Chapter 2: Building Your Content Cat-alog: Defining Your Content Pillars
Let’s talk content strategy or as this cat likes to call it, building your content cat-alog. 😼 To grow an audience, you’ll want a mix of content that keeps people interested and coming back. For @smallbizmeow, I eventually narrowed my content into a few “pillars” (key themes) that my followers love. Here’s how you can develop yours:
1. Humor & Relatability (Laugh with Your Audience)
One pillar of my content is pure cat humor and relatable small biz jokes. Why? Because running a small business is tough, a daily rollercoaster and sometimes you just need a meme or pun to ease the stress. I posted about “the team of Small Biz Meow” – featuring a set of funny cat graphics wearing different hats like CEO, Head of Marketing, Head of Everything (because small business owners do it all).
It got a lot of love and comments because every small business owner gets it. Find the humor in your niche. If you can make your audience smile or say “that’s so true!” they’ll remember you. Don’t force jokes if that’s not your style but do share the light-hearted side of your journey. Authentic anecdotes or insider humor can create a bond with readers. This pillar is all about being human (or feline) and relatable.
2. Motivation & Inspiration (Serve the #Meowtivation)
Another big pillar for me is daily motivation or as I coin it, “Meowtivation of the Day.” These are encouraging snippets to keep my community’s spirits high. Posts like these taps into real feelings (impostor syndrome, burnout) but end with a hopeful twist. They tend to get saved and shared because who doesn’t love a boost of inspiration in their feed? For your pillars, consider adding an inspirational or educational angle: share quick tips, lessons learned, or quotes that resonate with your audience’s journey. Consistent motivational content can position you as a positive presence people look forward to seeing.
3. Engagement & Community (Interactive Posts)
This pillar is all about involving others. Some of my best growth moments came from interactive posts where the community takes the stage (more on those in the next section). Content like prompts, questions, polls, and shout-outs fall here. I regularly ask things like, “What’s your current small business goal?” or “If you could have a cat as your business assistant, which task would you delegate first?” These questions invite replies and make followers feel heard. When planning your content pillars, include posts that prompt a response or highlight your community members (like customer stories, Q&As, etc.). This fosters a sense of belonging, your page becomes their community, too.
4. Education & Value (Sharing Mews You Can Use)
Lastly, I mix in helpful content, what I like to call “marketing mews you didn’t know you needed.” These are little tips or insights related to small business marketing, drawn from my experience. For example, I created a simple graphic tying a business lesson to cat humor.
It’s valuable advice wrapped in a fun metaphor. Think about what knowledge you have that could help your audience. It could be how-to’s, industry hacks, or myth-busting posts. Share it in an easily digestible way (quick tips, short anecdotes, maybe an infographic). Providing value builds your credibility, people realize, “Hey, this cat (or person) knows their stuff!” and they’ll trust and follow you for more.
Your content pillars might differ, maybe you focus on product showcases, customer testimonials, or personal stories. Whatever they are, having 2-4 main themes will help you stay consistent while keeping variety. Followers will know you for those things (like my crew expects humor and #Meowtivation), yet you won’t be a one-note bore. Over time, as you experiment, you’ll sense which pillars resonate most. Double down on those but always leave room to improvise (this cat sure does).
Oh, and one more tip: repurpose and rotate. On Threads, conversation moves fast. Don’t hesitate to reuse a content idea in a new way. A story you told in a reply can become a standalone post. A tip you shared last month can be refreshed with a new example next month. With your pillars in place, you have a treasure chest of post ideas to keep pulling from.