How to Create Content Pillars
Creating content pillars isn’t a quick one-second brainstorm.
First, you need to identify what they could be and then narrow them down!
Here are four things to consider when building your content pillar strategy:
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Business Goals and Audience Needs
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Keyword Research
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Content Analytics and Performance
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Audience FAQs and Feedback
#1: Business Goals and Audience Needs
Content pillars = aligned with your business goals.
Ask yourself:
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What are you trying to achieve with your social media presence?
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What type of content will your target audience find valuable?
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Are you aiming to be primarily educational, inspirational, entertaining — a mix of all three?
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Do you want to drive traffic to your website or hone in on brand awareness?
It may seem simple, but this is key to building out what your content pillars will be.
TIP: Revisit your content pillars every month to make sure they’re still aligned with your overall vision. It’s okay if they change — as your brand evolves, so does your content.
#2: Keyword Research
Paying attention to what’s happening in your industry and keeping an eye on trends can be a massive help in defining your content pillars for social media.
To do this, prioritize keyword research to see what’s growing in popularity, what content gaps exist, and where you can flex your expertise or perspective.
Plus, it’s great for helping out your SEO strategy in the long run, as you can get more easily discovered using certain keywords in your captions.
Need help finding keywords on the rise? Here are a few free recommendations:
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Instagram and TikTok Search: Type your niche in the search bar and take note of the relevant keywords that pop up, hashtags being used, and content being created.
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Google Trends: Discover what people are searching for on Google. You can narrow it down to certain categories, countries, and even length of time (say for example, the past month).
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Pinterest Search: Use the search tool to look up your industry. The Pins that show up at the top are a good indicator of the type of content people want to see.
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AnswerThePublic: Gives you insight in your audience’s pain points and what they’re searching for.
We broke down everything you need to know about optimizing your Instagram content for SEO here.
#3: Content Analytics and Performance
Looking at your analytics is a great way to find out what content performs well, is engaged with the most, and resonates with your audience.
Make note of high-performing social media posts, their captions, the visuals you used, and any hashtags (or keywords) you added.
Are there common themes you can identify as potential content pillars? Start there.
To get even better insight into what’s working, we recommend an in-depth analytics tool like to track key metrics like comments, likes, and engagement rates.
You can monitor and compare posts, and better visualize the content that’s driven the most engagement week-over-week and month-over-month.
Start a free trial and start diving into your data today.
#4: Audience FAQs and Feedback
Another way to gain inspiration for content pillars on social media is by listening to your audience and making note of FAQs.
What do they frequently ask you about or want to know?
Remember, social media is about being social.
Don’t just post and ghost — listen to what your followers are commenting or DM’ing you. Interact with their feedback, and use it as a way to know what they want more of from you.
And when in doubt, create Stories or posts that specifically ask your community they’d find helpful.
Listening is a great way to stay connected to your audience, learn what they actually want, and use their feedback to create posts they’ll engage with.
