A robust social media advertising and marketing technique depends on extra than simply constant posting. It requires various content material that captures your viewers’s consideration, and retains it. Top-of-the-line methods to simplify your planning and keep strategic is by constructing social media content material pillars: the core themes that maintain your content material targeted, purposeful and aligned to your targets.
Originality performs a significant position on this. In response to The Sprout Social Index™ 2025, at present’s shoppers say that content material originality is likely one of the prime methods a model can stand out—second solely to the standard of their service.
On this article, we clarify what social media content material pillars are, and the way manufacturers are utilizing them to information their technique. Plus, you’ll stroll away with a step-by-step course of to create your individual pillars to refine your social content material output.
What are content material pillars in social media?
Social media content material pillars are the important thing themes or content material sorts you constantly create and share throughout your social media profiles. Every pillar usually aligns to a particular objective, viewers or content material format.
They’re referred to as “pillars” as a result of they act as structural help on your technique, just like the columns of a Greek temple. They’re used to maintain your content material constant and related throughout every of your accounts.
Each model ought to set up a set of content material pillars. Ideally, these will overlap throughout your entire platforms, although some could also be extra vital for sure networks based mostly on its viewers and options. For instance, a trendspotting pillar is likely to be used extra typically on TikTok than on LinkedIn. As a common rule, it’s best to have a minimum of round 3-5 pillars at anyone time. It is best to keep away from having too many pillars, as this may dilute your model’s message.
For those who’re a meals and beverage model, for instance, your fundamental social media content material pillars is likely to be:
These are just some examples; we discover extra real-world examples beneath that can assist you discover the best match on your model.
Why are content material pillars vital for social media?
Social media content material pillars streamline your content material planning course of. They offer you a transparent route on the kind of content material it is advisable to be making, and why.
Pillars additionally assist guarantee every put up serves a objective, speaks to a particular viewers and reinforces your model id. When your content material ladders as much as outlined pillars, your messaging stays aligned throughout all of your social platforms.
Additionally they enable you to diversify your content material, so that you’re posting differing kinds usually.
Widespread examples of social media content material pillars
Beneath, we’ve collected some examples of social media content material pillars from manufacturers throughout industries, and defined how every can obtain sure targets. Take into account: content material pillars aren’t one-size-fits-all. Use these examples as inspiration, however tailor your pillars to replicate your model values and the individuality of your viewers.
Model messaging and storytelling content material pillars
Model messaging content material is a pillar that focuses on subjects that revolve round your model’s core id. This is likely to be an Instagram Reel that exhibits off your organization’s historical past or narrative, carousels that element your mission assertion or promo movies that visualize your positioning.
Use this pillar to construct consciousness, in addition to belief in your model and its values. This may be helpful for recruitment, and for constructing buyer relationships.
Of all these examples, this pillar is maybe the one with essentially the most flexibility, as its success will depend on how properly you align the content material to the model itself. Right here’s a latest instance from the UK chocolate model Resort Chocolat.
They filmed a Reel with their firm founder on location on the firm’s first cacao farm. The video narrates the historical past of their merchandise, in addition to the corporate itself. It succeeds as a result of this content material couldn’t be successfully reproduced by some other model; it depends on the distinct heritage of Resort Chocolat.
Entertaining content material pillars
This content material pillar entails any content material created to attach together with your viewers and brighten their day. It’d take the type of comedic sketches, vibrant podcast conversations or skilled adverts made with leisure in thoughts.
Entertaining content material additionally helps construct model consciousness and may improve the attain of your content material, notably should you mix it with traits.
Creating entertaining social media content material is its personal problem, and is an space of social media that’s continually evolving. It’s price researching how your opponents entertain their audiences, and fascinated about how one can authentically adapt traits.
An attention-grabbing instance of this sort of pillar is the UK grocery store chain Waitrose and its Dish Podcast.
The Dish podcast is entertaining because of its movie star hosts, TV chef Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw, who’s a UK radio movie star. It’s additionally constructed a big following as a result of it’s mixed two favorite pastimes of social media: leisure and meals. They use celebrities and influencers and food-focused interviews to interact viewers whereas nonetheless staying related to what the model affords.
Promotional or product-focused content material pillars
This pillar covers content material particularly created to advertise your merchandise. It’d embrace characteristic breakdown carousels for software program instruments, demonstrations of how your service works or a reel of most of the people attempting your product for the primary time. It’s additionally widespread for this pillar to merge with limited-time gross sales or promotional dates like Black Friday.
The purpose of promo content material is often to transform followers into gross sales. For instance, UK pharmacy chain Boots promotes a number of merchandise for festival-goers. The replace has a transparent viewers and has been timed to go reside throughout the peak of the UK competition season in the summertime. Posts like this typically depend on a social media content material calendar to prepare well-timed promotional content material. You may push your social viewers in the direction of time-sensitive exclusives or offers that may improve conversions.
Person-generated content material pillars
Person-generated content material (UGC) is a strong content material pillar—particularly for lean advertising and marketing groups. These campaigns permit your viewers to create and share content material in your model’s behalf. This is likely to be within the type of product testing, competitions or charity challenges.
UGC builds attain and engagement. It might probably maximise your attain by leveraging model ambassadors to extend your visibility in area of interest areas. It might probably additionally construct and foster buyer loyalty, maintaining your model within the forefront.
