If you’re constantly stuck asking yourself “What should I post today?” you’re not alone. Most business owners and early-stage social media managers run into the same wall. Not because they lack ideas, but because they lack structure.
When your content doesn’t feel cohesive, when your voice sounds different every week, and when your audience still doesn’t really understand what you do, it’s usually not a creativity issue. It’s a clarity one.
That’s where content pillars and brand voice come in. These two foundational tools will change the way you approach content and eliminate the guesswork for good.
A content pillar is a category that helps organize your message so you can say the same thing in different ways. Often, people need to hear your message multiple times before it truly sticks. Content pillars make that possible by giving you different ways to deliver the same idea in a way that lands with more people.
This is one of the first steps we take during onboarding at our social media agency. We build a set of pillars based on your business goals and the level of awareness your audience has. Right now, for Monark Wild Rice, we’re focused on education and discovery. That means our content centers around education, belief shifting, entertaining content, storytelling, and trending formats. These themes help introduce the product in a way that feels familiar, approachable, and fun for people who may never have cooked with wild rice before.
As the brand grows and the audience becomes more familiar, the strategy will shift. We’ll introduce content focused on social proof, selling, and community building. That’s when you’ll start to see us talk more about events, promotions, and the lifestyle side of the brand. This transition is something we plan for and revisit often based on data and feedback.
We don’t believe in a magic number of pillars. The right amount depends on the complexity of the message and how much room we have to explore. When a product is unfamiliar or misunderstood, we often start with fewer pillars to keep the message clear. When the product is simple and the audience is already on board, we might use more variety to keep things exciting.
Content pillars are primarily an internal tool. While clients are welcome to review them, most rely on us to implement the strategy. For our team, the pillars serve as a guide for what to create and why, so we can consistently post content that aligns with the brand’s goals and feels intentional across every platform.
If content pillars tell you what to say, your brand voice tells you how to say it.
At Monarch, we define voice using a tone scale during onboarding. We ask where your brand falls on a spectrum between playful and serious, casual and formal, inclusive and sarcastic. This helps us make informed decisions about the tone, language, and attitude your brand should have based on the audience you’re trying to reach.
For Monark Wild Rice, the brand voice is casual, fun, and just a little sassy. We want the content to feel like a conversation with your cool aunt in the kitchen. She knows her way around a stovetop, has strong opinions about cooking rice properly, and will absolutely teach you something new without making you feel dumb for asking.
That tone was a strategic choice. Since wild rice isn’t widely understood, we knew we’d be handling a lot of misconceptions and pushback. The voice needed to be confident, educational, and a little spicy in order to make people pause and listen. It also needed to be warm and encouraging so it didn’t come off as arrogant or unapproachable.
Here’s an example. In one of our recipe videos, we used canned corn instead of fresh. That wasn’t a shortcut, it was a brand voice decision. We knew our audience included busy people who cook for real life, not for Instagram. Using canned corn helped signal that Monark is here for the home cook who wants something healthy and hearty without extra prep time. It wasn’t the most aesthetic choice, but it was the most relatable one.
Another place voice shows up is in how we handle criticism or misinformation. For example, some people have commented that Monark’s rice can’t be “real” wild rice because it hasn’t been scraped (scarified). Our response doesn’t bend to agree. Instead, we explain that they’re thinking of scarified wild rice, which cooks faster but loses some of its nutritional value and chewy texture. Monark offers whole grain wild rice because it’s better quality and a more authentic eating experience. We say it plainly, but with confidence and clarity. That’s voice in action.
There are two common mistakes we see. The first is founders relying too heavily on generic AI content, especially when it hasn’t been tailored to fit their brand. We’ve been using AI tools internally for well over two years, and we can spot an unedited, free-version output immediately. It usually lacks specificity and doesn’t reflect any actual strategic thinking about the audience or brand.
The second mistake is skipping the voice altogether. If your website, social media, email campaigns, and packaging all sound different, you’re going to confuse your audience. And if people don’t know who you are or what you stand for, they’re not going to stick around.
Voice isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s the thread that ties every piece of content together. Without it, consistency falls apart.
The relationship between content pillars and voice is simple. Your pillars help you decide what to say. Your voice helps you decide how to say it. Together, they give your team a clear direction, reduce creative overwhelm, and make your brand instantly more recognizable.
This is the core of strategic content. It allows you to show up with intention and clarity, rather than just posting because you feel like you have to. It also makes your social media process easier to manage, whether you’re handling it in-house or working with a team like ours.
If you’re someone who’s waiting for everything to be perfectly defined before you post, here’s your reminder that social media isn’t about getting it right the first time. It’s about testing, learning, and improving as you go. Progress is more important than polish.
Good strategy helps you stay consistent, but the best way to improve is still through action. You don’t need a flawless voice guide or the perfect set of content pillars to begin. You just need to start, pay attention to what works, and stay open to refining over time.
This post is part of our ongoing Build a Brand With Us series, where we walk through the real-world strategy behind building Monark Wild Rice into a recognizable brand online. If you found this helpful, you’ll love the other posts in the series.
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