Feeling Stuck on What to Post? 5 Steps to Defining Your Content Pillars

Still wondering what to post on Instagram? You might be missing this one crucial step. 

In this episode of The Creative Bodega, I’m breaking down the exact process I use (and teach!) to define your content pillars — aka the foundation that will simplify your content creation and bring consistency, clarity, and connection to your brand.

No more guessing games or posting random tips that don’t lead to sales. When your pillars are locked in, your messaging becomes sharper, your audience knows what to expect from you, and your content starts doing the heavy lifting for you.

If content feels scattered, inconsistent, or just plain exhausting, this episode is your starting line. Let’s define your pillars once and for all.

👉 Check out the full show notes for this episode HERE.

Things I cover inside the episode:

✨ What content pillars really are (and what they’re not — spoiler: "educate, inspire, entertain" is not it).
✨ 5 simple steps to define your content pillars so you never sit down and wonder what to post again.
✨ How to use your pillars to create consistency and build trust with your audience.
✨ Real examples of effective content pillars (and why vague, cute ones won’t work).
✨ The difference between your business pillars and your personal pillar — and why you need both.
✨ What to do when your pillars evolve or your content starts to feel stale.
✨ The common mistakes solopreneurs make when choosing or skipping their pillars.

Resources & Links Mentioned in this episode:

🔗 Content Analytics Tracker
🔗  FREE Content Pillar Training

Connect with me:
🫶🏼 Follow me on Instagram for daily insights
🫶🏼 Join my 321 Create Newsletter for weekly content tips
🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership

Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

Transcript

0:00

Once I got super clear on my pillars, everything changed for me. My messaging became sharper. My content ideas flow faster, and my audience knows exactly what to expect from me. It was no longer like, what should I post today? Ugh. I hate that feeling in that question. When you have. Just nothing. Instead, I'm like, huh, what pillar should I lean into today for this post that I know I'm supposed to make today? Although I'm never posting the day of. So you're not gonna hear me saying that I batch my stuff ahead of time.'cause that's what keeps me sane. Welcome to the Creative Bodega, a podcast about content marketing, Instagram growth and personal branding for female service-based solopreneurs who wanna grow their business without letting it take over their lives. I'm your host, EM Connors, and each week I'll share actionable tips, expert advice, and unfiltered truths to help you create engaging content, connect authentically with your audience, and turn followers into loyal customers, all without the burnout. If you're ready to simplify your content creation, navigate the ever, ever-changing trends and build a business that works for you while staying sane in this. Crazy season of life, then you're in the right place. So you probably keep hearing the term content pillars or brand pillars tossed around on Instagram and in every single course or marketing video, but you're maybe not a hundred percent sure what that even means or how to choose yours. You are super far from alone. In fact, it shocks me when I'm inside of my signature course, the Insta Canva collective. The first week is when we nail down our brand pillars and the amount of analysis paralysis and imposter syndrome that happens. It still shocks me because I'm like, this is your business. This is your life. You're not sure what you wanna teach or be known for anyways. At this point, you know, three years into running that signature course, I realize it's not something everybody just. You know, understands, and it doesn't click for everybody. So most solopreneurs either skip this step altogether or they overthink it so much. That they don't ever take the time to really nail it down. And the truth is that when you define your pillars clearly, your content creation's gonna become so much easier. It gives you that direction and clarity and consistency that really helps you attract the right followers. Who fingers crossed, turned into buying raving fans. So in today's episode, I wanna break down the five simple steps so that you can walk away with your content pillars fully defined and figured out. No fluff, no random vague advice. I just wanna give you an honest to God step-by-step plan to help you feel super confident about what the heck to post day in and day out and why it matters. So this is the foundation for building a brand that really sticks, right? It connects and it converts without completely. Burning you out. And before I dive into these steps and what content pillars even are, please remember that you will be able to find the full show notes for this episode on my website. That's the creative bodega.com/blog/. 12. Alright, so let's dive in. What are content pillars for small business owners? Right? What are they? What aren't they? I actually was just listening to a podcast today and somebody was like, I don't have content pillars. I don't rotate through, educate, entertain. And I was like, Ugh. Those are not content pillars. So, you know, maybe it's fine that you don't have them, but here's what they are. Content pillars are your core brand topics or themes that you want to be known for. That you consistently create content around and that all relate back to your offer. So I'm not going to be posting about how to tie dye skirts if that's not something I offer or talk about or wanna be known for. Okay? Yes. I could talk about tie dyeing skirts in my stories. Hey, here's this fun thing I did this weekend with my kids. Or I could talk about it in my newsletter if I wanted to. Maybe as one of the things I'm loving, like, oh, I did this with my kids this weekend. Check it out. Sure. But it's not gonna be showing up on my feed. My feed is that polished storefront where when somebody comes across something I created, whether it's from. Another lovely follower of mine sharing it in their stories, or they found me on the explore page. I want it to be so clear what they're gonna get from me. And how I'm gonna solve a problem for them by reading my bio and just glancing at the first, you know, nine to 12 lines of my feed. So these are these foundational categories. Pillars, topics, whatever you wanna call them, that are gonna support your business goals and connect with your ideal client. And again, it's gonna make planning your content so much easier. I would not come up with a posting schedule before you have content pillars. It goes content pillars. Then posting schedule, right? Because everything within your posting schedule should relate back to your pillars. So I want you to think of them as quite broad buckets. So that's kind of the other thing that I think people get wrong. They get really specific with their content pillars. It's like. Instead of Canva being a pillar, it's how to create a digital product in Canva. Like you are pigeonholing yourself so much, and there's probably only so much content you can come up with about how to create a digital product in Canva. But if it's just Canva and you can talk about a lot of things inside of Canva, new features, shortcuts, how you get organized, like all that. If you're gonna have a lot more options, so every one of your posts should fall under one of your pillars. So some real life pillar examples. So for me, maybe Instagram strategy, Canva tips, visual branding. Brand messaging, email marketing, confidence on camera, systems and workflows, mindset and burnouts behind the scenes of building a six figure business. So these are just examples of ones that I could use, right? Again, topics around where I wanna build trust, where I wanna serve my audience. How I wanna sell my offers. Content pillars are not the goal or the format of your post. So many creators confuse content goals with content pillars. So saying that your content pillars are educate, inspire, entertain, thought, leadership. This is like saying your brand is to help people. Like it's too vague. It doesn't actually tell you what to post and educate, inspire and entertain are not content pillars. They're content intentions