example, the moving footwear marque from earlier mightiness station astir an upcoming contention and notation there’s inactive clip to interruption successful 1 of their caller releases anterior to the event. Or diagnostic a assemblage communicative that shows idiosyncratic coming into their store.

Let’s spell done the 9 steps needed to make and instrumentality contented pillars.

1. Define Your Brand Mission and Values

Having a wide knowing of your ngo and values gives you a starting constituent for choosing your pillars and ensures they’re aligned with your wide concern goals.

To specify your mission, see the pursuing questions:

• Why does your marque exist?
• What does your marque basal for?
• What makes your marque antithetic from its competitors? 
• What bash you privation to execute with your marque (beyond selling)?
• How volition your marque execute those goals?

Write down your answers to the supra questions. Then enactment them unneurotic into a one-sentence ngo statement.

For example, IKEA’s ngo connection is:

To connection a wide scope of well-designed, functional location furnishing products astatine prices truthful debased that arsenic galore radical arsenic imaginable volition beryllium capable to spend them.

Then, specify your marque values by answering the pursuing questions:

• What are your brand’s non-negotiables (e.g., debased prices, precocious quality, large lawsuit service)?
• How bash you privation radical to comprehend your brand?
• If your marque were a person, however would you picture them?

Based connected your answers, take 5 values you deliberation specify your brand. 

Here are immoderate examples:

2. Identify Your Target Audience

Identifying your people assemblage and getting to cognize their mindset lets you take contented pillars that are astir applicable to them. Which gives you a amended accidental of reaching them.

Get started by asking yourself what occupation your merchandise oregon work solves. And who benefits the astir from your offering.

Let’s accidental your institution sells premium crushed java connected a subscription ground to support lawsuit costs low. 

The occupation you lick is deficiency of entree to prime coffee. And the radical who payment astir are engaged professionals who don’t person clip to halt by a java shop. 

Then, stitchery immoderate supporting information utilizing One2Target.

Just participate a fewer competitors into the instrumentality to get a holistic look astatine your market’s audience. 

You’ll spot demographic information.

The instrumentality besides provides accusation astir socioeconomic status, interests, and adjacent societal media preferences.

The adjacent measurement is to make 1 oregon much purchaser personas with each this information. These are profiles that correspond the perfect buyer(s) for your merchandise oregon service. 

Here are a mates of examples of purchaser personas for our imaginary java subscription company.

Now that you’ve intelligibly defined your marque and audience, you tin commencement coming up with immoderate pillars. In this case, you mightiness person 1 astir affordable java hacks and 1 astir greeting rituals. 

3. Perform Keyword Research

Knowing your brand’s ngo and values arsenic good arsenic who your people assemblage is are some incredibly adjuvant for determining your contented pillars. But it’s a bully thought to bash keyword probe arsenic well.

This is due to the fact that the topics that your assemblage is searching for connected Google are apt to beryllium of involvement connected societal media, too.

You tin easy transportation retired keyword probe utilizing Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool. 

Enter a wide word related to your marque and click “Search.”

You’ll apt spot a agelong database of related terms. Like this:

To constrictive successful connected immoderate much circumstantial ideas, usage the suggested groups to the left.

As you tin see, determination are a batch of keywords related to however overmuch caffeine java contains. 

Most of them get galore thousands of searches each month. Which mightiness punctual you to person a pillar centered connected accusation astir caffeinated java (facts, comparisons, etc.).

4. Create a Clear Structure for YourContent Pillar Plan

You should present person a database of pillar ideas. Which you tin usage to make a structured program that volition pass each your societal media content.

First, constitute retired the names of your contented pillars.

Then, constitute a little statement of the types of contented you’ll make for each pillar. For example: videos, GIFs, infographics, photos, and written posts.

And see jotting down immoderate much circumstantial angles nether each pillar. 

5. Create and Post Quality Content

The prime of your contented is conscionable arsenic important arsenic the prime of your plan. Good societal media contented catches attention, drives engagement, and tin adjacent pb to concern results.

Follow these guidelines to marque definite your contented is top-notch:

• Stick to your marque colors, fonts, and voice
• Do thorough probe for informative posts
• Write clear, concise transcript that’s casual to digest
• Use the champion prime photography and videography instrumentality you can
• Make definite each station provides worth successful immoderate way

Then, docket your posts successful beforehand to support consistency.

With Semrush’s Social Poster, you tin rapidly and easy docket your societal posts crossed aggregate platforms.

Further reading: What Is Quality Content & How to Create It

6. Repurpose Content for Different Platforms

Repurposing your contented crossed platforms helps maximize scope and engagement without duplicating efforts.

For example, if you’ve created a carousel station for LinkedIn, usage those aforesaid images to make an Instagram Reel.

Or, usage the transcript from an infographic you posted connected Pinterest to make a text-based station connected X (formerly Twitter).

Not definite which channels to absorption on? Revisit your audience’s societal media preferences from One2Target.

7. Measure Your Results and Adjust

Measuring your contented show lets you spot which pillars are moving well. That way, you tin make adjacent much palmy contented successful future.

So however bash you way your results?

Semrush’s Social Analytics tracks cardinal metrics similar reactions, shares, and clicks. 

It visualizes the information for you. So you tin easy spot what’s moving well. And wherever you could improve.

And way competitors’ societal media show utilizing Social Tracker. To spot what’s moving good for them and however you compare. 

Use each this accusation to find whether you request to marque adjustments to your pillars.

For instance, you mightiness find that 1 oregon 2 pillars are moving peculiarly well. And determine to station much of that content.

Or, you mightiness find that a rival is covering a pillar you don’t and is generating a batch of engagement. Which mightiness pb you to regenerate 1 of your low-performing pillars.

Elevate Your Brand with Content Pillars

Well-chosen contented pillars for societal media tin assistance you turn your brand, link with your audience, and adjacent summation conversions.

Ready to get started? 

Do keyword and assemblage probe with Semrush.