When it comes to online marketing and social media, there is a lot of complexity. This leads many marketers to run on pure motivation and adrenaline to create the best results they can. The problem with this approach is that they often don't have a plan or strategy in place, which means there's no consistency between their efforts.
Content pillars are a great way to break your blog, social media posts, and newsletter into smaller pieces of content. This helps you keep them in separate categories and not lose your place while creating something new in one of the categories.
Basically, the pillar page is intended to structure the site. It should have a significant amount of information, but it must be organised in a way that makes it easy for Google to find and understand the content of each page. The best way to organise this is to first group similar content into categories, then create pages that represent those categories and include their own direct links. Each of these pages should have a link back to the main page for the category. This gives context and adds credibility.
Composing a pillar page where the keywords are repeated and mentioned frequently is the best way to attract Google’s attention. When they visit a page, they will see that the keyword is found several times, once on each subheading. Now what? They realise that this website talks about this subject and offers information that fits their needs. This is how your site can achieve a high position in the SERP and even outrank your competitors.
Whether you want to extend the range of your articles, increase click-throughs, or optimise and expand your presence on the web, the content pillar strategy enables you to transform any website with a single tool: multiple pages of high-quality content.
In summary, the content pillar strategy is a way of defining and creating useful content that can be used to improve the positioning of a website in search engines. As the strategy depends on a number of content pieces (starter, deepening, and other pillar pages), it is important to structure them in the right way so that their content is taken into account when evaluating and filtering.
I feel like what stops most authors from getting started on a newsletter or being consistent is a lack of ideas.
Where do you find the ideas? How do you know your ideas will interest your readers? What topics will work? How do you niche down? If your fans don’t want to read about the craft of writing, what can you write about?
Content pillars are the solution, and if you keep them in mind for every post and newsletter, you will discover an endless supply of topics to write about that will interest your readers.
Seriously, wouldn’t it be great to have a limitless well of content ideas?
Be sure to capture your ideas in a permanent place where you can access them from now on. I keep mine in a Google sheet that’s accessible on my computer and my phone.
Five main content pillars
Entertainment
This content pillar is focused on entertaining your following. This could be either something funny or relatable for your target audience. Try to envision yourself as your target audience, and think of what they might assume is entertaining. A relatable quote or funny meme is an example of this content pillar.
Educational
Give your followers useful information! When you provide more information to your followers on specific topics or about your services or products, you claim expert status. Your social media channels will become more and more interesting when you learn to follow something new. Here are some examples: When you sell clothing, you can provide tips on how to let your clothes stay in the best shape for a long time. Or if you specialise in mindfulness, you could share a short guided meditation. Many entrepreneurs who sell services are often afraid to share too much, and therefore are scared to not sell their services any more. I completely understand. Try to find a balance between what kind of valuable information you want to share and what value is only for sale.
Inspirational
INSPIRE YOUR AUDIENCE! A way to do this is by sharing a before and after, or an inspiring thought for a switch in your mindset. You’ll provide them with food for thought and trigger them to think about your industry.
Promotional
Show us what you’ve got: let your followers know what kind of services or offers you have, and update them on any promotions. Keep in mind that you should not let this content pillar come forward too often, as it can come across as too pushy. Find the right balance with the other content pillars. An example of a promotional content piece is explaining to a client what he or she can expect when he or she buys from you.
Showcase
Share your success stories, positive testimonials, and new offers. With success stories and positive testimonials, you help to claim your expert status.
Let’s face it: do you believe someone based on what they say? I’ll tell you a secret: I DON’T! I want to see the facts. Therefore, it is a good idea to share some success stories or testimonials. This will show that you are the expert by letting this be confirmed by others.
Would you like to know more about how to use content pillars in your own content strategy? You can book a one-on-one power hour with me, where we can brainstorm on how to integrate these content pillars into your strategy. Would you like to receive weekly tips on Instagram?
Wrapping up
The addition of content pillars to your brand's social media strategy could really level up your content efforts.
Be strategic in your approach by carrying out competitor research, auditing your brand's social media channels, and most importantly, using your brand's marketing personas to guide every piece of content you create for social media.
We can't wait to see what you come up with!
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