📝 The Weekly Scroll: Revisiting my content pillars

Starting from scratch

Hey y’all,

In the wake of completing my sprint to 5,000 followers on Instagram, which didn’t have the results I wanted but was a worthwhile pursuit nonetheless, I came to quite a few realizations.

The past week has been like waking up out of a long sleep with a clear head about what I want my content to look like and where I want it to go.

Part of this journey is revisiting my content pillars. I started this exercise earlier in the year, around March, but never got around to honing in on

For me, content pillars are direction. Much-needed direction.

I have a lot of interests, and without something prompting my push for social media growth beyond personal desire and topics for the Buffer blog, I often find myself adrift when it comes to content.

I can go long stretches without feeling like I have anything to post, and then suddenly wake up with a fire underneath me and tons of content ideas.

As a relatively experienced creator, however, I just don’t find this sustainable. And content pillars have historically been my preferred solution. So here’s what I’m doing to rebuild mine for this era.

1/ Clearing the board

I’m not starting from my old pillars. They’re not the problem and would probably still perform, but every time I’ve tried to “revisit” them, I end up feeling stuck.

Back in March, I drafted four themes and wanted to use them as pillars:

1. “The life you build is only as interesting as the things you let in.”

2. “Your output can only be as interesting as what you’re feeding it.”

3. “Design your attention.”

4. “Not everything that catches your eye deserves a place in your collection.”

I still agree with the sentiment behind each statement, but they feel pretty vague and airy to me now, which probably says a lot about how useful they would have been. I need pillars with good bones without leaning on more trusty terms like “content strategy” or “productivity”.

So this rebuild starts from a blank page, and anything from the old set has to earn its spot like a new idea would.

2/ Experimenting

Instead of picking pillars in a doc and hoping I stick to them, I’m trying out different topics this month and noting what I keep wanting to make and what my audience keeps responding to.

While I still have a lot of work to do, the early results are already surprising me. Two of the best-performing videos on my personal accounts lately are about the evolution of my taste in music and my deep dive into photography.

They’re not productivity- or career-focused content, but they don’t quite fit my more recent attempt at changing my pillars. I’m excited to figure out where they go.

3/ Finding the LinkedIn-crossover

Whatever comes out of this exercise has to have decent crossover with LinkedIn, where I have my largest audience and my content skews more serious. A theme that only works in a 15-second reel is an Instagram bit, not a pillar.

But I’m running the test in reverse too: I’ve started posting some of my more lifestyle-leaning content on LinkedIn to see how it performs. If my photography content can find footing on LinkedIn, the crossover problem gets a lot smaller. If it can’t, better to find out now, mid-experiment, than after I’ve written a pillar into the doc.

Either way, the new set of pillars has to leave room for work and play equally.

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ORGANIZE YOUR IDEAS IN BUFFER USING TAGS

Whenever I make my final decision on pillars, I’ll add them to Buffer as tags, as I always do. It’s a simple but fulfilling way to keep your ideas organized. I’ve always used this method, and I can’t recommend it enough. Get started with Buffer and set up tags of your own.

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WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO GIVE YOU: A TRMNL GIVEAWAY

On Monday, July 13, we’re kicking off a giveaway with TRMNL over on Buffer’s LinkedIn.

One of our engineers built something great with the Buffer API on a TRMNL e-ink display, and we’re giving away four devices (plus Buffer swag for two runners-up).

Entry happens right on the post: tell us what you’d want to see on your TRMNL at a glance, or what you’d build with the API. It will run through July 20, and I’d love to see subscribers get on it! Keep an eye on our LinkedIn for the post on July 13.

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WHAT’S IN MY SCROLL?

The movies have never been better, and I’m all in at the moment (I’m especially excited to see The Odyssey and Dune 3!). Maybe that’s why I have video and video editing on the brain.

I’m really trying to up the quality of my visual content this year between looking into hiring an editor, practicing myself and investing in gear. So. Much. Gear.

I’ve been watching lots of “how I edit” videos and I especially love this one from Linh Truong.

And then, I’m fascinated by The Kumar Method, an account that’s been going super, mega viral. I’ve been watching the videos religiously to try to figure out what on earth is going on.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s one video to get you started and scrolling through the weekend.

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That’s it from me.

Until next week,

Tami

Sr. Content Creator