How to Use Content Pillars for Social Media
Learn why creating social media content pillars is important to your overall social media marketing strategy and how to implement them yourself!
Posted 2 years ago
Written by
Mackenzie TaylorPosted 2 years ago
Have you ever sat at your computer wondering what you’re going to type for the newest social media post you need to create for work? The blank screen is sitting there mocking you, wondering what you’re going to put down on the screen.
We’ve all been there! Feeling uncreative is the worst feeling, especially when it’s your day job! But creating something called content pillars that you can reference when your brain is on vacation is always a huge help.
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What is a content pillar?
Content pillars are 3-5 topics that your brand will always refer to or discuss when creating content online. Content pillars help you figure out and clarify your brand/business/client’s niche. When it comes to being on the internet, it’s better to be an expert in a few key things and not know a little about a lot.
When it comes to niche content on Instagram, it’s always the best way to grow on the platform.
How to come up with social media content pillars for your brand
Creating content pillars is all about establishing your brand’s voice and what you want to discuss, sell, and present online. If you’re struggling to figure out where to be when it comes to creating content pillars for your brand, here are our tips:
1. Look at your brand’s analytics
Okay, it’s time to take a moment to look at your analytics and demographics for your brand. Who is your audience? What time are they online? What topics do they seem to like that you share?
Knowing exactly WHO you are talking about and WHAT they like to will help you come up with your content pillars. Because you’re not going to be focusing on content that isn’t going to get any engagement or shares, right?
Right.
Flick’s Top Tip: Flick’s analytics report will help you track the exact metrics you need to look at when it comes to putting together your content pillars. It’ll help you figure out your comments, likes, engagement rate and reach. So you’ll quickly and easily be able to figure out what content your audience wants to see.
Increase your engagement and reach, develop an incredible hashtag strategy, and drive traffic to your account with Flick’s Instagram Analytics.
2. Take a look at your competitors
Yes, this is something we talk a lot about around here but it’s important to take a look at who your competitors are and what kind of content they’re doing.
Our advice? List out your top competitors and look at all of their social media accounts.
- Which posts have done well?
- What topics are they talking about?
- Is there a gap in information you notice they’re not sharing?
- What kind of posting schedule do they have?
- What are their content pillars that you can identify?
Now that you have an overall idea of what works for others, it’s time to see how you can structure things that work for others that can also work for you and your overall goals. The importance here is to not copy and paste because that’s not what social media is about! But to learn, develop, and create something that is completely your own!
3. Audit your social media account
Taking a peek at your own social media account to see what’s working for you is important to come up with your content pillars. Doing an Instagram Audit can help you figure out all the details you need to sort through for adjusting your content pillars.
You can learn more about the importance of doing an Instagram Audit here and download your FREE Instagram Audit checklist to make sure your account is set up for perfection.
How to create and plan your social media content calendar with your content pillars
Now that you have an overall idea of what your content pillars are, it’s time to create and plan your social media calendar. Instead of trying to come up with ideas on the fly, you’ll be able to think through every part of your content in advance and ensure that everything is structured to fit your overall content goals.
- Go through your calendar and look at any dates that are coming up. Are you launching anything? Are there any sales coming up? Are there any national holidays? Make note of these days so you can create content around these days.
- Do you have any blog posts, podcasts, newsletters, or video-related content that will be released that you can repurpose into social media content?
- When it comes to creating social media content based on your pillars, you need to make sure that in a roundabout way, all of your content can relate back to one of your pillars. When you make sure this happens, no one in your audience will get confused about what your brand is.
💡 Flick’s Tip: Stuck trying to come up with content ideas for the month ahead? We’ve got you! Test out our AI Social Media Assistant to brainstorm content ideas in seconds along with the best on-brand captions for your social media posts. Click the banner below to get started with a 7-day free trial of Flick!
The best part of planning all of your content in advance? Scheduling it all out to be posted at the time YOUR audience is online.
And Flick has made that so much easier with our Instagram Scheduler. You can plan your full content calendar and then schedule your posts with Flick. Get started with your 7-day FREE trial today.
We call that a win-win.
Need help with getting your Instagram captions started for your content? We’ve got a FREE Instagram caption course to help you take your captions to the next level. Plus, you can get access to our FREE 30-days caption template. You’re welcome.
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