Content marketing can be somewhat daunting, both to those who have been doing it a while and those who are new to it. Whilst there’s plenty of information floating around regarding what you should be doing, there’s not all that much explaining the things recommended to avoid doing.

If you are looking for resources telling you what to do, we recommend starting with Hubspot, Moz, Semrush and The Content Marketing Institute to name just a few useful places to start.

Here we talk you through the habits you should avoid to ensure your content marketing is effective!

 Ignoring your content library

It probably rings true with most of you that there is lack of time and funds to ignore existing content that you have. By measuring the performance of content you are able to see which pieces work. There’s nothing saying you can’t reuse this content – reuse, republish or recycle it! Whatever you do, don’t forget about content that performs well. A well organised and audited content library means that you can invest your time and budget in the right areas.

Forgetting to consider the buyer’s journey

This can happen for several reasons. Whether it’s because you don’t think it’s necessary, because you aren’t aware or because you don’t know the stage clients are at – review your work flow and make sure you adapt it so that the buyers journey is a key factor within it. The whole team needs to understand the buyers journey in order for content to reflect it. The key step in our work flow is mapping our content to the buyer stages. How in depth you get with this is down to you – it can be simply done in Excel.

Creating a buyer persona is also a helpful process – this is creating a persona for your target audience and those who are most likely to engage with your product or service. By doing this it makes it easier to create relevant, purposeful content.

Failure to account for the experience of your buyers, customers and potential leads

Despite huge efforts, it can be really difficult to hit buyers with the information the want when they want it. Having your content in an easy to find central space allows them to get the content they want when they need it.

Within this space, make it your mission to never let users hit a closed door. Provide links, suggested items and some unquestionably strong Calls To Action. This enables them to find content they didn’t even know they needed.

Being stuck in a rut with formats

If you have a content format that works without fault for your buyers then we are in no means telling you to stop – if something works keep it. However, by sticking solely to certain formats and not testing others, you could be missing out on a lot. It’s a good idea to A/B test other formats and trial a few pieces to see what works. Use data that you have on your buyers to tailor it to their requirements and preferences. Buyers are becoming more interested in using interactive formats and are more impressed with things such as videos.

Giving emphasis to your product, not your buyer

Your buyers are there because they want to be. You don’t want to oversell yourself and you definitely don’t want to bore them. By putting your buyers at the centre point of your efforts you won’t bore them and you will show yourself as a relatable brand.

Buyers will relate better to content that has them at the forefront and the content will be more effective. Answer their questions, solve their problems and tell them what they want to know. Here your main aim is to make your buyer feel like you ‘get’ them. If you won’t do it then your competitor will – this mistake is where a lot of people lose customers.