Pillar Analysis

Analyzes a single content pillar (campaign) across all platforms and available time periods. Answers: "How is this pillar performing? Where does it work best? What should we do differently?"

Trigger

User says: "analyze [pillar]", "how is Stay Gold doing?", "pillar deep dive on Money Talks", "pillar analysis", or any request focused on a specific content pillar.

Step 0: Load Knowledge

1. knowledge/metric-glossary.md — ER formulas, benchmarks
2. knowledge/platform-behavior.md — Why a pillar may perform differently per platform
3. knowledge/engagement-taxonomy.md — Behavioral signal interpretation
4. knowledge/format-playbook.md — Format-to-pillar strategy mapping (has recommended formats per pillar)

Also load the pillar's strategic context: 5. Check docs/synchrony/q2-2026-pillar-goals.md for the client's stated direction for this pillar 6. Check docs/synchrony/signals/corrections.md for any corrections related to this pillar 7. Check docs/synchrony/signals/wins.md for any wins related to this pillar

Step 1: Identify the Pillar

1. Map the user's input to a canonical campaign slug from the campaigns table
2. If ambiguous, query all campaigns and present options
3. Pull the campaign record:

sql
1SELECT * FROM campaigns WHERE slug = $1;

Step 2: Pull All Data for This Pillar

2a. All posts ever published for this pillar

sql
1SELECT p.*, rp.name as period_name, rp.start_date, rp.end_date
2FROM posts p
3JOIN reporting_periods rp ON p.reporting_period_id = rp.id
4WHERE p.campaign_id = $1
5ORDER BY p.platform, p.published_at;

2b. Campaign period summaries across all periods and platforms

sql
1SELECT cps.*, rp.name as period_name
2FROM campaign_period_summaries cps
3JOIN reporting_periods rp ON cps.reporting_period_id = rp.id
4WHERE cps.campaign_id = $1
5ORDER BY rp.start_date, cps.platform;

2c. Platform benchmarks for comparison

sql
1SELECT pb.*, rp.name as period_name
2FROM platform_benchmarks pb
3JOIN reporting_periods rp ON pb.reporting_period_id = rp.id
4ORDER BY rp.start_date, pb.platform;

2d. Campaign notes for this pillar

sql
1SELECT * FROM campaign_notes
2WHERE campaign_id = $1
3ORDER BY source_date DESC;

Step 3: Pillar Identity Card

Present a quick reference card:

## [Pillar Name]

**Strategic Goal:** [from q2-2026-pillar-goals.md or campaigns.strategy]
**Tone/Voice:** [from campaigns.tone_voice if set]
**Status:** [active/paused/retired/proposed]
**Total Posts (all time):** X across Y platforms
**Active Platforms:** [list platforms with post counts]

Step 4: Cross-Platform Performance Comparison

Show how this pillar performs on each platform it's published on:

For each platform row, add a coaching note:

• Above benchmark: "This pillar is outperforming the platform average — the content-platform fit is strong. [Explain why based on platform behavior knowledge]"
• At benchmark: "Performing in line with the platform average — the content is solid. To push it higher, consider [format or approach suggestion]."
• Below benchmark: "This pillar is performing below the platform average. This isn't necessarily a concern — [explain why: new pillar, experimental format, wrong platform fit, etc.]. Worth exploring: [specific suggestion]."

Step 5: Platform-Specific Breakdown

For each platform this pillar publishes on:

[Platform Name]

Post Inventory:

Engagement Mix Analysis:

• Total saves vs shares vs comments ratio
• What the mix tells us about audience response (utility? resonance? conversation?)
• Reference engagement-taxonomy.md for interpretation

Format Analysis (if multiple formats used):

• Which format performed better for this pillar on this platform?
• Does the data support the recommended format from format-playbook.md?

Follower/Non-Follower Analysis:

• Average split for this pillar vs platform average
• Is this pillar driving discovery (high non-follower) or deepening loyalty (high follower)?

Step 6: Time-Series Analysis (if multiple periods available)

If data exists for 2+ reporting periods:

MoM Performance Trend

Direction: Is this pillar trending up, flat, or declining?

Correlation analysis:

• Did any content changes correlate with metric shifts? (Format change? Copy approach? Posting cadence?)
• Did any client corrections from the corrections log impact performance? (e.g., "After correcting to 'financing partner' language, ER moved from X to Y")
• Were there external factors? (Algorithm changes, seasonal effects, posting time changes)

Coaching note: Frame the trend within the available data horizon:

• 2 months: "Early direction — [observation]. Let's watch this for another month before drawing conclusions."
• 3+ months: "We're seeing a trend — [observation]. This is significant enough to [act on / investigate / celebrate]."

Step 7: Client Intelligence Integration

Pull relevant signals from the vault:

Corrections Related to This Pillar

• Summarize any language corrections, positioning feedback, or creative direction from corrections.md
• Note if corrections have been applied in recent posts

Wins Related to This Pillar

• Summarize any positive signals, compliments, alignment from wins.md
• Connect wins to specific post performance where possible

Strategic Direction

• Summarize the client's Q2 goals for this pillar from q2-2026-pillar-goals.md
• Assess: Is the current performance aligned with where the client wants this pillar to go?

Step 8: Recommendations

Synthesize everything into 3-5 recommendations for this pillar:

For each recommendation:

**Observation:** [What the data shows — factual, neutral]
**Platform context:** [Why this matters on [platform] specifically]
**Client context:** [How this connects to the client's stated goals or corrections]
**Worth exploring:** [Specific action to test]

Recommendation categories:

• Platform fit: Should this pillar be on all its current platforms, or would it perform better focused on fewer?
• Format optimization: Is the current format mix optimal, or should it shift?
• Content approach: What does the engagement mix suggest about content adjustments?
• Cadence: Is the posting frequency right for this pillar on each platform?
• Strategic alignment: Is the pillar's actual performance matching its strategic intent?

Step 9: Next Steps

Want me to:
- Compare this to another pillar? `/pillar-analysis [other pillar]`
- See the full platform picture? `/platform-pulse [platform]`
- Generate a content brief for this pillar? `/content-brief [pillar]`
- Check for multi-month trends? `/trend-report`

Important Rules

1. Always reference the client's strategic goal for the pillar. Performance without strategic context is meaningless.
2. Compare to platform benchmarks, not other pillars. Each pillar has a different purpose — Stay Gold (awareness) shouldn't be judged by the same ER standard as Engagement (interaction).
3. Integrate vault intelligence. Corrections, wins, and goals from the Obsidian vault are as important as the metrics.
4. Frame underperformance as learning. "MTIBF isn't working" (from client feedback) should be explored analytically — what specifically about it isn't landing, and what does the data suggest trying?
5. Think format × platform. A pillar may need different formats on different platforms. Carousel for IG Feed (education), Reel for YouTube (discovery), Poll for Stories (interaction).