Content Pillars 101: The Social Media Strategy to Help You Save Time and Grow Your Business

Hearing the words “Content Pillars” might have you rolling your eyes. 

It seems like it’s such a buzzword in the social media industry right now. 🙄

Right?

Everyone’s raving about how content pillars SAVED their social media strategy.

And you’re sitting there thinking, “Okay but what the hell are these ‘Content Pillars’, and why TF are they such a big deal? 🤷🏻‍♀️”

I am 100% against gatekeeping successful social media strategies.

It’s just NOT my thing.

I’m terrible at keeping social media secrets - so today, I’m dishing out all the deets about exactly what these elusive “Content Pillars” are and how to make them work for your business.

“Content Pillars”

“Content buckets”

“Content categories”

WHATEVER you wanna call ‘em, they’re the SHIT. 🎉🎉🎉

What TF Are “Content Pillars”?

Okay, so let’s get in to content pillars 101:

Content pillars are categories in which you organize your social media content topics so that you can easily and quickly create content that will:

✅ Attract your ideal customer

✅ Reach your target audience

✅ Make sure that your content is working HARD for you.

Content pillars completely ERADICATE the need to produce content for content’s sake.

Why Content Pillars?

There are a lot of theories about how many content pillars a business should have.

Some people say three, some say seven, but I’ve found my magic number is sticking to five pillars.

And trust me...I couldn’t survive without them.

Why?

Because whenever I go to create content I know exactly where to start. ⚡⚡

I can just take a look at my five pillars and see which one needs a little attention and start there.

If I can’t fit content into one of the existing pillars it’s a really good sign that whatever I’ve come up with is not going to serve my purpose.  

It’s a solid sign that I probably won’t reach my ideal client and give exceptional value to my community.

Having these pillars saves me SO. MUCH. TIME. ⏰

I come up with content ideas much quicker and never waste time on content that won’t serve my ultimate mission.

Yes, while maybe I’d like to make some fluffy little post about an adorable new sweater I bought, content pillars remind me to save that for my stories or even better, my personal ‘gram.

My Five Content Pillars

Like I mentioned before, I am a FIRM believer in the five pillar method.

This is what I use in my own business, my clients’ businesses, and what I like to teach.

My reasoning behind this is to have one pillar for every day of the week.

“BUt AMbEr thErE Are SEvEn DAyS iN a WeEk! 🤨 🤨 🤨”

Yeah - I know!

But a girl’s gotta rest! 💅🏻

I want my weekends to myself, so I just stick to a five-day workweek for both myself AND my clients.

And each of these FIVE days has a specific pillar.

And friends, I like to think there’s some psychology behind this.

Each pillar is aligned with a specific day based on how I think my audience will receive that content at that point in their workweek.

Lemme break it down for you:👇🏻

🗓️ Monday

On Monday’s I like to kick off the week with content tips.

My audience is mostly business owners or career people who are just getting back to work and into the swing of things on Monday.

They don’t want anyone trying to sell them anything, they don’t want anything too high-level, they just wanna keep it light and breezy on their Monday morning. ☀️

SO - I stick to content tips for Mondays.

No need to overwhelm them before the week even gets going!

🗓️ Tuesday

On Tuesday I start to dive into more business tips.

Tuesday tends to be a more productive day for people, so my audience is more ready to go deeper with me.

This is the day where I dive into some more involved business processes, show off some of my favorite software, and how to streamline their social media strategies.

These topics are a little more intense, but by Tuesday they can handle it - no problem. 💪🏼

🗓️ Wednesday

Wednesdays are the days that I actually go ahead and promote my business.

This is the time to talk about new products, special offers and be upfront about sales.

It’s pretty widely known that people tend to buy early i the week. By Thursday or Friday, they are typically more checked out and ready for the weekend.

Wednesday is perfect because you can warm them up throughout Monday and Tuesday and secure the sale by mid-week. 💰

Think about it this way:

Monday you wake up thinking “This is the week I’m gonna get my content strategy under control!”

And by hump-day, you’re like, “AHHH I can’t do this! I gotta get Amber’s help! 😩”

This is why Wednesday is always sales day.

🗓️ Thursday

Thursday I like to get my social tips going.

I do this because I know that lots of folks in my industry are gearing up to plan their social content for the next week on Thursdays and Fridays. 

SO when my social tips pop up in their feeds they are super grateful and find TONS of value from them.

I usually end up seeing lots of engagement and positive feedback, because I am speaking to my audience’s immediate need for social media help. ✅

🗓️ Friday

On Friday I like to keep it personal.

People are TIRED on Friday.

They don’t wanna read long, info-heavy captions.

I like to keep it light-hearted. 💃🏻

People do not want to be sold to on Fridays, either. Trust me.

Try and share a personal story, a memory or send out a message of encouragement to your community.

Pull on their lil heartstrings before taking a break for the weekend. 🧡

How to Come Up With Pillars For Your Biz

Like I said before, I am totally against gatekeeping successful social strategies. 

SO if you wanna copy my pillars for your own business, all the power to you!

That’s why I do what I do! 🧡

But - the fact of the matter is, not all businesses have a similar model to me and you might be needing something a little more tailored to your industry.

What I recommend doing to come up with content pillars for your own business, is to take a look at the content you are already producing.

(The content that is working, of course)

And try and categorize it into various pillars.

And hey - you’ve already got one day figured out!

WEDNESDAY = Sales day! 💸

Now all you have to do is come up with 4 more.

Remember, you’ve already got a good thing going here. 

It’s all about turning it into a system that can help make your content creation process that much simpler.

Pro Tips For Your Sales Pillar

The reason why I keep harping on this sales pillar is that it is probably everyone’s LEAST favorite pillar - but perhaps the MOST important. 

Here’s a little social media sales secret for you👇🏻

Your customer or client has to see what you do and who you are at least seven times before they make a purchase.

SEVEN TIMES.

So if you are avoiding being “salesy” and only posting once a month about your products you are gonna have to wait SEVEN months to make a sale from someone.

Don’t self-sabotage by staying away from the sales pillar out of fear of being too “salesy”

This sales pillar doesn’t have to be boring or salesy to be successful.

You can absolutely have fun with it. 💃🏻💃🏻

In fact - I recommend that you do just that!

You can create memes, share testimonials, video reviews, and MORE, and pitch your products and services in a variety of creative ways.

Don’t bore your audience to tears in an effort to sell to them!

I sincerely hope this clears up all the confusion about what content pillars are and how they can literally save lives!!

They save mine every week!

There’s nothing I want more than for your content strategy to get easier and more streamlined.

I promise you that content pillars are an *essential* step to making that happen. ✅

Remember to start with the content you’ve already got going and don’t forget to include a sales pillar!

It’s time to STOP dreading content creation and START using content pillars.

Content buckets?

Content categories?

WHO TF CARES. 

Call it what you like. 

They are LIFE CHANGING. ⚡⚡

Looking for more content strategy solutions?

I recently started a YouTube channel where I dish out all of my proven social media success strategies. 🎥

By subscribing to my channel and turning on your post notifications for my videos, you will never miss a beat when it comes to leveling up your social media game.

See you there, friend! 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻

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