UGC not solely lightens your content material creation load, it additionally builds deeper engagement. That includes your viewers’s content material can foster belief, strengthen neighborhood and spark natural conversations round your model.
One technique to maximise the influence of your UGC content material pillar is to show it into timed, recurring content material drops. UK clothes model Lucy & Yak do that with their content material pillar #YakMirrorSelfieMonday.
They incentivise content material creation by providing winners a £25 “YakToken” which can be utilized to buy their merchandise. These selfies promote Lucy & Yak merchandise, whereas encouraging neighborhood engagement.
The right way to create social media content material pillars on your model
Now that you just’ve seen some profitable social media content material pillar examples, right here’s actionable recommendation on the way to construct your individual.
Step 1: Outline your model’s targets and viewers personas
Consider content material pillars as ladders, each serving to you progress nearer to your broader enterprise goals. To successfully create pillars, first have a look at your general model targets. Evaluate the targets made by your management workforce, and take into consideration how every of them may very well be achieved via your content material pillars.
Have a look at how your model targets join together with your viewers personas, as it will assist decide the aim of every pillar. Take into consideration what your viewers needs to see out of your content material, and how one can match this together with your core goals.
Some standard goals embrace elevating model consciousness, producing leads or strengthening your neighborhood. The clearer your social media targets and viewers personas are, the better it’ll be to develop profitable, long-lasting content material pillars.
Step 2: Audit your current content material for themes and efficiency
Even should you haven’t been utilizing social media content material pillars prior to now, you’ve seemingly nonetheless been posting usually. Audit every part you’ve posted till now, and monitor what’s labored properly.
Search for patterns amongst your top-performing posts; these may also help you outline your future content material pillars.
Align your social metrics to your corporation targets, and monitor every of them usually to assist determine the most effective indicators of what’s working. For those who’re trying to construct a neighborhood for instance, monitor feedback and shares. If you wish to increase model consciousness, have a look at attain and likes. This may decide which of your pillars is performing properly, and which must be optimized. Assume additionally about how general success on socials is measured by advertising and marketing leaders at present, in accordance with the 2025 Sprout Social Index, like general engagement, viewers progress and social interactions.
When you’ve recognized related patterns in your information, you can begin to formally strategise your pillars.
Step 3: Select 3-5 repeatable content material pillar themes
Outline round three to 5 core themes that may function your fundamental content material pillars. Prioritise any that occurred naturally whereas auditing your current content material first. Additionally, have a look at what’s lacking from these pillars, and create one or two extra pillars to fill these gaps.
Attempt to strike a stability between your model’s priorities and what your viewers is thinking about. To do that, map out the principle targets of every pillar and decide how aligned they’re with each your viewers personas and your core social media goals.
Do not forget that in contrast to Greek temples, your social media content material pillars don’t should be set in stone. You may overview them once more in just a few months’ time, and can even add new pillars should you discover an rising alternative.
Step 4: Plan your combine throughout channels
When you’ve outlined your pillars, plan the way to carry them to life throughout your completely different social channels.
Every of your pillars ought to change barely based mostly on the platform you’re utilizing. For instance, you may flex your product-focused pillar as an Instagram Reel, however then flip this right into a demo breakdown video for TikTok or an interactive webinar for LinkedIn.
For those who’re uncertain the way to tweak your social media content material pillars throughout completely different platforms, check with Sprout’s 2024 Social Media Content material Technique Report. In it, you’ll discover data-driven insights into which content material codecs and kinds must be prioritised on every community.
The right way to measure the efficiency of your social media content material pillars
As soon as your content material pillars are in place and also you’re constantly creating content material round them, it’s time to trace how each is performing. Efficiency measuring is far simpler should you use Sprout Tagging.
Create a separate, distinctive Tag for every of your pillars, and tag each piece of content material you add with its respective pillar. You may view tagged content material throughout your calendar to be sure you’re diversifying your output.
Then, use the Tag Efficiency Report to trace how particular person content material is performing throughout every of your pillars. Formalise this course of right into a tagging technique to achieve clearer insights into which pillars work greatest on your model, and which want tweaking or altering.
Construct your social media content material pillars to spice up content material efficiency
With outlined social media content material pillars, you may create a more practical social content material calendar and work to raised obtain your wider social media targets. The extra perception you might have into content material efficiency, the better it’s to refine your pillars over time.
Mix your pillars with extra insights into social media content material expectations by downloading the 2025 Sprout Social Index™. You’ll discover an summary of consumer expectations, in addition to information that may inform the way you construct your social workforce to arrange for the way forward for digital advertising and marketing.
Social Media Content material Pillar FAQs
What are some widespread errors groups make with social media content material pillars?
One widespread mistake shouldn’t be fascinated about which pillars will work greatest on which social platforms. Be sure pillars overlap, however take into consideration which networks and audiences work greatest with them. One other mistake shouldn’t be refining or altering your pillars over time as your corporation grows and your viewers evolves.
What are the three E’s of social media content material pillars?
The three E’s stand for interact, entertain and educate. These must be the foundational pillars of your technique. The whole lot you put up on socials must be doing a minimum of one in every of these three.