or content goals. And you can and should absolutely vary the type of content you're putting out as far as the goals are concerned. You should have some educate. You should have some inspire, you should have some entertain, right? And. But those are not the content pillars, right? They're actually like the topics or the goals for your audience to recognize and connect to. So that's what content pillars are and are not. Why do content pillars matter for growth? They're gonna create consistency and they're gonna make you super memorable in the eyes of your followers. They help you attract the right people, not just random ones. And this is why I say like for the love of all that's holy, like do not copy a viral real situation that has nothing to do with what you offer.'cause the last thing you wanna do is go viral. For something that you don't offer or talk about or wanna be known for, it's not good. Okay? So save that stuff for your personal account. Save it for doing in your stories, but don't put that on your feed, okay? It's just gonna confuse people.'cause if you are a dog training expert and you follow a real trend where you're talking about how overwhelmed you are as a mom or something, or mom guilt or whatever, people are gonna think you're like a. Parent coach or something, and they're gonna come to your feed and be super confused when they see a whole bunch of dog pictures, right? So. Content pillars matter because they're gonna guide your content, your captions, your visuals, your freebies, and your offers. So it's truly like the first step, that foundational piece, which is why in my signature course, it is one of the very first things we do because I can't move on until I know what your brand pillars are. Now, am I saying that you can never change them, or once you tell me what your three to five are like, they're, that's it Forever. Absolutely not like mine evolve. Mine have changed. Mine have shifted, and that's okay. Like as entrepreneurs, I think we all have pretty large interests and a lot of different things, and I think it's natural for our pillars to evolve and that's totally fine. But when your content's all over the place. Your audience doesn't know what you do or why they should even stick around, right? But when your pillars are clear and consistent and people know what to expect from you, and they're following you for one reason, and they're getting the value that they were seeking, they're gonna start to see you as the go-to person for fill in the blank. So when anybody tells me like, you are my Canva go-to, or You're my Instagram, you know, fairy godmother, whatever, I'm like, yes. I love that. Like the first, you know, instinct you have when you come across a struggle or a problem with either of those platforms. I wanna be the one to pop into your head, right? So common struggles. Most people, most solopreneurs jump into content creation without gaining clarity around these brand pillars or their brand messaging. That's a whole other podcast episode. If your posts feel all over the place or you really struggle to stay consistent, or you struggle on what to post about. It's probably because your content pillars are not well defined. The pillars are gonna be this key to building trust, saving time, and showing up with purpose on Instagram, not throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing if it sticks. So what happens if you skip this crucial part of nailing down your brand pillars? You're posting content that's gonna be random and doesn't really lead people anywhere, or you're attracting followers. Who aren't really meant to be there and don't end up engaging with you or certainly not converting. And you also probably feel overwhelmed every time you sit down to create content. And that's like the worst feeling in the world if you ask me. So I'm really hoping this episode shifts you from, I don't know what to post. I don't know what kind of content I need to show up for my ideal client. I don't know what my content pillars are to. I've got this. I have a clear goal in mind. All my content pillars relate back to my content, relate back to my freebies, relate back to my offers. I know exactly what I wanna be known for, and that clarity is just gonna bring you so much peace of mind. So let's dive into the five steps to defining your content pillars. I wanna remind you. Either A, you can grab a pen and pencil, or if you're like me, you listen to podcasts when you're doing something else, like walking or working out, that all these notes and all this breakdown is gonna be over on my website, the created bodega.com/blog/twelve. Okay, so step one in the five steps to defining your content pillars, identify what you wanna be known for. I want you to ask yourself, what do I want my audience to immediately associate with me? Okay, choose one to two core areas of expertise, not 10, not 15. I want you to stay quite focused examples, and for me, branding, content strategy mindset for solopreneurs, like those are big ones for me, and it is what I want people to think of me for when they think of the creative bodega or they think of m Connors. Step number two, consider what your ideal client needs from you. What problem or problems are you trying to solve for them? What transformation do you help them achieve? So for me, I'm trying to help women. I. Not feel so overwhelmed by content creation to actually have a little fun with it, to make it more simple and just make it a part of their process and their business to sit down and batch content that's actually gonna get them results every month. The transformation is that you're gonna go from overwhelmed, frustrated, confused. Two, really confident and feeling really good about how you're showing up and how you got the content there in the first place. So your pillars should really reflect your zone of genius and your ideal client's struggles, right? So S number three. Look at the content you've already created. So hopefully if you're listening to this, you've already started creating content. I want you to pull up your Instagram analytics and look at what got the most comments, what got the most saves, what got the most shares? What themes are you seeing naturally showing up? What kind of content gets the most. Engagement overall. Hi. I have an amazing analytic tracker that you could grab. I'll put it in the show notes. It's$19 and I look at it, I don't wanna say every day, but I certainly look at it every single month when I am going to create content.'cause I'm not reinventing the wheel. My