By RG team · 17 min read

Last Updated on June 14, 2023

Introduction to Content Pillars for Social Media

_{Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash}

In today's constantly evolving digital world, social media marketing has become an essential part of any successful marketing campaign. With so much content filling social media feeds, how do you ensure that your posts are seen and resonate with your target audience? This is where content pillars come in.

In the context of social media marketing, content pillars are a set of themes or topics that your brand can use to create posts. These themes, sometimes called "buckets," are specific to your brand and should reflect the most popular content with your online audience. By categorizing your content into specific themes or topics, you can create a well-rounded, cohesive social media strategy.

Content pillars serve as a foundation for every successful content marketing strategy. Like a physical foundation, pillars are essential to support the overall objectives of a content strategy. By focusing on specific themes or topics, content creators can ensure that their content aligns with their brand objectives, reaches their target audience, and ultimately drives engagement and conversions.

According to a recent survey by the Content Marketing Institute, 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing to reach customers. Additionally, 86% of B2C marketers consider content marketing a key strategy. With so much competition on social media, having a clear and concise strategy is more important than ever.

In the following sections, we will dive deeper into the four pillars of social media content creation, steps to create effective content pillars, content pillars for specific industries, examples of effective content pillars, and more. By the end of this article, you will have a clear understanding of the importance of content pillars and how to create them for your brand's social media strategy.

Definition of Content Pillars for Social Media

In social media marketing, creating content is crucial, but so is creating the right content that resonates with your audience. Social media algorithms favor accounts that produce consistent and relevant content, and this is where content pillars come into play.

Content pillars are a set of three to five themes or topics specific to your brand that you create content around on social media. By creating and sticking to content pillars, you can ensure that your content is always aligned with your brand objectives and resonates with your target audience. Think of content pillars as a roadmap that guides your content creation efforts and ensures that your social media accounts remain cohesive and engaging.

The main benefit of content pillars is that they serve as a foundation for every successful social media content strategy. Content pillars are necessary to support the overall objectives of a content strategy and can help to refine the types of content you create. For instance, if one of your content pillars is "educational," you will be able to create educational blog posts, infographics, videos, and other types of content that resonate well with your audience.

According to a report by HubSpot, businesses that prioritize blogging efforts are 13 times more likely to see a positive ROI. Furthermore, businesses that publish content on a regular basis enjoy more than three times more website traffic and four times more leads than companies that do not prioritize content marketing.

In the next section, we'll explore the four pillars of social media content creation and how they can be used to create effective content pillars for your brand.

Explanation of why Content Pillars are important for Social Media Success

_{Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash}

Creating and sticking to content pillars is vital for social media success. Here’s why content pillars are critical for success in social media marketing:

1. Consistency

One of the most significant benefits of using content pillars is creating consistency across your social media accounts. Consistent posting is a key component of brand recognition, as your followers will come to expect certain types of content from you. This consistency can strengthen brand identity and attract more followers, which can ultimately lead to increased engagement and conversions.

2. Easier Planning

Creating content pillars also simplifies the content planning process. With a clear set of content pillars, it becomes much easier to plan your content calendar ahead of time, ensure that your social media accounts are always up-to-date, and manage multiple channels effectively.

3. Audience Engagement

Another crucial benefit of content pillars is that they help to increase audience engagement. When you create content around specific themes or topics, you can tailor your posts to your target audience's interests, resulting in increased engagement rates. With a better understanding of your audience's interests, you can create content that resonates more and generate higher engagement rates, leading to increased visibility and organic reach.

4. Authority Building

By creating content specific to your brand, you can establish authority in your industry. By consistently creating and distributing content around a specific set of themes or topics, you can position yourself as an authority in your field and become the go-to source of information for your audience.

By implementing content pillars, you can build a comprehensive and consistent social media strategy that ensures you meet your objectives and resonates with your target audience. In the next section, we will dive into the four pillars of social media content creation.

The Four Pillars of Social Media Content Creation

_{Photo by Mikayla Mallek on Unsplash}

To create effective content pillars for social media marketing, it's crucial to understand the four pillars of social media content creation. These four pillars are the four different types of content that you can create and share with your audience.

Each content pillar can be used to create social media content that aligns with your brand objectives and resonates with your target audience. Let's explore them in detail:

1. Promotional Content

Promotional content is any content that promotes your products, services, or brand. This type of content is aimed at directly driving sales and conversions. Promotional content includes deals, discounts, product launches, and event promotions.

However, it's important to note that promotional content should not be the only type of content you create. Your followers are interested in more than just your products or services, and if you only share promotional content, you run the risk of coming across as too salesy and turning off your audience.

2. Educational Content

Educational content is content created to inform your audience of your product or service's benefits, features, and uses. This can range from how-to guides to industry insights, blog posts, and videos, among others.

By creating educational content, you position yourself as an expert in your industry and provide value to your audience. Educational content should be relevant, accurate, and informative and offer solutions to problems that your audience is facing.

