How to Brainstorm Your Brand’s Content Pillars

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Creating consistent, relevant content can be a challenge, especially when you're juggling the many aspects of running an online business.

But there's a way to make this process easier and more effective: content pillars.

What Are Content Pillars?

The Foundation of Your Brand’s Story

Content pillars are themes or topics that a brand uses to create content. Think of them as the big ideas that you keep coming back to in different ways.

For example, if you run a small bookshop, your pillars might be:

• Book recommendations across genres

• Supporting local authors

• The joy of reading physical books

• Creating cozy reading spaces

These pillars give you a framework to plan your content. Under each pillar, you can create various content series or themes that you rotate through. Maybe you do a weekly "Local Author Spotlight" or a monthly "Cozy Corner Design Challenge."

The key is to choose pillars that:

1. Reflect your expertise and passion

2. Connect with your audience's interests

3. Support your overall goals

By organizing your content this way, you're not just randomly posting when you feel like it, or when an idea strikes you. You're building a consistent narrative that reinforces your brand and provides real value to your audience.

Using content pillars helps you stay focused and makes the whole content creation process less overwhelming. Instead of staring at a blank page wondering what to post, you have a ready-made framework to guide you. It's a tool that helps you work smarter, not harder, and makes sure that every piece of content you create serves a purpose.

Here are some more examples:

Pillars For a website designer:

• User-friendly design principles

• Responsive design techniques

• Color theory and branding

• Website optimization tips

• Accessibility in web design

Pillars For a digital marketing course creator:

• Social media strategy

• Email marketing techniques

• Content creation tips

• SEO basics

• Analytics and data interpretation

Pillars For a wellness coach:

• Stress management techniques

• Simple home workouts

• Mindfulness practices

• Sleep improvement strategies

• Balanced nutrition tips

How to Identify Your Content Pillars

Matching Your Knowledge with Your Audience's Needs

Finding the right content pillars for your brand takes some thought and research.

Here's how to start:

1. List What You Know Well: What topics can you talk about for hours? What skills have you mastered in your work?

2. Learn About Your Audience: Use social media insights, customer feedback, or look at what your competitors are doing to understand what your audience wants to know.

3. Find Where These Overlap: Look for topics where what you know matches what your audience wants to learn. These are great starting points for content pillars.

4. Think About Your Goals: Make sure your chosen pillars help you achieve your business goals. Each pillar should contribute to your overall mission in some way.

And to further refine your content pillars, ask yourself these three questions:

• What do my ideal clients need help with? (for example, make more money with their side hustle)

• What is important to them? (for example ethical selling)

• What are they curious about? (for example, passive income)

TIP: It's better to have a few well-developed pillars than a ton of shallow ones. Try for 3-5 main content pillars to start.

Bringing Your Content Pillars to Life

Now that you've got down your content pillars, it's time to turn them into real, engaging content. Here's how:

Have a Brainstorm Session

For each content pillar, create a list of related subtopics. At this stage, focus on quantity rather than quality. Write down every related subtopic that comes to mind. Don't worry about quality yet - that comes later. Right now, you're just getting all your thoughts out there.

Let's say you run a vintage clothing shop, and one of your pillars is "Sustainable Fashion".

Your subtopics might include:

• How to spot quality in second-hand clothes

• The real impact of fast fashion

• DIY clothing upcycling projects

• Profiles of sustainable fashion designers

• Tips to make clothes last longer

The goal here is quantity. You might come up with some off-the-wall ideas - that's great. Sometimes those lead to your most interesting content. 😜

Connect Ideas with the 'Spoke and Hub' Method

Think of your content pillar as the center of a wheel. All your subtopics are spokes coming out from it. This visual can help you spot connections you might have missed.

For example, your "upcycling projects" spoke might link up with "sustainable fashion trailblazers" - maybe you could share a designer's favorite upcycling hack. Or your "making clothes last" spoke could connect with "impact of fast fashion" - you could talk about how taking care of your clothes helps the planet.

This spoke and hub method can help you create content that flows naturally from one topic to another.

Vary Your Content Types

People absorb information differently. Some love reading detailed articles. Others prefer quick video tutorials. Some might want graphics they can save and reference later.

For each subtopic, think about different presentation formats:

• Could it be a blog post?

• Would it make a good video?

• Is there a way to turn it into an infographic?

• Could it be a series of social media posts?

• Might it work as a podcast episode?

By mixing up your content types, you're accommodating different learning styles, while also giving yourself room to experiment and find what works best for you and your audience.

Plan Your Content

Now it's time to get organized. Take all those ideas and start mapping them out on a content calendar. Try to touch on each pillar regularly to maintain a balanced content strategy.

For the vintage clothing shop example, your calendar might look something like this:

• Monday: Blog post about finding hidden gems in thrift stores

• Wednesday: Quick YouTube video showing a 5-minute upcycling project

• Friday: Instagram post with infographic on the journey of a t-shirt from factory to landfill

Keep a running list of content ideas. Inspiration doesn't always strike when it's convenient. You might get a brilliant idea while you're out and about or right as you're falling asleep. Have a way to quickly jot these down - a notebook, a note-taking app, whatever works for you.

Developing content pillars for your brand is a smart way to organize your ideas and create more meaningful content for your audience. When you have a content strategy that aligns with what your audience is looking for, it becomes a lot easier to create topics that will catch their attention. By focusing on creating content that addresses their needs and interests, you're more likely to see positive results and grow your brand's following!