Getting strategic about content

Whether it’s social media feeds, blogs and website content, or newsletters, one of the most common comms problems facing small charities and not-for-profits is knowing what to post.

Developing content pillars is one of the ways that I can help solve this problem.

Content pillars are strategic themes that can help provide a framework for your posting. The themes can help people understand who you are, what you do and how you can help. They can also be a way to demonstrate your expertise or credibility. On a really practical note, they can also help you to plan your content more easily.

Choosing three to five content pillars will give you both flexibility and range, whilst also building consistency across your messaging.

Developing content pillars

I always start by learning as much as I can about who an organisation wants to talk to, because understanding your audience is key to developing content themes that will resonate with them. I also find out a bit about your big picture goals and what you want your communications to achieve. Depending on how established you are, looking at your social media or website analytics can also be really helpful as it shows what content is already doing well or not so well with your audiences.

Unpacking each theme

I think it’s important that organisations understand how I came to make the recommendations and get a sense of how they fit together. For each theme I include:

• A one sentence overview
• Which of your audiences the theme particularly targets
• A brief explanation of why the theme is important to the audience(s)
• Some examples of the types of post you could include and content that you might share from other organisations or supporters

This gives you get a reference bank that you can refer back to. It’s also something that you can share with new volunteers or staff to help ensure consistency.

Using content pillars

Some organisations will choose one of the themes as their lead theme and post something from that theme each week, balancing it out with one or two other posts from different themes each week on a rotating basis. Groups with low capacity might post once a week, cycling through the themes over the course of a month. Others might use them as a way to review what content is working best for them or for inspiration when they’re stuck. If you would like some tailored advice on how best to use them, perhaps as a cycle of posting aligned with your organisation’s work cycle or as a suggested monthly posting grid then just ask and I can add this to your report.

Ways I can help you

• Content pillars for social media – whether you’re starting from scratch or want to refresh a tired feed.
• Content pillars that can be used across your communication methods or that are focused on one platform in particular including websites and newsletters.
• Content pillars with a specific purpose in mind such as engaging new audiences.
• Developing content pillars for a new campaign or project and helping you to integrate them into your organisation’s existing mix of content.

If you have a content strategy problem that you’d like me to help solve then please get in touch.

I can provide copywriting and editorial support alongside content pillar work if you’d like some extra help putting it all into action.