Do you ever feel overwhelmed by how to utilize Instagram properly? Each day you wake up and are unsure if that day’s post should be a video, a caption, or what feels like an irrelevant image of you… And your account is nothing but a mash-up of all things from one day to another! What works to make my Instagram recognizable?
Pillars are content categories that are used on Instagram, and having 3-5 clearly defined pillars makes content easier to organise. These pillars provide you with themes around which you can build your content strategy, assist your audience in gaining a better understanding of why people follow you, and allow you to plan, rather than just wondering on any given day what you should post today.
If you’re looking to streamline your strategy and make your Instagram more impactful, Planyourgram genuinely enhances your business reach, making your brand more accessible and appealing to a broader audience. This is particularly useful when you’re struggling with the “what to post” dilemma.
There are 8 fundamental pillars of Instagram that all users can use to guide their own content creation. This blog will present examples and tips on how you can use these 8 pillars to create a comprehensive Instagram strategy that will allow you to engage with your audience at a high level without getting burnt out in the process.
What Are 8 Instagram Content Pillars and Why Do They Help Increase Engagement?
Instagram pillars define your account’s content style. Each pillar represents a different topic that relates directly to your audience, since they contain different aspects of your business or your skills. Your audiences gain familiarity, ease of use, and recognizability by repeatedly using the same topic for each pillar, thus creating cohesion between your profile’s overall visual appearance and your profile’s content. This is especially important for creators of all kinds on Instagram.
Pillars are also beneficial when it comes to achieving results with Instagram. When your theme, or topic, is known and established, people have a clear understanding of what to expect and an appreciation of why they should follow you.
How To Simplify Your Instagram Strategy With Content Pillars
When you have 3-5 content pillars, this makes it easier to know what and when to post each day. You won’t need to worry about posting about every single topic under the sun; your content ideas will come from a handful of key topics that your business focuses on.
An example would be a fitness coach in your area. Their 4 content pillars may look something like this:
1) Education (how-to tips for form, workout ideas)
2) Behind the Scenes (videos/photos of client sessions or the coach preparing for their clients’ workouts)
3) Social Proof (client successes and client reviews)
4) Promotion (openings for new programs, challenges)
By rotating their posts through those 4 content pillars each week, the fitness coach is able to create content that feels coherent and well thought out, and they will always have ideas ready to go because they are drawing from the same small set of topics.
How Clear Pillars Help the Instagram Algorithm Find Your Ideal Audience
For Instagram to recommend your account to those users who would be a good match for your content, Instagram must have enough information to identify what your page is about before it can recommend it. The more you post with the same themes, keywords, and types of posts, the easier it becomes for Instagram to determine the pattern within your posts.
Highly focused accounts tend to receive:
- An increased amount of saved posts (because your content speaks to a clear need),
- A larger share count (because people know who within their network would be interested in your content),
- An increase in comment activity (because the topics are relevant),
- An increase in profile views (because the feed appears cohesive).
These behaviours let Instagram know that people find your content to be of value. Over time, your content will naturally reach a wider audience, who follow similar accounts or search for content similar to yours, and as such, you will be able to use your clear pillars to find a smaller and more interested audience to view your content, rather than just looking to have bigger numbers.
8 fundamental Instagram content pillars that generate high engagement
You won’t be using all 8 pillars simultaneously, so select the best pillars that align with your brand and rotate through those pillars each week.
Educational and How-To Posts are Content that Provide Solutions
The educational how-to posts provide your audience with solutions in the form of tips or step-by-step guides, or quick lessons. The key to these types of posts is to be relevant to what your audience is searching for, which are solutions to problems.
The format of this pillar that works best for these types of posts is “3 tips” carousels, “do this vs do that” Reels, or “before vs after” tutorials. In your captions, include a hook that articulates the type of problem that is addressed in the content, then present a clear, simple step-by-step guide.
Keep your content brief and avoid exaggeration, and use bullet points when needed. Wrap up with a CTA (call to action) such as “Save this for later” or “Try this this week.”
Behind The Scenes Content Builds Trust and Human Connections
Behind-the-scenes content shows how things are done behind the scenes and helps to humanise your brand and show the ‘realness’ of it, as opposed to the brand just being a logo or a faceless company.
There are many ways to create content for this pillar, such as:
- “Day in the Life” Reels
- Packing Orders
- Sketches and designs
- Planning Content
- Bloopers
Stories work great for the behind-the-scenes pillar as they are easy to create and feel authentic. Use short captions that explain what you are showing and why it matters. A short line, such as “Here is how we pack your orders,” is a great way to pull people closer to your business and process.
User-Generated Content (UGC) and Social Proof to Establish Credibility
UGC is a form of content generated by customers, fans, or community members associated with your business. Some examples of UGC include reviews, tagged photos, unboxing videos, and duets.
This form of user-generated content has a high level of trustworthiness because people trust one another more than advertisements. When you post about the product/service you created/bought, it will likely encourage your followers to purchase from you because they see other followers experiencing and enjoying your product/service.
Tagging users in your posts and requesting permission to do so is a common practice and is an easy way to build credibility for your brand through UGC.
Stories Create a Deep Connection with Your Audience
Stories allow your audience to connect with you on a much deeper emotional level than any advertisement could. Longer captions will hold the reader’s attention longer and encourage them to comment.
Stories can include “then vs. now” concepts, “what I would tell my younger self”, or “the mistake that changed everything for me”. You can also detail your successes, challenges, and what you learned from those experiences. Avoid jargon and use simple, honest language. To encourage comments, consider asking a question at the end, such as, “How have you related to this situation?” or “What did you learn from a similar experience?”