3. Entertainment Content

Entertainment content is content that is engaging, inspiring, and fun. This could be funny memes, viral videos, or behind-the-scenes glimpses of your company culture. Entertainment content helps create brand personality and can help form deeper engagements with your followers.

When crafting entertainment content, keep in mind your audience's interests, their needs and pains, and brand values to ensure it aligns with your brand.

4. Conversational Content

Conversational content is any content that starts and encourages discussions with your audience, such as ask-me-anything (AMA) posts, polls, and interactive content. Conversational content empowers your followers to participate and share their thoughts and opinions, fostering a sense of community.

When creating conversational content, keep things light and relatable. Ensure that what you share sparks real conversations that mesh well with your brand.

By utilizing the four pillars of social media content creation, you can create engaging content that aligns with your brand values and resonates with your target audience. In the next section, we'll delve into the steps to creating effective content pillars.

Overview of Promotional Content

As we discussed earlier, promotional content is content created to promote your brand, products, or services. Promotional content is essential for driving sales and increasing conversion rates, but it should not be the only type of content you create.

When creating promotional content, keep in mind that your goal is not just to advertise your products but to also highlight the benefits your offerings provide. You should aim to create content that positions your brand as a solution to your customer's problems, rather than just another product on their list.

Promotional content can take many forms, including:

1. Product Launches

Product launches are a great way to generate excitement and drive sales. To get the most out of a product launch, you should create content that highlights the features and benefits of your product, and how it solves your customer's pain points.

2. Deals and Discounts

Sharing deals and discounts with your audience is an excellent way to incentivize them to purchase your products or services. You can create exclusive discounts for your social media followers or share limited-time deals.

3. Event Promotions

If you're hosting an event, whether virtual or in-person, you can create content to promote it through your social media channels. Event promotions should include details about the event, such as the date, location, speakers, and registration information.

When creating promotional content, ensure that you strike a balance between promoting your brand and providing value to your audience. By providing value to your audience, you can build trust and create brand loyalty.

In the next section, we'll dive into the steps you can take to create effective content pillars for your brand.

Example

To get a better understanding of how content pillars can be implemented in a social media marketing strategy, let's take a look at a hypothetical example.

Imagine you're a skincare brand that wants to create content pillars for your social media channels. After researching your target audience and industry trends, you decide on three content pillars:

1. Educational Content

Your first content pillar will be educational content that focuses on the science behind skincare products, their ingredients, and how they impact the skin.

2. Brand Storytelling

Your second content pillar will be brand storytelling that shares the stories behind the creation of your products, showcasing your brand's values, and creating a relationship with your audience.

3. Promotional Content

Your third content pillar will focus on promotional content that highlights deals on products, new product launches, and any deals or discounts you want to promote.

With these three content pillars in place, you can create social media content that aligns with your brand objectives and resonates with your target audience. For instance, you could create an educational blog post about the benefits of each ingredient in your products or share an image showcasing your brand values on International Women's Day.

By creating content that aligns with your content pillars, you'll stay consistent, create engagement, and build a more substantial social media presence.

In the next section, we'll explore the steps you should take to create your own content pillars that align with your brand's objectives and target audience.

Best Practices

Creating effective content pillars can be an effective way to improve your social media marketing strategy. Here are some best practices to keep in mind when creating your content pillars:

1. Conduct Market Research

Before creating your content pillars, conduct research into your industry and target audience. Determine what type of content your audience engages with and what topics are trending.

2. Identify Your Brand's Objectives

Your content pillars should align with your brand objectives. Think about what you want to achieve with your social media presence and create content around those objectives.

3. Keep It Simple

Creating too many content pillars can be overwhelming and make it difficult to remain consistent. Stick to three to five content pillars that align with your brand objectives and resonate with your audience.

4. Remain Consistent

Consistency is key when it comes to content pillars. Create a content calendar that revolves around your content pillars to ensure that you create and share content consistently.

5. Monitor Performance

Track your social media performance to evaluate the success of your content pillars. Analyze metrics such as engagement rates, impressions, and conversions to determine which content pillars resonate well with your audience.

By following these best practices, you can create effective content pillars that align with your brand objectives and resonate with your target audience.

In the next section, we'll wrap up our discussion on content pillars by summarizing our key takeaways and their importance for social media success.

Overview of Educational Content

Educational content is an essential content pillar that focuses on providing value to your audience. This type of content can be tailored to your audience's interests, needs, and pain points.

Educational content can take many forms, including how-to guides, tutorials, informational blog posts, or infographics, among others.

When creating educational content, keep in mind that your goal is to inform and teach your audience, not to advertise your products or services directly. By providing value to your audience, you can establish yourself as an expert in your industry and create trust with your audience.

Here are some examples of educational content that a skincare brand could create:

1. Explainer Videos

Create videos that explain how to use your products and how they can benefit your audience's skin.

