Your content theme is the strategic backbone of your LinkedIn presence.
It defines:
What you talk about
Who you're speaking to, and
Why your audience should care.
This guide will walk you through creating a powerful content theme that resonates with your target audience and establishes you as an authority in your space.
By the way, the "content themes" or "content pillars" are inspired by Justin Welsh's strategy (the biggest LinkedIn coach). You can find more about that later, over here:
What You'll Learn
What makes a strong content theme
How to fill out each section of your theme profile
Examples of high-performing themes
How to select example posts that strengthen your theme
What Is a Content Theme?
A content theme in LiGo is much more than a topic category. It's a comprehensive profile of your professional voice, audience, background information (e.g. if you are SaaS founder, it'd contain info about your product, your USP, your ICP, your competitors, etc.) and content strategy that guides LiGo's AI in generating relevant content ideas and posts.
Think of your content theme as a strategic brief that answers these questions:
Who are you and what do you offer?
Who are you trying to reach?
What unique value do your insights provide?
What specific topics will you address?
Creating Your Theme Step by Step
Before you start, there's two ways to create a theme - and which one you choose depends on what stage of your LinkedIn journey you're on:
Automated/Guided theme creation; this is suitable for those that do not have a LinkedIn strategy already locked in. So, LiGo will ask you questions and then recommend 6 themes/content pillars to you - you can choose one or all of them.
Manual theme creation; this is suitable for ghostwriters, linkedin strategists, etc. that have been posting for years and already have a LinkedIn strategy. They don't want LiGo to tell them what to do, they want to tell LiGo what to do.
Both of these options are on the Themes Library Page in LiGo
If you want the Automated/Guided creation, just select that, and the rest of the process in there is self-explanatory. We won't be covering that in this article.
However, if you are in the Manual Creation category, please continue to read this article.
Since we're always making updates to the UI/UX and making our modules more advanced, this image might be a tad outdated when you see it, but the core would stay the same - see the image below, and then we'll cover what you should add in each field:
Step 1: Theme Name
Choose a clear, specific name that captures the essence of your content focus.
Example: "From Agency Trenches to Growth Machine"
Pro Tip: Your theme name doesn't appear in your posts-it's for your reference. Make it specific enough to distinguish between multiple themes if you create them.
Step 2: Background & Offering
This section establishes your credibility and explains your product or service. Be comprehensive about:
Your professional background
The problems you've solved
Your product/service offering
Why you're qualified to speak on this topic
How to complete this section:
Copy your LinkedIn bio as a starting point (if it's up to date and strategically written)
Add details about your specific expertise and experience
Explain the problem your service/product solves
Include your journey and the insights you've gained (any unique opinions?)
Competitive information i.e. what makes you unique? (If you're a product founder, add product's unique selling points, differentiator, key features, etc.)
Example excerpt:
I built LiGo, a unified tool that helps generate authentic linkedin posts and comments, track what's working via advanced analytics, and uses a sophisticated AI engine behind the scenes to understand the users' past experiences, opinions, certifications, target audience, etc. to provide content that feels like the user themselves wrote it. Our Unique Selling Point and differentiator is that it combines all the features that users would otherwise find across 5 different tools like Shield for Analytics, CRM for tracking leads, Chrome extension for writing comments, Taplio for post generation, and AuthoredUp for post formatting/analytics, etc. LiGo combines all of that in a single place while being the only tool in the space that actually extremely closely mimics the users' style and reflects their actual opinions and experiences in the content it generates.
Note: This is a "bad example" in terms of detail, but a good example in terms of the "type of information" that you should add here.
Step 3: Purpose
This critical section defines the problem your content solves, which may differ from the problem your business solves.
Key questions to answer:
What value will your audience get from your content?
What insights or perspective do you uniquely offer?
How will your content help your audience succeed?
Pro Tip: Your purpose should be broader than just promoting your service. For example, if your service helps agencies create content, your content purpose might be helping them build sustainable growth systems.
Example excerpt:
I share the raw, unfiltered psychological and tactical truths about running and growing a product-based company that no one talks about at networking events or on glossy podcast interviews. My purpose is to cut through the noise and highlight the real challenges and solutions I've discovered both from running my own company (Ertiqah) and from consulting thousands of SMBs and founders.
Step 4: What I Write About
List specific topics you'll cover in your content. It doesn't need to be "long and descriptive", but it needs to be specific!
The more specific you are, the better your content ideas and posts will be. If it's generic stuff like "AI, Founder branding, LinkedIn marketing" - your content is going to be ... generic too.
Best practices:
Use bullet points or short paragraphs for each topic area
Include both tactical and strategic topics
Be specific about problems and solutions you'll address
Include psychological, strategic, and tactical dimensions when relevant
Example excerpt:
The psychological battles agency founders fight daily but rarely discuss openly, imposter syndrome that persists even when successful, decision paralysis when facing too many possible directions, comfort with mediocrity disguised as "stability", the loneliness of leadership and how it affects decision-making...
Step 5: Who I Write For
Define your target audience in detail. The more specific you are about their challenges, aspirations, and situation, the more resonant your content will be.
Tips for defining your audience:
Include their role/position
Describe their specific challenges
Note where they are in their journey
Mention their goals and aspirations
Example excerpt:
Agency founders struggling to break out of survival mode into true growth mode, service-based business owners who recognize the value of content but can't find the time or system to execute consistently, technical founders who excel at delivery but struggle with systematic client acquisition...
Step 6: Complexity Level
Select the appropriate complexity level for your content:-
Beginner: Introductory concepts, accessible to newcomers
Medium: Assumes basic knowledge of the field
Hard: In-depth, technical, or sophisticated content for experts (aimed at building trust)
Choose the level that best matches your audience's expertise and the depth of
insights you want to share.
Step 7: Example Posts
Select 1-3 example posts that represent your ideal content style, tone, and structure. LiGo will use these to understand your writing preferences.
Note: LiGo by default knows your writing style but ... do you really want to write "thought leadership" posts in the same way as you write your "announcement" posts, or 'story telling' posts?
No. The writing style is inherently different for different post types. So, this section is the perfect place for you to fine-tune the writing style for the specific theme that you are creating.
How to choose effective examples:
Select posts that align with your defined theme
Choose examples with good engagement (your own posts, or that of someone else - doesn't matter; we're taking writing style inspiration here only)
Include posts that demonstrate your authentic voice
Look for variety in structure (stories, lists, how-tos)
Pro Tip: The closer your example posts match your content theme, the better LiGo will understand your voice and generate aligned content. If there's a mismatch between your theme and examples, you may see inconsistencies in your generated content.
Examples of Strong Content Themes
For a Software Development Agency
Theme Name: "Engineering Leadership: Building Teams That Ship"
Target Audience: Engineering managers and CTOs at growing, early-stage startups
Purpose: Helping technical leaders build processes that balance innovation with reliability
For a Marketing Consultant
Theme Name: "Data-Driven Marketing for Service Businesses"
Target Audience: Service business owners frustrated with inconsistent marketing results
Purpose: Cutting through marketing hype to focus on measurable growth strategies
Common Questions
Q: What if I want to create multiple themes?
After completing onboarding, you can create additional themes from the Themes Library section. Free trial users can create up to 2 themes, while Premium can create up to 5-10 themes.
Q: How often should I update my content theme?
Review your theme quarterly, or whenever you make significant changes to your business focus or target audience. Your content theme should evolve as your business grows.
Q: What if I'm not sure about my purpose or audience?
Start with what you know, and refine as you go. Look at your highest-performing LinkedIn posts or client conversations for clues about what resonates with your audience.
Note: You can always delete themes that are no longer needed.