content pillars are so buttoned up. I have thousands of pieces of content at this point that I can rely upon. I can either, A, just use it again, or B, create it in a new format or repurpose it some way. Right? I. So use the data plus your intuition to get that pillar clarity. So step number four is you are going to pick three to five pillars and give them clear. Relatable names. Okay, so three is the sweet spot, in my opinion. I have four. So if, if there's four to five and they're very connected and they make sense for you, let's, let's go for it. I trust you. But make sure your audience really understands like what they are and what they mean. So don't call a pillar, like biz vibes or something like that, right? Like. Clarity is gonna win every time. Clear over cute. I want you to define them super clearly, like Instagram growth, email marketing, Canva, design tips, content mindset, like super clear terms. And heck, even if you want, you can throw a verb. In front of them to make them even more clear or after them. Um, so that's something I'll do sometimes to just make it a little more actionable. And step number five is just test them, tweak them, use them consistently, right? They're flexible, like I said before, they can evolve just as you can evolve as a solopreneur. So use them as a filter. Always ask yourself, does this post fit into one of my content pillars? Again, I have a daily posting schedule, and that's something else we do in IXCC is once we have our brand pillars, we come up with a daily posting schedule. I am not the kind of person that likes to be pigeonholed into each day of the week. I talk about one of my pillars that's a little too specific for me, and I feel a little boxed in. I have some days that yes, my only thing I'm doing is talking about one content pillar. Like Monday, my Canva, how to reel. I always wanna talk about Canva On Mondays. I love Canva and I love sharing the how to videos. But on Tuesday I do a carousel post, and it can be related to Canva, but it could also be related to mindset, or it could be related to content creation in general, or systems and workflows, right? So I like to batch my content. By my daily post type. So if I'm doing Canva, how two reels on Mondays, I like to sit down and botch four to five of those in a row. Completely create them and schedule them. Then I move on to Tuesday, which is a carousel. I'm gonna hop into Canva. I have my reusable templates right there pinned at the top of my folders, and I like to create based on my pillars, and kind of rotate through those few that I just mentioned for that carousel on Wednesday. It's more of a personal. Post or thought leadership or mindset, and I'll explain a little bit more about that when we talk about some pillar posts, but I like to really stick with my content pillars. I would recommend that you stick with your content pillars for at least 60 to 90 days before you reassess. I think you really need to give it a solid amount of time before you go tweaking things or thinking that it's not working right. I also wanna say that there are certain types of posts and certain pillars I post about that are gonna get a lot more traction than others, and that's perfectly fine. Not every post of mine's meant to blow outta the water. Each one is doing its job behind the scenes and you really have to. Take it with a grain of salt, how it performs for the most part. It just depends on so many factors. So I just don't want you throwing pillars to the wayside because you tried to post about it for three weeks and you didn't get the results that you were looking for, right? Don't do that. So just to recap the five steps to defining your content pillars, really identify what you wanna be known for. Consider what your ideal client needs from you is number two. Step number three, look at the content you've already created and figure out what themes are naturally showing up. Step number four, pick three to five pillars and give them very clear, relatable names. Step number five is test, tweak and use them consistently before abandoning them. Okay, so I did wanna put a little portion, dedicate some time on this podcast to talking about personal pillars. So inside IXCC, I tell all my students, I'm like, yes, I want you to have three to five business related pillars, but then I just want you to have one. Personal pillar bucket, where you just list things that make you you, that make you different from Sally next door, who is also posting about Instagram consistently or Canva consistently. Right? What sets me and Sally apart, it's not gonna be our content. It's going to be our personalities and what we bring to the table and how we teach it, and how we approach it, and the frameworks we develop around it, right? So. Before we wrap up this pillar convo, I just wanna say this clearly, storytelling and personal connection should be a pillar for everyone. There's some people whose feeds I end up on and it's just like teaching and preaching and teaching and preaching and teaching and preaching, or there's accounts I end up on and it's literally just like, I'm inspiring you, I'm inspiring you, I'm inspiring you, and I'm like. Where's the meat and potatoes? Like, what am I getting out of this? So I think that both of those are wonderful. I think everyone should teach and preach at some point, and I think everybody should try to inspire once in a while. But I love those personal connections, storytelling posts where I'm really getting to know the person. I see their face, I hear them talking, or I see them smiling, and it's just a photo of them, or it's them talking in a reel to the camera. So your audience needs to feel that connection with you just as much as they feel a connection to your expertise and their desire for your expertise. So no, it doesn't mean that your whole grid has to turn into like a diary, and I'm not trying to have you air your dirty laundry, but it does mean weaving content in that shows us. The human side of your brand, right? So this is where maybe a simple photo with a really beautiful storytelling caption works and you're like, here's how I got here. Here's why this is important to me. Here was my experience or transformation with this. Right? Or it's a talking head reel where you're sharing something about your life to just build that connection. You had a tough morning. Your kids said this. Here's what it made you realize. You know, and I do think in the feed it's important to kind of weave it back to business or just you as a business owner. That's where your