Three Content Pillars
Own three recurring themes that shape how customers remember your brand
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 99%
The Three Content Pillars framework starts with the reputation a business wants to own and reduces that position to three recurring themes. These themes become filters for deciding what to publish and anchors that connect otherwise varied posts. Jasmine Star's examples were brand building, social-media marketing, and the belief that impossibilities can become possibilities. Repeated coverage should eventually lead customers to describe the brand using equivalent language. The mechanism is focused association: by consistently returning to a small set of strategically chosen ideas, the business makes its expertise and worldview easier to remember. The pillars do not require every post to look identical; instead, each piece should interweave one or more themes back into the brand's intended market position.
Origin
Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show during a rapid-fire discussion about the goal behind a business's social-media story.
Core principles
- 01Focused repetition builds brand association
- 02Every pillar should support the desired market position
- 03A small number of themes improves creative consistency
- 04Different posts should interweave back into the same strategic ideas
How to run it
- 1
Choose the desired reputation
Write the phrases you want customers to use when describing what the brand teaches, provides, or represents.
Pro tip Use customer-facing language rather than internal departmental terms.
Watch out Do not select attributes that the business cannot credibly demonstrate.
- 2
Select three themes
Reduce the desired reputation to three distinct content pillars that are broad enough to sustain recurring publication.
Pro tip Combine expertise, customer outcomes, and a meaningful worldview when appropriate.
Watch out Too many pillars dilute recognition and recreate the original lack of focus.
- 3
Define each pillar's territory
List the subjects, questions, stories, and formats that belong under each theme.
Pro tip Document overlaps so posts can connect pillars naturally.
Watch out Avoid pillars so broad that virtually any content could qualify.
- 4
Build the publishing mix
Plan content that revisits all three themes consistently across the chosen channels.
Pro tip Track pillar coverage in the editorial calendar.
Watch out Do not let the easiest pillar crowd out the other two.
- 5
Interweave every post
Connect each social post back to at least one pillar and, where natural, reinforce a second.
Pro tip Use stories and examples to vary the expression while retaining the underlying message.
Watch out Forced references can make content repetitive or unnatural.
- 6
Test brand recall
Review comments, DMs, testimonials, and customer descriptions to see whether the intended associations are appearing.
Pro tip Ask selected customers what they believe the brand is known for.
Watch out Do not evaluate positioning from publication volume alone.
In the wild
Jasmine identifies brand building, social-media marketing, and transforming perceived impossibilities into possibilities as her three themes. She intends repeated content to make customers describe her as someone who helps build brands, teaches social visibility, and empowers persistence.
→ Different posts reinforce a coherent and memorable market position.
A candle brand selects home rituals, transparent handcraft, and scent-led memory as its pillars. Product launches, basement pouring footage, customer stories, and scent-selection tips all map back to those themes.
→ The feed remains varied while steadily building recognizable brand associations.
Common mistakes
Choosing unrelated themes
Three topics that do not support one coherent position create variety without strengthening brand recall.
Changing pillars too frequently
Brand associations need repetition, so constant reinvention prevents the market from learning what the business represents.
Treating pillars as rigid formats
Pillars define strategic themes, not one mandatory media format or repetitive caption template.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for businesses that publish regularly but want stronger message discipline and customer recall.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for short-lived campaigns that do not need a durable brand position.
From the transcript
“choosing three pillars of content.”
“Choose your three pillars of content no matter what you sell.”
“And always find a way to interweave that back into what it is that you're talking about on social.”
From the episode
Using Instagram to Sell Your Products (on a $12 budget!)