Consideration is the middle stage of the
content marketing funnel.
But awareness (the top of the funnel) and lead-gen (the bottom) tend to soak up most of the
attention, because awareness is where prospects start and lead-gen is where B2B marketers
want them to go.
And prospects can be taken from awareness straight to lead-gen, skipping the consideration stage
entirely. And yeah, you can do that, but this is not always a good idea. Like middle children
everywhere, consideration is both indispensable and ignored.
So What Exactly Is Consideration Content?
Awareness content talks about a problem or issue your prospects are facing. Consideration
discusses the solution (when the solution is you), without asking for contact details. And
lead-gen is any
content piece that asks for those details.
Typical consideration content includes product/solution pages, brochures, solution guides,
case studies, testimonials, and product/solution videos. But consideration can also talk about
things beyond what you sell. It can talk about you. Your strengths as a vendor.
Your track record as a vendor. Anything about you that's relevant to making a sale.
And we'll get more into what consideration entails as we go along.
Why You Probably Need More Consideration Content
As mentioned earlier, consideration tends to be ignored in
content marketing. And there are
several reasons why you probably need more.
Funnels Should Be Funnel Shaped
A B2B content marketing funnel should resemble its metaphor (you'll need a killer sales team
or some other overwhelming competitive advantage if yours doesn't), narrowest at the bottom and
getting wider as you move up, which means you should have more consideration content than
lead-gen.
However, this won't happen if every piece of consideration content you publish asks for
contact details (making every piece lead-gen as well). When you press for contact
details at every opportunity, prospects will think your brand lacks confidence (strong brands
attract without pressing).
You Need Multiple Funnel Journeys
Even if you have a strong understanding of the industries you serve and the types of businesses
that comprise them, when it comes down to the individual people who consume your marketing content,
they're not all the same.
Some will be relative experts in what you sell. Others will be novices. Some may be podcast
fanatics. Others may prefer reading. Some may be YouTube people while others hang around on
LinkedIn. It's better if you have multiple funnel journeys to serve these dominant segments, because....
Buyers Can't Differentiate Products and Vendors
If you have everyone following the same funnel journey, they'll all end up in the same place
when they reach consideration.
And standard consideration pieces, like product pages or brochures, tend to be shapeless infodumps,
with a lot of details conveyed in a relatively tight space, and no clear differentiation between
the details that really matter to each persona or segment and the details that matter less.
And this is especially true when it comes to differentiating one model from other models, or you
as a
vendor from other vendors.
In short, customers can't tell products apart, or vendors apart. They need more meaningful
education about both before reaching the next stage, especially because....
The Consideration Stage Is Taking Longer
B2B buyers are increasingly educating themselves about products and vendors and delaying talking
to sales. The reasons why are complex, but two of the big ones are the fact that your buyers are
increasingly millennial or younger and prefer a digital-first
buyer's journey, and they're
also scrutinizing their decisions
more carefully.
If you want your prospects to feel like you understand their needs and preferences,
you need plenty of consideration content for them out in the open.
The SEO Content Game Is Moving to Consideration
SEO content was once largely a keyword-focused TOFU concern, but
AI is changing the nature of
search. Queries are becoming longer, more conversational, and more indicative of current buying
intent.
Experts recommend (including me)
ramping up production of content that addresses such queries,
such as niche buying guides and interactive content.
Your Leads Will Be Better Quality
If you try to skip over consideration and go from awareness straight to lead gen, by
gating a whitepaper or creating some other awareness-level
lead magnet, whatever leads you manage to
generate might not be as good a quality as you were hoping for, for two reasons.
One, if a lot of those marketing qualified leads (MQLs) just showed up for the whitepaper, many won't be ready to
buy now, and few really want to be sold to when they're not looking to buy.
And two, even if they are in-market, the less educated they are, the more of your sales staff's
valuable time they'll take up having things explained to them that they wouldn't otherwise need
explained.
Granted, this isn't a problem is you have ample sales resources. But if you don't, you may end
up with other sales qualified leads (SQLs) being neglected. And if that SQL hears something
that's a dealbreaker, that time has been wasted, and may have just done a competitor's job for
them.
But if an SQL is better educated through consideration content, the odds of either happening
decrease.
How to Ramp Up Consideration Content the Right Way
As already mentioned, you need more variety in your consideration content, not just more volume.
So let's go through some options and topics you might not have thought of yet.
Discuss Problems Your Products/Solutions Solve
This might sound like awareness content, but awareness content focuses on the problem without
specifically mentioning the solution (if the solution is you), while consideration content
focuses on the solution, while perhaps also mentioning the problems it solves.
For instance, if you sell oil & gas solutions, a blog titled "7 Problems Faced by the Oil & Gas
Industry" would be awareness while "7 Oil & Gas Problems Solved by the Model XYZ" would be
consideration.
If you're still fuzzy on why the latter also doesn't count as awareness, think about it
this way. If somebody sees a blog or piece of PDF content with the title "7 Oil & Gas Problems
Solved by the Model XYZ" and chooses to continue reading, assuming they're currently in market,
they've entered the consideration stage of the content marketing funnel.
And once they reach that stage, they won't go back up to mere awareness, even if they consume
some of your awareness-only content at some future point on the buyer's journey.
Therefore, it is possible for prospects to skip over the awareness section of the content
marketing funnel and go straight to consideration, and they do this all the time if
they already know you before the buyer's journey begins.
However, that doesn't mean you should always try to do this, as the education work done by
awareness content can be vital.