stories in your newsletter can become a really powerful tool for building loyalty and trust when it comes to sort of like the more day-to-day ins and outs of your life. Right? So that's where, in my stories, in my newsletter, I'll say things like. Here's what I meal prepped for lunch today, and like, why I am obsessed with it. Here's the recipe. Grab the link. You have to try it, right? I'm not a nutrition coach, I'm not a macro coach. Like I'm, I, I, I was at one point, and it's why I still, you know, have always taken an interest in food and batching food ahead of time. But I just wanna help my audience and if this meal was easy for me to make as a busy mom who's working from home like. Maybe it'll be helpful for you, right? Or I'll be like, look at this outfit, or look at this sweatshirt that I got from Amazon, or Madewell or whatever. Zara, I'm gonna show you the link with you. You have to buy it. It's the most comfortable thing I've ever worn. I like fashion. I worked in fashion for 10 years in New York City. That does weave itself into my stories and inside of my newsletter. And the two things I'm loving, it's typically a piece of clothing, much to my husband's dismay. Or I'll talk about my wild, my wild ass rescue pit bull blitz, who's just so psychotic, but so lovable and follows me everywhere I go. And he's my little office buddy and he's always curled up in a tiny ball next to me, dreaming and making noises. And I love him so much and I'll talk about him and then people will be like, oh my God, I have a rescue pit bull. Or, I used to, and they used to do this, and. And then people will be like, oh my God, I got that sweatshirt too. And what color did you get? It's my favorite. Or they'll be like. I made that recipe you shared last week. Again, these are not my content pillars for my business, but they're what make me me, right? I'll talk about the latest romantic books I'm reading, like I'm a huge romance fantasy book reader. I read all the series. I love them so much, and it's how I unwind and I read every single night for. Probably an hour instead of watching tv. So judge me if you must. Yes, I like the steamy stuff, you know, whatever. But people love that. I, I know who my like romantic book readers are in my audience. Again, these are the things that just make you human. Do they need to show up on your feed, on your grid? No. Can they show up in your stories or inside your newsletter? Absolutely. Yes. Or heck, even on your podcast, right? So it just reminds your audience that you're. A human being, a real person, and there's a real life behind this feed and grid, right? It's the connection stuff. And I love connecting with my audience on random things, and it doesn't make them unfollow me. If I'm talking about a recipe or I'm talking about a sweatshirt, or I'm talking about a steamy romance book. People don't unfollow me because I'm talking about that stuff. They'll just skip past it, right? If it's not for them, they know why they're there. They know the value I'm bringing every week in my grid. They don't, you know, they're not gonna unfollow you because they don't like that one thing you shared that makes you a human, right? So whether you're sprinkling it into your captions or you're showing it inside your stories, or inside your weekly email newsletter. That personal storytelling is really a non-negotiable pillar that's gonna help you build brand loyalty and trust. Okay? And no one's buying Jack. You know what from you? If you don't have that brand loyalty and trust, I hate to break it to you. Once I got super clear on my pillars, everything changed for me. My messaging became sharper. My content ideas flow faster. And my audience knows exactly what to expect from me. Okay? It was no longer like, what should I post today? Ugh. I hate that feeling and that question when you have just nothing. Instead I'm like, huh, what pillar should I lean into today for this post that I know I'm supposed to make today? Although I'm never posting the day of, so you're not gonna hear me saying that, but I batch my stuff ahead of time.'cause that's what keeps me sane. So some. Closing thoughts. Here's your homework. I want you to sit down and write out your three to five content pillars using the steps inside this episode. I want you to write down just like a brain dump of personal things that make you, you. Do you walk in your neighborhood? Do you have a crazy rescue pit bull? Do you have kids who are elementary school age practicing on their recorder and making you wanna tear your hair out? That's me right now with my third grader. Talk about them. Post them on a sticky note near your desk or inside your content calendar, and really, you know, let them out. Let, let, let your audience know more about you behind the content creator, right? And then as far as your content pillars that are related to your business, let them guide your posts, your emails, your podcasts, your pins on Pinterest. Let them guide that from here on out. Bonus tip, go back through your last 15 posts. Assign each one to a the pillar or a pillar, and this will help you spot the gaps in the patterns and also help you realize what you think you wanna be known for and you're not posting about at all. That's probably. One of my faults if I have to be super honest. So DM me on Instagram at the Create bodega, and tell me what your content pillars are. I love hearing what you land on, and if you need any more support, planning, batching, aligning your content with your brand. Come join me inside the content coven, my beautiful, amazing community where I actually have a full on robust curriculum just waiting for you to go through to help nail down that brand foundation that is so important. You don't have to figure this all out alone. I would be so honored to help. Guide you. All right. I'm em. You know where to find me. I hope you have a wonderful day. Thanks so much for hanging out with me on the Creative Bodega Podcast. If you love this episode, please be sure to share it with a fellow solopreneur. Who could use a little content creation inspiration. And hey, don't forget to check out the show notes for any resources I mentioned on the episode to help you create content that feels easy and actually gets you results. If you want even more Canva and content tips, head over to my website, the creative bodega.com, or find me on Instagram under the same name. Until next time, keep creating, keep showing up, and most importantly, try and have a little fun with your content. I'll see you on the next episode.