Picking out your top-level themes will be largely intuitive. Most likely, you already know what you want to be known for.

Nonetheless, you should conduct some basic research into what your audiences are looking for and consuming online. Approaching your content planning from these two directions ensures a thorough approach.

Remember, each content pillar is the broad topic, e.g. ‘golf skills’, ‘work fashion’, ‘classic cars’ etc. The topic clusters are centred around the key topics people are seeking information about. Within those clusters, are the key phrases and questions people ask.

The three areas of enquiry when forming your content pillars should be:

• Who are your audiences? What are their demographic profiles – age, gender etc, as detailed in your persona?
• What content do they consume and share? Where do they spend time online, and where do they look for the most valuable content?
• What keywords and phrases are they interested in? What kind of questions are they asking, and where are their information needs gaps?

Join the discussion

Based on your understanding of content pillars, in the comments below think of three examples of potential content pillars for one of the following brands or organisations and explain your answer. Be as creative as you like! 1) Fiat 2) Nestle 3) Red Bull

Use the discussion section below and let us know your thoughts. Once you’re happy with your contribution, click the “Mark as Complete” button to check the Step off, then you can move to the next step.