Content Pillars Grounded in Experience
Content pillars. Quite possibly the most boring/useful part of a brand.
But I have a theory that might make this a little more interesting.
Some of the best material for your personal brand might be something you've been complaining about for twenty years.
You know that thing in your profession that makes you absolutely crazy? The thing you cannot believe people are still doing, despite the fact that you've explained, repeatedly and to anyone unfortunate enough to be standing nearby, why it doesn't work?
I'd like to hear about that.
Because somewhere in the history of that particular grievance, you may have developed an understanding of something that would be extraordinarily valuable to other people.
And that's the sort of thing I'm looking for when I develop content pillars for the Signal Report.
Where content pillars come from
Give me two people with identical résumés, and I could very well develop two entirely different content strategies for them.
Imagine two recruiters who have spent fifteen years working in the same industry. One has become fascinated by why exceptionally qualified candidates get overlooked. The other has spent years observing how companies make hiring decisions that ultimately cost them money.
They've spent fifteen years doing essentially the same work, but they've been paying attention to entirely different things.
Now, if either of them were to look up content ideas for recruiters, they would probably encounter the same recommendations. Write about résumés, interview preparation and how to find a job.
And there is certainly an audience for that information.
But I would much rather hear from the recruiter who has spent fifteen years trying to understand why some of the most capable people never make it past the first interview.
What has she noticed? Has she developed a different way of evaluating candidates? Has she ever watched a company pass over someone she knew would have been extraordinary in the position?
There's a body of knowledge there that deserves considerably more attention than another article about how to format a résumé.
The other recruiter might have an equally fascinating perspective on the economics of hiring. Imagine what a business owner could learn from someone who has spent fifteen years observing the financial consequences of poor recruitment decisions.
Both have the potential to build compelling brands within the same profession, and their content could have very little in common.
The advantage of having lived it
One of the things experience gives us is judgment.
Spend enough time doing something and you begin to recognize things that someone new to the work simply can't see yet. You develop an understanding of why certain approaches work under particular circumstances and fail miserably under others.
And sometimes you develop rather strong opinions about the whole affair.
I'm interested in those opinions, particularly when someone can explain how they arrived at them.
There is a considerable difference between someone who has read about a problem and someone who has spent years trying to solve it.
The latter can often tell you something that makes you reconsider your entire understanding of the subject.
That's valuable content.
When I'm developing a Signal Report, I examine the individual's experience for evidence of that kind of understanding. Sometimes it emerges from a professional accomplishment. Sometimes it comes from something that went spectacularly wrong and took them years to understand.
And sometimes it's buried in a story they tell me about a former employer who drove them absolutely mad.
You never quite know where you're going to find it.
Which is one of the reasons I enjoy this work so much.
Where the research comes in
Of course, being extraordinarily knowledgeable about something doesn't necessarily mean there is a substantial audience for it.
This is where the market research becomes important.
By the time I develop the content pillars for a Signal Report, I've already investigated the individual's background and examined where their particular knowledge and abilities might have commercial value.
I want to understand what conversations are already taking place around their areas of expertise and whether there is something meaningful they could contribute.
Perhaps the recruiter who is fascinated by overlooked candidates discovers that there is a considerable amount of advice available to job seekers about presenting themselves more effectively, but considerably less discussion about how employers might improve their ability to recognize talent in the first place.
That would be an interesting distinction to investigate.
It could also change who she writes for.
She may have initially imagined building an audience of people looking for jobs. The research might reveal a more compelling opportunity to develop content for the people responsible for hiring them.
That has implications for the entire business she could build.
And this is why I develop content pillars as part of the broader brand strategy. The subjects someone becomes known for should have a meaningful relationship to the work they want to do and the people they want to reach.
Something worth talking about
I think one of the reasons people struggle so much with content creation is that they begin with the obligation to publish.
They need something for LinkedIn on Tuesday. They haven't posted on Instagram in a week. Someone has informed them that they ought to be making videos.
Before long, they're spending considerable amounts of time trying to come up with things to say.
I understand this problem rather intimately, having managed to build an entire business around research and discovery while periodically finding myself staring at a content calendar wondering what on earth I'm supposed to post.
The irony has not escaped me.
But I've noticed something about my own work.
When I'm genuinely interested in understanding something, I have absolutely no difficulty finding things to talk about. In fact, the greater challenge is usually getting me to stop talking about it.
And I suspect the same is true for a great many people.
Give that recruiter a new study about hiring practices and she may have an entirely different interpretation of its findings than someone who has never worked in recruitment. Tell her about a company struggling to find qualified candidates and she might immediately recognize something about the situation that everyone else has overlooked.
Her content can develop quite naturally from the things she's already interested in understanding.
Over time, that body of work becomes a rather remarkable demonstration of her expertise. People can see how she thinks because she's been sharing what she's discovered.
And when someone needs help with a problem she's spent years investigating, they already have a fairly good understanding of why they might want to work with her.
What this means for your Signal Report
The content pillars in your Signal Report are developed from the research into who you are and where your experience has particular value in the market.
They give you a clear direction for developing a body of work that is recognizably yours.
More importantly, they give you something worth exploring. Your content can become an ongoing investigation into subjects you have a genuine reason to care about, with the potential to attract people who value your understanding of them.
And you may discover that some of your most promising material has been sitting right under your nose for years.
Possibly in the form of a complaint you've been making at dinner parties since 2006.
I'd be very interested to hear it.
Inside the Signal Report is an ongoing series examining the research and reasoning behind the work of Slate & Signal, a research based brand studio.