Entertaining, Relatable Experience that Creates, Saves, and Shares
One of the many reasons people utilize Instagram is for fun. Light-hearted, entertaining content has the potential to reach a lot of people quickly when it captures an audience’s daily experiences or emotions.
This can be achieved in a variety of ways, including memes, trending content, and “you vs. me” style posts that align with the brand’s voice. Reels and simple graphic-style posts are excellent platforms for this type of content. Note that the majority of Instagram users watch the majority of their posts with the volume off, so clear on-screen text is essential.
Creation of Content that Illustrates Consideration as an Expert
Authority Content confirms your knowledge related to a subject matter. With Authority Content, you become the trusted guide or source as opposed to just another user or account.
Mini case studies, quick audits, well-thought-out opinions that are respectful but firm, or “hot takes” — for example, on commonly held beliefs. Breaking down emerging trends, reviewing tools, or sharing information learned from a client project are all ways to provide Authority Content.
You can add a statement about what you learned in the caption (make sure to include a few clear sentences explaining your reasoning), then ask people for their perspective. Many of these types of posts also lead to DM messages and deeper conversations regarding sales.
Building a Community: Creating Community and Engagement Posts That Encourage Two-Way Conversation
Community and engagement posts are designed as a means of creating a channel for Two-Way Conversations. They are not only about Reach; they are meant to elicit Responses as well.
Community Building Posts: These types of posts will include Polls, “This or That” Graphics, Open Questions, and Prompts for Comments that relate to your Niche(s). You can use Question and Poll Stickers on your Stories. For Posts within your Feed, create simple Direct Prompts.
Examples include: “Which Do You Choose: A or B? or “What is Your Biggest Challenge with X?” Be sure to use this opportunity to engage and respond to those who comment on your posts so they know you Are Paying Attention and Listening.
Promoting Your Business with Promotional and Offer Posts That Convert Followers to Buyers
Since the primary reason you are on Instagram is to Promote Your Brand or Business, Promotion is the primary focus of Promotional and Offer Posts. Promotional and Offer posts act as the Bridge between Attention and Action.
All Promotional and Offer posts should grip your Followers’ Attention by Telling Them What an Upcoming Launch is, When It Will Be Available, What The Unique Attributes of The Product Are, And What Client Service Options Are Available For That Product or Service.
Always Be Assertive But DON’T PUSH! It Is Also Very Important To Identify Your Intended Audience for Your Offer, How To Take Action on Your Offer, And That You Finish With A Clear Call To Action (e.g., Click the Link In Bio To Get Started or DM Me The Word…).
Instagram: How To Use 8 Content Pillars to Build Your Content Strategy Each Week
Three to four posts each week are more than enough for you to see positive results on Instagram. Posts created around content pillars and a clear posting strategy will provide you with the opportunity to post to your desired audience and reach your goals effectively.
Pick Your Top 3 to 5 Pillars Based on Goals and Capacity
Your decision should be based on your overall Instagram strategy, audience needs/likes, your goals, and the amount of time you have available for Instagram. Once you have chosen your pillars, create a weekly planning document that will allow you to post your 3 to 5 selected content pillars on Instagram for at least one month.
Next, determine your current primary goal for Instagram. Your primary goal could be either:
- Reach – Increase awareness and expand the number of people who see your Instagram post
- Lead Generation – Generate sales leads or email subscribers from your Instagram account
- Sales – Convert your warm followers to customers
- Community Building – Build a loyal community of followers on Instagram
- Once you know your present goal for Instagram, select content pillars that align with that goal.
For example, if your primary goal is to generate leads, you would consider using the following four content pillars for your lead generation strategy: Education, Authority, Social Proof, and Community Engagement.
Finally, evaluate how many times a week you can realistically post on Instagram. Establish a posting schedule based on this data. As time goes on, be sure to evaluate the effectiveness of the content pillars that you’ve chosen by tracking engagement metrics like the number of saves, shares, profile visits, Direct Messages, and so on, for your Instagram content. Over time, you can continue to keep the pillars that generate high levels of engagement and eliminate or adjust those that generate low levels of engagement.
Turn Your Instagram Content Pillars Into a Simple Weekly Plan
If you are a small brand and want to create a weekly content calendar for posting on Instagram four days per week, this is an example of how you can structure your posts.
| Day | Content Pillar | Type of Example Post |
| Monday | Education | Carousel how to’s |
| Wednesday | Behind the Scenes | Stories/Reels Clips |
| Friday | Community/Engagement | Question or Poll |
| Sunday | Promotional/Authority | Offers or Mini Case Studies |
Along with the above, I recommend creating a list of topics for each content pillar and saving them in a notes app. Be sure to keep track of your most successful post ideas and use them in future posts on Reels, Stories, and Carousels as needed. The goal is to keep things as fun and straightforward as possible so you can easily replicate this process month after month.
Conclusion
Using content pillars gives you clear direction on what you should be posting on Instagram and helps you build a more engaged audience. Instagram content pillars provide you with a way to plan your content strategically. By rotating through a small collection of themes that align with your goals, you’ll eliminate the guesswork of coming up with new ideas every time you want to post.
Choose the 3 to 5 content pillars that are most relevant to your business based on the 8 pillars provided in this guide and start experimenting over the next 30 days! Pay attention to which types of posts generate the highest number of Saves, Shares, and DMs and adjust your approach accordingly. Create a list of your Instagram content pillars today and begin planning your content for the upcoming week.