Content Pillar Methodology

Content pillars are the 3-5 major themes that anchor your content program. Every piece of content should connect to a pillar. Pillars emerge from the intersection of your expertise, audience interest, and business value.

Pillar Characteristics

Good pillars are broad enough to sustain dozens of pieces, specific enough to be ownable, connected to your product value, and genuinely interesting to your target audience. Bad pillars are too narrow (one blog post exhausts them), too broad (everything fits), disconnected from business goals, or purely self-serving.

Pillar Angles

Consider multiple angles when brainstorming pillars. Problem-based pillars address challenges your audience faces daily. Outcome-based pillars focus on results they want to achieve. Process-based pillars cover how they do their work. Industry-based pillars track trends in their space. Role-based pillars speak to specific job functions.

Scoring Framework

Evaluate each potential pillar on five criteria, scoring 1-5:

Audience Interest: Do they actively seek this topic? Evidence includes search volume, community discussions, competitor content performance. Score 5 if topic appears in top industry conversations.

Expertise Fit: Can you be credible here? Consider team knowledge, unique data access, customer success stories. Score 5 if you have proprietary insights competitors lack.

Business Alignment: Does content here lead to your product? Map how awareness of this topic creates need for your solution. Score 5 if direct path from topic to product value.

Content Potential: Can you create 20+ distinct pieces? List subtopics—if you struggle past 10, the pillar is too narrow. Score 5 if subtopics flow easily.

Competition: Can you differentiate? Assess existing content quality and saturation. Score 5 for underserved topics, 1 for highly saturated.

Total scores above 20 indicate strong pillars. Below 15 suggests reconsideration.

Pillar Naming

Effective pillar names are memorable, imply scope, and work as content categories. Use outcome-oriented language when possible. "Remote Team Productivity" beats "Working From Home Tips." "Product-Led Growth" beats "Marketing Stuff." Test names by asking: would this work as a blog category or newsletter section?

Pillar Distribution

Balance content across pillars based on strategic priority. Always-on pillars receive consistent coverage year-round. Campaign-based pillars spike around launches or seasonal moments. Map pillars to funnel stages—some naturally serve awareness (TOFU), others drive consideration (MOFU) or conversion (BOFU).

Pillar Evolution

Review pillars quarterly. Refresh when business strategy shifts materially, audience needs change based on feedback or data, competitive landscape evolves significantly, or a pillar consistently underperforms despite quality execution. Evolution is normal—rigid pillars become stale. Document the rationale when retiring or adding pillars.