2. Skincare Tips

Share skincare tips and tricks to help your followers understand how to take care of their skin properly.

3. Ingredient Breakdowns

Break down the benefits of the ingredients in your products, such as retinol, hyaluronic acid, or vitamin C.

By creating educational content that provides value to your audience, you can nurture long-term relationships with your followers and turn them into loyal customers.

In the next section, we'll summarize the key takeaways from our discussion on content pillars and show their importance for social media success.

Example

Let's continue with our skincare brand example to illustrate how educational content can be integrated into your content pillars.

Suppose that you've decided on three content pillars: educational content, brand storytelling, and promotional content. If you'd like to create educational content, here are a few examples of educational content that you could create:

• Create a blog post about the benefits of using sunscreen daily.

• Share tips on how to establish a skincare routine using some of your products.

• Create a video tutorial that explains the differences between different types of acids used in skincare.

By producing informative, engaging, and relevant educational content, you provide value to your audience. Educational content encourages your followers to engage with your brand and positions it as a trusted source of information.

Now that we have looked at an example, read on for a summary of the importance of content pillars.

Best Practices

Creating content pillars is an effective way to create engaging and consistent social media content. Here are some best practices to keep in mind when crafting your content pillars:

1. Know Your Audience

Understanding your audience's interests, needs, and pain points is essential when creating content pillars. Conduct market research to identify what type of content resonates with your target audience.

2. Align with Your Brand Objectives

Creating content pillars that align with your brand objectives is crucial for effective social media marketing. Determine what you want to achieve with your social media presence and ensure that your content pillars reflect these objectives.

3. Keep It Simple

Creating too many content pillars can be overwhelming and make it challenging to remain consistent. Stick to three to five content pillars that align with your brand's objectives and resonate with your audience.

4. Maintain Consistency

Consistency is key when it comes to content pillars. Create a content calendar that revolves around your content pillars so that you create and share content consistently.

5. Monitor Performance

Analyzing your social media performance is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of your content pillars. Track metrics such as engagement rates, impressions, and conversions to determine which content pillars resonate well with your audience.

By following these best practices when creating your content pillars, you can create consistent, engaging, and valuable social media content that aligns with your brand objectives and resonates with your target audience.

In the next section, we'll wrap up this article with some final thoughts on the importance of content pillars for effective social media marketing.

Overview of Entertainment Content

_{Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash}

Entertainment content is designed to be fun and engaging, capturing your audience's attention and imagination. This type of content is not intended to be educational or promote a specific product or service. Instead, it aims to entertain your audience and build brand awareness.

Entertainment content can take many forms, such as memes, quizzes, games, or funny videos. The goal is to create content that is shareable and encourages your viewers to engage with your brand.

Here are some examples of entertainment content that a skincare brand could create:

1. Skincare Memes

Create and share memes about common skincare problems, such as forgetting to remove your makeup before bed.

2. Personality Quizzes

Create a skincare quiz that allows your followers to discover their skin type.

3. User-Generated Content (UGC)

Encourage your followers to share their own skincare routines on social media using branded hashtags or hosting a UGC contest.

By creating entertainment content, you give your audience a reason to follow your social media channels. Providing content that is light-hearted and fun can build brand loyalty and connect with your customers on a personal level.

In the next section, we'll wrap up our discussion on content pillars by summarizing the key takeaways from this article.

Example

Let's continue with our skincare brand example to illustrate how entertainment content can be integrated into your content pillars.

If you have decided on three content pillars, namely educational content, brand storytelling, and promotional content, and would like to create entertainment content, here are a few examples of entertainment content that you could create:

• Create a fun, skincare-themed trivia game on Instagram Stories.

• Share funny skincare-related memes or gifs on social media.

• Host a skincare-themed TikTok challenge that encourages users to demonstrate their skills in a funny and creative way.

By integrating entertainment content into your content pillars, you add a touch of humor and amusement to your social media presence. Entertainment content gives your followers a reason to engage with your brand and view you as more than just a skincare product line.

Now that we have looked at an example, let's summarize the key takeaways from our discussion on content pillars.

Overview of Conversational Content

_{Photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash}

Conversational Content is content that is designed to engage and connect with your audience in a two-way discussion. When creating your content pillars, it's important to include conversational content to build a relationship with your followers. This type of content can take many forms, such as asking questions, initiating polls, and responding to comments. This creates a sense of community and fosters a deeper connection with your audience. By prioritizing conversational content, you can increase brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.

• Here are some examples of conversational content that a skincare brand could create:

• Create a Q&A session on Instagram Live where a skincare expert answers questions from followers.

• Host a Twitter chat using a branded hashtag where followers can share their skincare tips and advice.

• Create a blog post that discusses common skincare concerns and offers personalized advice based on comments and questions from followers.

These types of content allow for open communication with your followers and show that your brand values their opinions and concerns. By listening and responding to your audience, you can build a loyal, engaged community that will support your brand.