Marketing Content Pillars

Imagine holding an open umbrella (I think this one's really cute if you need a visual).

This umbrella is great for keeping you out of the rain. But what if I told you that this umbrella is also good for helping you understand a key facet of marketing your business — on social media, yes, but in other areas as well?

If you've been working in the marketing industry for any amount of time, it's very possible that you've heard this visual for creating content before. It's the concept of creating content pillars. And if you haven't heard this one before, buckle up. This is going to answer a lot of your questions!

What Is A Content Pillar?

Content pillars are the 4-6 major areas of focus when it comes to the content you produce for your online presence. You can use these in your email marketing, in your blog or podcast, in your social media, or even use them to create courses, keynotes, or entire books if you're feeling ambitious.

The idea is that by sticking to these areas of focus, you keep your messaging "on brand" by continually saying the same thing and directing people to the same places. This consistency makes your marketing strategy feel cohesive which also helps build trust with your audience.

So how do we start?

Your Umbrella Statement

Do you have an umbrella statement? You may also call this a mission statement or an "I help..." statement.

Whatever you call it, the important thing is that it has these three components:

• Who you help - be as specific and niche as possible
• What you help them achieve - this is typically something below the surface
• How you help them achieve that goal - these are going to be your products or services

If you like examples, here's mine: I help busy small business owners take back their time with strategic marketing and virtual assistant services.

To break that down for you:

• Who? Busy small business owners
• What?  Taking back their time
• How? Strategic Marketing & Virtual Assistance Services

Spend some time developing this statement. You may have to work with it before it feels just right, but put in the effort. I assure you, it's going to be worth it once you move into step two, creating your content pillars!

Your Content Pillars

Go back to your mental image of an umbrella. You may note that every umbrella has a number of spokes that help the umbrella hold its domed shape that in turn keeps you from getting wet by directing the water to sluice down away from you.

Those spokes are your content pillars. They provide structure to your brand and your online presence.

If you're thinking, Great. Now, how do I create my content pillars? The answer is to go back to your "I help..." statement. That statement actually holds your pillars within it, specifically within the How category.

(The image below is how one of my clients did this exercise.)

You may remember in my statement that I help small business owners take back their time with strategic marketing and virtual assistant services. So, with that in mind I labeled my spokes:

• Time Management
• Delegation
• Content Creation (yes, I am creating content about content creation. yes, I'm doing it right now)
• Marketing Strategy

Now, go back to your own umbrella statement and examine it for possible pillars. If you're struggling, ask yourself these questions:

• What is the big problem I help solve?
• How do I solve that problem?
• What big questions or topics naturally fit into those?

Remember, you really only need 4 of these. Don't try to hunt down every possible topic related to your umbrella statement. Just choose the ones you feel confident about, the ones you have a lot of experience or expertise with, that you can talk about a lot. Because believe me, you will be talking about them A LOT.

Your Turn

• Were you following along? If not, try it out! If you like the umbrella visual, download this worksheet and go through it that way.
• Once you have these, I challenge you to sit with them for a while before you start creating content. Are these true? Do you feel confident in your ability to produce content in and around these categories? Does your umbrella statement truly fit your ideal client?
• Final step, make a list of four different pieces of content you can create under each of these pillars. If you find yourself struggling, that may be an indication that you need to revisit that pillar and reevaluate.

XO,
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