As a business owner, you might have heard the terms“content pillars”and “brand stories” thrown around before. This guide will break it all down for you.
Content Pillars
Content pillars are overarching categories that help you quickly choose what to post on a regular basis. These categories provide the general structure of your online presence. You can identify your brand’s content pillars based on audience segmentation.
Different segments of your audience possess different levels of awareness. Instead of creating one type of content for everyone, consider how to communicate to different segments. Some audience members are aware of your brand’s specific products or services, while others aren’t even aware that they possess the challenge your brand solves.
Your content funnel will assist the journey from unawareness to awareness:
Brand Stories
To further identify your content pillars, write your brand stories. For each lead-to-customer journey, write a unique brand story that shows how you’re meeting the challenges or needs of each segment. This can include the emotional, physical, social, financial, or spiritual conditions of the customer that result from your brand’s presence in their life.
Brand Story Format
Fill in the bold sections, according to your specific situation:
A [ideal audience] who wants to [desired outcome] meets me [platform where your audience finds you], where I show them [process required to reach desired outcome]. I ask them to [ideal product/service/offer] so they can [desired outcome reworded].
Example Brand Story
Here’s one way I could write a brand story for my business, KQ Writing Studio:
“A business owner, marketer, or content creator who wants to build their online audience meets me on my website, where I show her how blog SEO has helped me increase my profits and have more energy to do the work that only I can do. I ask her to buy my monthly blog content packages so she can move closer toward her web traffic goals.”
After spending time on your content funnel and brand stories, you’ll be able to outline 3 to 5 main categories that your brand will post about regularly. These are your content pillars.
Content Pillar Checkpoints
- Do my content pillars and brand stories align?
- Can they be broken down into smaller sub-categories that are still relevant to your brand?
- Do they provide a mix of inspiring, educational, and entertaining content?
- Do they help your brand stand out among other brands in your industry?
Ready to continue on this sustainable content marketing journey? Read the next section on project planning and evaluation.