Better #40

Hello friend,

Two years. That’s how long I’ve been writing this newsletter.

The first edition went out on 3 August 2023 - a short interview with my friend (and former colleague) Simone.

It went to 54 people, and 44 of them opened it. (Honestly, if you’re not even going to open the first one, then why sign up at all? 🤷)

Since then, I’ve sent 39 more editions (including this one). There are now 650+ subscribers, and open rates sit between 50–70%.

Like everything I do, there’s no virality. No overnight success. Just a steady, deliberate process that relies on consistency and discipline. That might sound painfully slow to some. But to me, it’s quietly inspiring.

Because if you keep turning up, keep trying to say something useful, and keep showing a little care in how you do it … then it adds up over time. Slowly, sure, but surely as well.

That may not be the kind of progress or results the LinkedIn gurus talk about - but it’s real. And I’m pretty proud of it.

Cheers 👋
Seamus Boyer

Recently, I’ve had a few surprising conversations about content pillars - surprising because they made me realise that pillars might be less understood (or more mistrusted?) than I thought.

It feels like they’ve either fallen out of use, or been used badly enough to give them a bad name.

Either way, I reckon that’s a missed opportunity - because when done well, content pillars can bring clarity, focus, and long-term storytelling structure to your social media.

Here’s how I think about pillars, and why I reckon they’re bloody useful.

👇

Firstly, what even is a content pillar?

I like the definition from Social Insider I found:

“Content pillars are the strategic themes or topics that serve as the foundation of your social media content strategy. Think of them as the main categories that align with your brand’s values, goals, and audience interests.”

That works pretty well IMO. But I also think there’s more to it.

I think of content pillars as representing the overall story you want to tell on social media - the identity you want people to associate with you most after seeing a handful of posts across a period of time. Not the individual things you say, but the lasting themes you leave behind.

They don’t need to map 1-to-1 with your organisational priorities. In fact, they probably all shouldn’t. Social media can do things other channels can’t - like showing personality, starting conversations, or inviting participation. So your pillars can also reflect what social media is uniquely good at.

For example, let’s say one of your pillars is based around “engagement”. That’s not necessarily an organisational goal, but it’s a smart strategic use of the medium. It gives your team a reason to post questions, run polls, and deliberately invite dialogue. Which in turn helps to formally rebalance the way you’re using social media.

Pillars can also be responses to specific problems or challenges your organisation is facing. If you are often accused of being distant, faceless, and out-of-touch, a people-based pillar may help to humanise you.

And at the very least you’d be addressing the issue head on…

Pillar content is separate to news and updates

Not all content is created equal.

Reactive posts tend to be driven by internal workflows or sudden opportunities. And campaign content is tied to time-bound objectives - usually linked to a service or event.

But pillar content is different. It’s proactive. It provides a long-term structure for telling consistent, audience-focused stories - regardless of what’s happening in a specific week. It’s your strategic backbone, and shouldn’t be used to shoehorn news and BAU updates into your social feed.

Think of your content as three types:

• Reactive: Responding to internal or external requests.

• Campaign-based: Temporary pushes with a clear goal and start/end date.

• Pillar content: Ongoing, deliberate storytelling aligned with your purpose, identity, and audience needs.

I reckon pillar content is the most powerful of the three - but only if you take it seriously. It gives your channels structure and coherence. Done well, it lets you zoom out and say:

“Over the course of the year, here’s what we’re actually showing people about who we are, what we value, and what kind of relationship we want to have with them.”

For this reason, the best pillar content is also able to be batch created. You should be able - if you needed or wanted to - go out next week and make 3-4 posts aligned with a specific pillar.

Which is powerful in itself.

The more specific the pillar, the better

Vague, generic pillars can be worse than no pillars.

Which is why it makes absolutely no sense when Hootsuite recommends the same four pillars for every brand:

“Variety is key to keeping your audience interested and engaged,” they write in a blog post.

“Different post types can achieve different goals, so we recommend planning content according to four content pillars: educate, entertain, inspire, and promote.”

Don’t follow this advice.

These feel like content modes, not strategic themes, and they’re certainly not enough to guide a distinctive long-term story.

Instead, design for your context and your audience. Bring as much specificity as you can - because that’s what brings clarity.

