From Pillars to Plan: All you need to know about Content Strategy

A solid content strategy is the foundation and key to any successful marketing campaign but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Starting with a foundation of solid content pillars that you can build on with a comprehensive strategy will drive real results.

In this blog, we take you through the elements of creating a strong content strategy from building your content pillars to implementing the right strategy for your goals.

What are content pillars?

Content pillars are the topics and themes that form the foundation of your content marketing. They help to create a cohesive brand image, drive engagement, and create authority on social media.

Content pillars are three to five topics your brand will consistently write about on social media.

Think of an upside-down pyramid: the more focused and niched you are at the beginning, the easier it will be to build an audience of people who trust and love you. From there, you can expand.

How do you use content pillars to create a successful marketing campaign?

A solid content strategy is the foundation and key to any successful marketing campaign. Once you have your content pillars secure, each time you create a piece of content make sure to keep the following 5 content marketing pillars in mind. 

Are you understanding, following and demonstrating these to your audience? This is where you really get to create authority and drive engagement across social media. 

5 content pilars for campaign success

Once your content pillars are established, every piece of content you create should align with these five foundational marketing pillars:

• Audience 
• Creation
• Experience
• Promotion
• Insight

Audience

Understand who your ideal audience is. That means doing some real research into finding out what they want, what their goals are and the problems they currently face. Think about where they hang out online and the type of content they’re consuming.

Creation

To create good content you need to be able to ideate effectively. You then need to be able to draft, edit and optimise the content to ensure it does exactly what you want and perform as you need it to – in an effective and highly engaging way.

Experience

Content experience is all about how your audience engages with and consumes the content you’ve shared. It’s also a vital component of discovering where and how your content generates leads, and optimising it further to make it more successful.

Promotion

Finding the right channels to distribute your content is not as simple as picking the most popular social media platform and posting. Focus your time, energy and resources on the channels where your content is most effective and where your audience already is.

Insight

You should always use be using your content to gather insights and collect data. Analytical insight reviews on a monthly or bi-monthly basis are pivotal to your success & growth – here you will figure out what’s working, what’s not and how you can nurture and convert your audience.

Using your pillars in your content strategy

Content strategy focuses on the planning, creation, delivery and control of the content. Content not only includes the words on the page but also the images and multimedia that are used.

It’s important to note that  your content strategy will constantly change and need to be re-defined in order for you to grow and scale as a business & brand.

The 3 C’s of business marketing strategy to scale your business

Content

↓

Conversation

↓

Collaboration

Content is absolute king and it must serve a purpose.

Ask yourself whether your content is:

1. Valuable?
2. Entertaining?
3. Educational?
4. Personal?
5. Organically attracting?
6. Resonating?

Conversations happen and stem from your content. Do what you need to do in order to gain the trust of your audience and develop relationships with them. Otherwise, you will not see concrete results or conversions to sales. Think about what you do on a daily basis to start a conversation.

Collaborate by using beneficial partnerships. Whether it is workshops, seminars, podcasts, takeovers, lives, comments, online or in-person events.  Collaboration gives you access to a new audience and has mutual benefits.

Things to keep in mind when creating your content strategy

1. Goals – what’s your reason?
2. Audience – get to know them / nurture / conversions
3. Research – learn about your competitors
4. Audit – insights & analytics of your social media
5. Plan – schedule & plan content / create content calendars
6. Review – evaluate & audit your strategy

Example: base your content & brand strategy on BOLTF (weberco. company)

• B – business life
• O – own your expertise – establish your expertise & educate audience
• L – love entertaining
• T – to showcase your products & services – encourage the audience to buy
• F – forgotten content – repurpose old content, reshare

Final thoughts

Your content pillars provide the focused foundation, while your broader content strategy ensures everything works together systematically. Start by identifying your 3-5 core content pillars, then build your strategy around the 3 C’s framework, always keeping the 5 marketing pillars and 6 planning steps in mind.

At KADA Managment we can help you create and implement a solid content strategy.

Enquire with us today to find out how we can help your business grow to the next stage.