Clearing up Content Pillar Confusion

Have you heard a million different explanations as to what content pillars are and how you’re supposed to use them?

Likely the answer is YES!

Without complaining too much, I’m sick of seeing marketing experts teach CONTENT PILLARS INCORRECTLY. Like, if you are managing clients and doing 1:1 coaching on this you would like it to be the correct info huh?

I think this is WHY there is so much confusion around it. Because one ‘EXPERT’ is saying one thing and another something else.

Sooooo, I'm going to teach you the way I teach my clients and the way I do it myself as someone who’s been in marketing for the past 10 years.

Let me break it down for you…

Because man… if I see one more social media manager on Instagram say that your content pillars are:

• Educational
• Entertaining
• Inspirational
• Promotional

…then I’ll tear my hair out!

I’m sorry but I’m over it!

Making it look pretty doesn’t make the information CORRECT. (Currently shaking my head as I’m writing this).

What are the right content pillars?

CONTENT PILLARS are unique to YOUR PAGE.

They are NOT educational, entertaining, connection, value, promotion - rather they are “content categories” which I'll go into another time.

Your content pillars are actually unique to your business.

How can you figure this out? Well, ask yourself: what are the themes that you talk about regularly? Such as skincare products, workout routines, healthy food, home organisation.

Those themes are your Content Pillars. 
 
Pull out a piece of paper and write each theme out, then underneath you can list all the possible topics you can think of! From there, you can categorise them into value, connection and promotion…

If you do this, you'll be able to see how many pieces of content you can come up with from one theme (aka. your Content Pillar).

For example:
One of my clients runs a health and fitness app. Some of their content pillars are: flexible dieting, recipes, work outs.

Let’s take work outs as our sample Content Pillar.

Content Pillar: Work Outs 

Post 1

Content Category: Educational

Content: Benefits of a Rest Day

Post 2

Content Category: Entertaining

Content: Meme about Leg Day

Post 3

Content Category: Connection

Content: Affirmation “I am putting myself first today” tag a friend who needs to hear this today

Post 4

Content Category: Promotion

Content: Pre-registration for upcoming fitness challenge.

See how just one of your themes (or Content Pillar) can have so much ideas under it. It’s taking all of those ideas, and then splitting them up into their Content Category (eg. educational, entertaining, connection, promotion).

This helps keep your content consistent and make sure you’re talking about the most important things you can help them with.

-Ela xx