In short
Content pillars are the few topics you post about again and again, so you never start the week from a blank page. Pick three to five from what clients ask you, what you've learned the hard way, how you work, and who you are outside work. Give each post one pillar, and check every month which ones people respond to.
What content pillars are
A content pillar is a topic you'll keep posting about: broad enough for dozens of posts, narrow enough that people know what you're for. Most people who post for their work need three to five.
Pillars aren't formats. 'Carousels' isn't a pillar; 'how to price a project' is. One pillar can be a carousel on Monday and a talking head video on Thursday.
Find yours in your own work
You don't have to invent pillars. They're already in your week.
- The questions clients ask: what do people ask before they hire you, and in the first month after?
- The mistakes you fix: what do you see people get wrong, again and again?
- How you work: your process, your tools, a normal day, behind the scenes.
- You: why you do this work, and a little of life outside it.
Write five or six candidates, then keep the ones you could post about every week for a year without running dry.
Content pillar examples
Examples only: change them to your own clients and work.
| Pillars | One post from a pillar | |
|---|---|---|
| Career coach | Job search, salary talks, career changes, behind the scenes | What to say when they ask your current salary |
| Consultant | Common mistakes in your field, how you run an engagement, opinions on industry news | Why most strategy decks never get used |
| Real estate agent | Your neighbourhoods, buying and selling steps, market updates, client stories | What a buyer should check on a second viewing |
| Freelance designer | Before and after, process, pricing and briefs, tools | How a one-page brief saves a week of revisions |
| Lawyer | Plain-English explainers, common mistakes, how a matter runs, your practice | What to bring to a first meeting about a will |
Turn pillars into a week of posts
Planning gets fast once pillars exist. Each week, pick which pillar each slot covers, then pick the format: a carousel for steps, a talking head video for an opinion, a text post for a story.
Keep the mix roughly even to start, then move toward the pillars people respond to. A pillar that gets no comments or saves for a month needs a new angle or a rest.
The content calendar template has a column for the pillar of each post, and the social media plan template puts your pillars at the top.
Check them every month
Once a month, sort your last few weeks of posts by pillar and look at which ones got comments, saves and messages, not only likes. Keep the pillars that start conversations with the people you'd like to work with.
In Postmosis, give each post a label for its pillar and filter All posts by it. Analytics then shows how your posted posts split across those labels. See the content calendar
