Content pillars: what they are and how to choose them
· 4 min read
Content pillars are the three to five main topics your account keeps coming back to. Every post belongs to one of them. Once the pillars are set, "what should I post today?" turns into "what are we posting from which pillar this week?", and the second question is much easier to answer.
What a content pillar is not
A pillar is not a one-off campaign or a post format. "Reels" is a format and "Summer sale" is a campaign. A pillar is a topic you can keep feeding for a long time, such as "using the product well" or "our customers' stories". The same pillar can show up as a video one week and a carousel the next.
Why pillars work
- The blank page shrinks: you pick from inside a pillar instead of hunting for a topic.
- The account looks consistent: followers know what to expect from you.
- Splitting the work gets easier: a teammate can own one pillar.
- Measuring gets easier: at the end of the month you can see which pillar moved the goal.
Four questions to find your pillars
- What do you know? Topics about your work that customers don't know and would benefit from learning.
- What do customers ask? Questions that keep coming up in messages and comments are ready-made pillars.
- What makes you different? How you make things, your materials, your team, your service.
- What do you need to sell? Campaigns and product news are a pillar too, but they shouldn't be the only one.
Write the answers side by side and merge the ones that are close. The three to five topics left over are your pillars.
Example: four pillars for a coffee shop
| Pillar | What it does | Example post |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee know-how | Expertise and trust | The difference between filter coffee and espresso |
| Life at the shop | Warmth, a reason to visit | A short video from behind the bar at 8 a.m. |
| Customers and community | Social proof, loyalty | A quick chat with the regular of the week |
| Campaigns and news | Sales | Day one of the new seasonal menu |
Notice that only one of the four pillars sells directly. The other three build the ground that makes people listen when the sales post arrives.
Balance your pillars
Pillars don't need equal weight. The one that serves your goal best can take up more room. What matters is choosing the mix on purpose and checking what actually happened at the end of the month.
Tie pillars to your idea board and calendar
Pillars only help once they're part of daily work. Group your ideas by pillar: when an idea comes in, note which pillar it belongs to right away. On Fourdeck's idea board you can organise ideas by topic and content series, and turn a developed idea into a post without losing its context.
Tagging posts with the pillar name also helps. Filter the calendar by that tag and you'll see how a pillar is spread across the month in one view.
Review them every quarter
Pillars are lasting, but not fixed. At the end of each quarter, look at how much each pillar contributed to the goal. Try a weak pillar in a new format, or replace it with a different topic. As your audience and product change, your pillars can change too.