Social media has become an integral part of a brand’s marketing strategy. It allows brands to connect with their audience, build relationships, and drive engagement. However, social media is not a place to post the same ‘buy our product’ or ‘about our brand’ content. As a social media management firm, our task is to help our clients create meaningful, engaging content that fosters community and increases brand visibility, ultimately translating into sales.
To do this, we start by identifying their key content pillars. Content pillars are themes or topics that a brand consistently uses to create content on social media. While these can be very specific to your company, product or brand messaging, there are also some general pillars that every brand can start with to build out their messaging and diversify the kinds of content they share. Here are some content pillars that brands can incorporate into their social media strategy:
Education
For many, social media is a place to learn new things and stay up to date with news and trends. To grow your following and build credibility in your industry, brands can create content that educates their audience on various topics related to their products or services. For example, if you’re a skincare brand, you can create content that educates your audience on different skin types, how to choose the right skincare products, and how to incorporate a skincare routine into their daily lives. By offering interesting, unique and shareable content, you keep followers coming back for more content and will establish your brand as a leader and innovator in your industry.
Inspiration
Inspiration is a great content pillar that can help brands connect with their audience on an emotional level. This kind of content is a show-don’t-tell method that showcases aspirational imagery to inspire your audience, aligning their goals and passions with your brand or services. For example, if you are a fitness supplement brand, posts about success stories or a ‘day in the life’ video showcasing your founder’s average day could be seen as inspirational, allowing potential customers to make the subconscious connection between your brand and success. Platforms like Pinterest and YouTube are great platforms to practice this kind of content, and see a high conversion rate when done correctly.
Entertainment
Amongst many brands, entertainment is an overlooked content pillar that can actually really help them connect with their audience. As a social media management firm, many of our clients are afraid to make jokes or share content that isn’t directly promoting a product or sharing information about what they do. However, content that makes your audience laugh or smile can be extremely effective to grow your reach and increase followers, as long as it is still in line with your brand persona. For example, a food brand can create content that showcases funny cooking fails or creates entertaining cooking challenges. Anything that resonates with your audience and showcases the fun, human side of the brand can really do wonders for your account’s visibility and overall success.
Promotion
Now onto the most obvious content pillar for brands – promotion. Promotion focuses on showcasing the value and information of your products or services directly, in an attempt to make a sale. For example, a makeup brand could be make an infographic about the ingredients in a brand’s new lipstick, or share a video of an influencer talking about how much they love the lipstick.
Engagement
Engagement is a content pillar that focuses on creating content that encourages audience participation. Brands can create content that asks questions, runs polls, or encourages their audience to share their own experiences. For example, a travel brand can create content that asks their audience to share their favorite travel destinations or travel hacks.
Social Responsibility
The social responsibility pillar focuses on creating content that showcases a brand’s commitment to social causes. Brands can create content that educates their audience on social issues, promotes a charitable cause, or highlights their efforts to be more environmentally friendly. For example, a beauty brand can create content that promotes sustainability or cruelty-free products.
In conclusion, incorporating content pillars into a brand’s social media strategy can help them create content that resonates with their audience. By consistently creating content around these themes, brands can establish a strong social media presence and build long-lasting relationships with their audience. For more tips and tricks from our social media management firm, click here.
