I’ve been reading that content pillars are in the past. You need to get rid of them now. They’re only going to hurt you in the long run.

Says who? The same people who think constantly shooting from the hip is a strategy?

Content pillars can still be an effective part of a social media strategy when used correctly. Where I think the backlash comes in is when you use the pillars as the only way you do social media and you create boring content around them. This not at all the effective way to use them.

Let’s talk about what you should do with content pillars.

Put content pillars in their proper place

The thing about content pillars is that they are mostly evergreen content. This is what you post when you don’t have anything else pressing.

I usually assign each one to a day, so that I never start with a blank slate for any day. And then I work to have something always ready to go from each pillar so that we are constantly working them.

But the second that breaking news hits or a community member gives me something better, I throw away what I have for that day and use it for another one. The key is to never be so connected to your work that you can’t see when something better comes along. Alway pick the content that is the most timely and will connect the most with your audience. The rest can wait.

Do the research

I have different tactics that I use for discovering what kind of content that my clients should be posting. Before I even come up with content pillars, I do that research. And I also look at what has worked for the client in the past and why (sometimes it worked for the wrong reasons and should be thrown away immediately). I take all of the information I have gathered, and I turn it into a set of content pillars.

From there, it’s honestly easy to create a plan for six months worth of content. You read that right: Six months of content.

Research-backed content pillars can provide you an endless amount of content. You can be consistent with your posting, something that is super important when you’re dealing with algorithms. And that consistent content actually connects with your audience’s needs and wants. It can give a backbone to your social media strategy that you can always go back to for more. Who wouldn’t want that?

Be flexible

Yes, you have to be flexible with when you use content pillars, but you should also be flexible about what the pillars should be.

Everything about social media is an experiment. You can do all the research in the world and know everything possible about your audience. And still, things can surprise you.

If you see one of your pillars just isn’t working, throw it away. Go back to your research and find another one to replace it. Whenever I’ve done the research, there is so much information that I have to filter it until it’s manageable and I can come up with the right amount of pillars. So there is always something left on the cutting room floor. If something isn’t working, looking at that cutting room floor and experimenting with it is always a fantastic plan.

Sticking to your first hypothesis is a great way to have your social media program go down the drain. But being flexible is a great way to make your social media program better and better. Don’t get so attached to your experiments that you can’t let them go when they fail.

Make sure you are excited about your content pillars

So many people forget to take the person behind the account into consideration. They are a huge part of what makes a brand successful on social media, so they deserve to be put into the equation when you’re creating a social media strategy.

Why? Because your audience is going to feel when there are real emotions behind the content. So the social media manager’s passions can bring a great authenticity and connection to the content that you can’t manufacture.

If you’re not feeling that excitement about anything that you’re posting about, then that’s a much bigger problem than I can handle. It’s likely time to change what you’re doing.

But if you just feel a dip in your excitement or you need to feel passionate about more of the content, talk to someone in your organization that owns what you what want to be excited about. Ask them why they love it and then just listen. Their enthusiasm should be contagious. If it’s not, go to the next person or a community member. Keep having these conversations until you get to the level you need.

And that’s the quickest way to making sure nothing you post is boring.

How are you using content pillars?