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How to define your brand positioning and content pillars, with specific-to-vintage examples from a content expert
Let’s recap what we’ve already covered:
All of this information is what we use to define your “brand pillars” — a set of five parameters that guide your shop operations.
Brand pillars are the fundamental values and beliefs held by your shop. They articulate what your brand stands for, and help to guide both your own decision-making as a shop owner as well as the communications you put out into the world.
There are five common brand pillars:
Together, these five areas create a distinct voice for your brand and help your shop stand out in the crowded marketplace that is online reselling.
For an example and template of brand pillars in use from an antique shop, check out our template in the Vintage Sellers Community (access it here if you’re a Champion member, or upgrade your plan in your account dashboard).
In this article, we’re covering #5 on the brand pillar list — promotion. Promotion is a lot easier if you are guided by an overall marketing plan that contains “content pillars,” also known as cornerstone content.
Content pillars are the main topics, values and areas of expertise that inform the creation of your content (for social media, email marketing, website blogs, about me pages, etc.).
The work you’ve done in our other branding articles will make it far easier to come up with content pillars that make sense for your shop.
Sticking to content pillars when you develop communications for your shop ensures consistency and coherence in messaging, and helps you build authority and credibility over time.
Content pillars create a connection with your audience and customers. They come to know and trust you for your content on specific topics.
Content pillars also remove the guesswork and panic of random social media posting and sporadic emails, because they are a blueprint to what you should be talking about.
For example, if you’re torn about whether or not you should jump on the latest social media trend, try placing the idea under each one of your content pillars. If it doesn’t fit with any of your themes, take that as a sign not to bother with it. You have so limited time as a shop owner — spend it doing the things that are going to advance your business forward!
When businesses post random content on whatever springs to mind with no consistency in messaging or topics, it’s harder for customers/followers/visitors to understand what your brand, and therefore your shop, is really all about. Your brand voice gets lost.
Adhering to a few core themes helps you cut through the rest of what’s out there — think of it like niching down (more on that in our Finding New Customers series), but for your content.
You want to find the people who are going to really vibe with what you are putting out there so you can strengthen your connections with them and get them interested in what you are selling.
Consider including a mix of content topics for your content pillars:
That mix will speak to the customer at all points of the purchase journey:
Ask yourself:
Three to five content pillars is standard (and manageable!), but you may want up to eight or nine if you publish a lot of content.
Once each pillar is established (usually only a few words max), then brainstorm the types of content that could fit under them. The content could be for social media, website, email or any other kind of promotion, and across a range of mediums: blog, video, guides/how-tos, etc.
For example, for a shopkeeper specializing in antiques, primitives and historical objects, a content pillar and corresponding content ideas might be:
History 101
Social media
Email/promotional content
Your content pillars are not set in stone. As you see what types of content your customers/potential customers enjoy, you might get more content ideas or want to eliminate ones that didn’t work.
As your shop grows, you may want to swap one content pillar for another. Consistently using the overarching content pillars to create all of your content and promotions will strengthen your brand over time.
Continued below
Continued from above
Let’s go back to a couple of our previous examples.
Carlie sells vintage and thrifted decor. Her brand values are quality and excellence, honest and transparent communication, memorable moments and continuous learning. Let’s say she’s targeting women aged 25-50 and she also knows a lot about how buying secondhand can reduce the impact on the environment.
Her content pillars might be:
Eco-Conscious Living
Care + Craft
Style at Home
Celebrating Memorable Moments
Here’s another using our example of Henry who sells vintage clothing and streetwear. He does same-day delivery and offers style bundles. Let’s say his target market is men aged 25-35, he wants to help customers with styling and provide inspiration, and he wants his brand to be fun and engaging for his potential customers.
His content pillars might be:
Style Guru
Delivering Style
Starstruck
For an exercise on creating brand and content pillars for a vintage shop, head into the Vintage Sellers Community space (access it here (bottom of page) if you’re a Champion member, or upgrade your plan in your account dashboard).
Questions about brand pillars? Let us know in the comments!