The pillar name doesn’t necessarily matter - “Community” or “Our Work” can be fine - but make sure you define the purpose or intent behind them.

For example, if you have a pillar around “Helping people get more from our facilities”, it instantly suggests practical, audience-first content. It gives your team a way to brainstorm around that shared purpose.

Here’s how vague themes can become sharper when you refine the intent:

• People → Staff → Showing our team’s expertise in ways that build trust

• Services → Popular services → Helping people use our top services more easily and confidently

• Our work → Projects in progress → Highlighting what we’re working on (regardless of milestones) and why that work matters

Each step narrows the focus - and makes the content easier to plan, more meaningful to the audience, and more strategic for your organisation.

Align your pillars with a specific format

This is something I learned the hard way - after wrestling with pillars that sounded great on paper but never quite translated into repeatable content.

Because the whole point of pillars is to focus your efforts, it helps to operationalise them. One simple way to do that? Pair each pillar with a default format or formats.

What do I mean by format? Something like:

• ‘How-to’ videos

• Explainers

• Vox pops

• Memes

• BTS or ‘come-with-me’ tours

• Interviews

• Listicles

• Before and after images

If your pillar has a go-to format (something that looks like social media), it can speed up production and help set audience expectations. You’re not reinventing the wheel every time - you’re gradually refining a formula.

If your pillar is about “Getting more from our services”, maybe the format is:

A monthly how-to reel featuring a service most people underuse, with a staff member walking through practical tips.

Over time, these can become signature formats your audience comes to recognise and trust - and that your team can produce more efficiently.

Use your pillars to help triage content requests

Here’s where it gets fun.

Pillars aren’t just a planning tool - they can be a shield and a filter. They help you say no without actually saying no.

This is a gamechanger, as suddenly internal content requests can become opportunities to feed your strategy.

Let’s say someone wants a post about a low-attendance event or minor policy change. It probably won’t make the cut as a standalone post. But if they can connect you with a compelling human story - say, a local artist involved in the project, or a staff member passionate about the change - you can fold that into your people or profile-based pillar.

They get their moment, and you get something that fits your narrative.

Win-win.

(BTW you can check out more about triaging content requests here.)

But a word of caution: don’t force it. If you’re constantly stretching your pillars to accommodate iffy cases, something’s off. Either the request doesn’t belong on social or your pillar needs refining.

The bonus? This approach helps educate your internal stakeholders. Over time, they’ll start framing their requests through your strategic lens, rather than dumping everything into the “news and updates” pile. It changes the conversation from “Can you post this?” to “Where might this fit in your strategy?”

That’s when you know your pillars are working.

Content pillars aren’t for life

Sometimes a pillar will run its course. Other times, you'll need to temporarily swap one out to respond to the moment. That’s not a failure. That’s good strategy.

Take elections, for example.

In the lead-up to election day, you might pause one of your regular pillars and introduce a temporary one focused on participation and candidate information. Then, after the election, keep that pillar running for a few months to cover induction, new councillors or ministers, new committees etc. Once things settle - say, three months in - you can switch back to your usual setup.

Think of it like rotating your crops: changing what you grow based on the season and conditions to help your patch/strategy stay healthy.

In general, I think it’s good practice to formally review your content pillars every 12 months. Use that time to ask:

• Are these still the stories we need to tell most?

• Are they resonating with our audience?

• Are they helping us consistently deliver value?

But don’t judge too quickly. Make sure each pillar has had a decent run at execution and iteration - with enough content published to learn from. If you’ve given it a fair shot and it still isn’t clicking, it might be time to retire it and try something more relevant.

So, who’s doing content pillars well?

Personally, I think if it’s obvious what some or all of your pillars are without needing to ask, that’s a good sign.

When I think of clear pillars in the public sector, I think of organisations like NZ Police, with their 1) core safety messages (don’t drink, don’t speed, wear a seatbelt), 2) recruitment/graduation, 3) collated major arrests and other wins, plus 4) engagement fodder (Friday Floof etc).

I don’t know if those are the exact pillars but I reckon they’re probably close (and have a good balance to them).

That’s all for today.

Thanks for reading. If you feel so inclined, please forward this email onto someone you think might benefit from it (that helps me heaps!).

And let me know what you thought of today’s edition. Did it land? What fell short?

Just hit reply to this email - I absolutely love hearing from you.

See you soon! 👋