Master These Content Pillars to Upgrade Your Social Media Strategy
Sy Minh Thang Chu
Master's Student at Warwick Business School | Product Marketing | Digital Marketer | Build customer-centric strategies for sustainable growth
Content pillars are the foundation that maintains the consistency and relevance of the content across different touchpoints, including social media and websites.
Last week, I finished a $40 course about the Strategy of Content Marketing which gave me a key insight into 4 content pillars, including information, relation, transformation, and action, that will transform your business presence on social media platforms.
I can't wait to reveal it for free in this newsletter to help you optimize your social media efforts and engage your audience more effectively. Additionally, I will use a case study of Patagonia's social media marketing to illustrate how these pillars are put into practice.
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What is a content pillar?
A content pillar is a core theme that can be broken down into smaller, related content pieces. In other words, a content pillar organizes your messaging into core purposes that align with marketing goals and resonate with the audience simultaneously.
A clear pillar makes it easier for marketers to plan and organize their content, avoiding random and disjointed posts. This approach helps ensure consistency and relevance across platforms.
Unlike other content strategies, content pillars create a cohesive framework, enabling marketers to develop a diverse yet interconnected range of topics to maximize the value of each content creation effort.
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4 content pillars that secure success of your social media planning
1. Education/Information
Educational content provides the audience with valuable information and branded knowledge, building up customers' perception of the brand. '
The primary goal of this pillar is to help brands educate their target audience about specific and relevant topics to establish an online presence, earn trust, and build authority.
Educational content often includes:
2. Transformation
Transformational content highlights changes or results that a product or service can bring to the customers.
This content pillar demonstrates the tangible benefits of products or services, reassures buyers with social proof, or inspires them to make a purchase.
Transformational content often includes:
3. Relation/Emotion
Relational content emphasizes the intangible sides of a brand that build an emotional connection with the target audience and develop a sense of belonging and social community.
This pillar humanizes the brand,?and resonates with customers, evoking a specific feeling (e.g. Coca-Cola stands for happiness, Nike stands for inspiration).
This is where the content gap is the most significant. While global corporations heavily invest in representing an emotion through social media marketing, smaller businesses often overlook this opportunity.
Emotional content often includes:
4. Action
Action-oriented content drives specific actions from the audience. This pillar encourages the audience to take a particular step, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or participating in an event.
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Action content often includes:
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Case Study: how Patagonia leverages 4 content pillars
Patagonia is an outdoor clothing and gear brand known for its commitment to environmental sustainability and social responsibility. The company primarily sells high-quality and eco-friendly outdoor apparel, as well as gear for adventurous activities. Patagonia's social media marketing strategy is straightforward but highly effective. The brand aims to resonate with those who are concerned about environmental issues and willing to act to support sustainable consumerism.
1. Patagonia's Informational Content Pillar
Patagonia's informational pillar clearly represents 2 objectives which are building customers' awareness of their popular apparel and gears, and informing them about its upcoming social initiatives and sustainable efforts.
The company's YouTube content often focuses on providing detailed product information and care guides, showing its commitment to high-quality and durable clothing which is not driven by fashion. One of the recent videos is a tutorial on how to properly maintain the care for wax cotton products to help customers extend the longevity of the product.
Another one is about health issues caused by discarded clothing in the Atacama Desert in Chile, highlighting a collective effort by a community of activists and artists who are creatively recycle the fashion industry's waste to manufacture new collections.
In another example on Facebook, the firm informs the audience about environmental issues related to the industrial fish farms in Iceland and promotes a screening event to persuade them to learn more through the screening and panel discussion.
2. Patagonia's Relational Content Pillar
Undoubtedly, Patagonia invests heavily in its emotional content to resonate with environmental activists and supporters. The company's content on Instagram and Facebook accounts predominantly focuses on user-generated content and personal stories to strengthen an emotional bond with the audience.
For example, a typical post on Patagonia's Facebook narrates a personal adventure story, highlighting the unique cultural experience shared by one of the customers. The brand's content strategy on Instagram is quite similar with a focus on nostalgic and personal stories, clearly demonstrating the customers's lifestyles and values in lives.
Since the content is mostly generated by existing customers, it's very relatable and successfully creates a sense of community and social belonging among the audience.
3. Patagonia's Transformational Content Pillar
User-generated content about personal contributions is key to building the company's virtual community and promoting personal growth. The brand often highlights stories of individuals and communities undergoing significant positive changes.
For instance, the story of a customer on Instagram as a volunteer pacer in ultramarathons emphasizes the personal fulfillment and sense of community that comes from supporting others. Another story emphasizes how the brand's customers try to transform the conservative town through advocacy and inclusivity.
In a long video about Plastic-free Oyster Farming on YouTube, the brand has inspired viewers to rethink their buying habits and drives them to be more socially responsible with the story of a researcher' journey from a marine microplastics expert to a sustainable oyster farmer, which not only transforms her life but also contribute to the broader goal of reducing plastic pollution in marine environments.
4. Patagonia's Action Content Pillar
Surprisingly, Patagonia's action pillar is rarely about sales conversion. Instead, the company focuses on event invitation to mobilize the community, encourage participation in environmental activism, and drive collective efforts towards meaningful change.
For instance, in the current campaign of "Runners Worldwide Rising Up in Defense of Healthier Air" promoted on its Facebook and Instagram accounts, the brand invites the global community of runners to participate in an effort to promote and defend the right to breathe fresh air.
The company is not driven by sales when designing their action pillar, it focuses more on inspiring and leading movements that protect the environment to reinforce its values of sustainable fashion, environmental activism, and social responsibility.
Overall, content pillars are important to our social media marketing success. They provide a structured framework that aligns with marketing goals and resonates with your audience, making it easier to plan, organize, and produce engaging content. Patagonia’s case study clearly illustrates how effectively using content pillars can enhance a brand’s presence and connection with its audience.
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