And before you ask, if a prospect who is not currently in market happens to consume a piece of
consideration content, that doesn't necessarily mean they're currently at the consideration
stage of the funnel. Not everyone who reads about Porsches is currently looking to buy one.
Remember, the stages of the content marketing funnel reflect what the content marketer intends
for that content to do. They don't indicate what a prospect is thinking. And content can be
used for purposes beyond what's originally intended.
Do Comparisons
Speeds and feeds can overwhelm non-technical people. But put products or product categories
(i.e., SME vs enterprise) side by side, and those details get easier to digest because you've
provided some sense of scale, and you'll save your customers' time by minimizing their need
to shuffle about your website reading repetitive or irrelevant information on different product
pages. Two birds, one stone.
Discuss Special Features and Technologies Your Products Use
When you create content focused on a certain product/solution feature, or some proprietary
technology you use, or some other competitive advantage you have, your audience interprets
this as confidence that you think it matters and is a difference-maker (even when it isn't).
Of course, if it isn't that special, show restraint (maybe one blog). But if it really
is a difference-maker, write the hell out of it, especially if it's superlative (i.e., best
in class). Prospects love superlatives and remember them.
Carry Out General Product Education
If you sell a product that is not well understood, or is otherwise niche, and you'd like to
make it less niche (a good B2C example would be home theater projectors), you might create
content that educates about all the products in that category, not just your brand's.
Of course, such content runs the risk of creating a sale for a competitor instead of you,
so if you don't also include or explicitly steer the prospect to a lead-gen form, you should
at least try to steer them to something more directly product-related, like a product page or
product selector (if not directly then via SEO).
Create Product Selectors
A product selector is basically an online questionnaire, where the prospect answers a
series of multiple choice and yes or no questions about the needs and conditions of their
business, eventually leading them to whatever product you want to present as the best match.
They require a bit of coding skill, so not everyone uses them, but product selectors are a
very good way to engage with eager prospects who lack the time or patience for a lot of
content reading.
Offer RoI Calculators
A return on investment (RoI) calculator is exactly what it sounds like. You plug in some
numbers related to your business and your intended purchase and get a rough estimate back
of what the latter will do for you.
This might not fit everyone's definition of content, especially since RoI calculators are
often considered sales enablement, but I don't make
the rules.
Craft "How to Shop" Guides
This is a stealthy method for getting consideration content in front of people who would
otherwise still be very much in the awareness stage. If customers have never bought the
type of product you sell, they may be quite ignorant of how to evaluate it. A guide can
help shape their perceptions, or reshape the perceptions of those who are more familiar
but have never read a proper shopping guide.
Publish Product Update Content
This is another stealthy way to get consideration content in front of people who would
otherwise still be in awareness. Put news (and perhaps short videos) regarding new
features in your blog and on
social media.
This gives you a way to talk about some of your key product selling points without
forcing prospects to commit to a longer read, while also providing the opportunity to
make it look like you've got more customers than you actually do (making for a bit of
sneaky
brand building).
Discuss What Makes You Unique As a Vendor
This is more or less a longer version of your website's "Why Us" section, where you
discuss what really makes you special, different, and unique in terms of advantage.
It may or may not include product-related info. But it might include info about
your best-in-class warranty. Your proprietary service model. Your founder's unique
experiences and background. It could be a lot of things. In blog, webpage, or PDF form.
And try to include a promise if you can. Brands that include specific promises tend
to
perform better.
Facilitate Product Reviews
This is more of a
media/analyst relations function than marketing. However, marketing
can help out in two areas. One, by creating a short reviewer's guide that focuses more
on key selling points you want noticed than a standard user's manual would.
And two, marketing can help find influencers to review products. These might be people who
frequently leave comments on your blogs or social media posts. Or you can even send out
an email to your blog subscribers asking if anyone wants to be a reviewer, because....
The Best Consideration Content Isn't Made by You
Much of the media and analyst coverage of your brand isn't awareness content at all. It's
consideration. Prospects often leave your website after checking out your product info to
check you out online. And
93% of sales reps leverage media coverage in their
communications with prospects.
B2B marketers must do a better job making sure prospective customers find this content directly
from your website. Because if they simply go to Google, who knows what they'll find?
However, linking to favorable media coverage is easier said than done because product content
is often created before the media coverage is. So we recommend creating a supplemental content
menu for your product pages (similar to those menus you sometimes see at the end of
blog posts
offering additional articles to read).
This way, content can be added without disturbing the product page itself. And if you're
worried about having an empty menu at launch, remember, even your own product launch press
release can go there.
How Much Consideration Content Do You Need?
This is one of those "it depends" questions. But as stated before, you definitely need more
consideration than lead-gen (constantly asking for contact details makes your brand look
used-car-salesy). And you'll need less consideration than awareness (you'll look impatient
and risk discouraging followership and subscribership if you're always pushing a sales pitch).
Beyond that, how much consideration content you need really depends on you. The greater the
number of strong and clear points of differentiation/advantage (or intended perceived points
of differentiation/advantage) in what you sell, the more consideration content you'll need.
Also, if you sell something truly unique or special, you should have quite a bit of
consideration content so that you can adequately explain it. If you're not really that
special, you won't need as much, because your fight will largely be won or lost through
sales, price, or brand.
And speaking of brand, the strength of yours plays a factor here. A stronger brand doesn't
need as much consideration content since persuasion is as much about the brand as the details
of the product, while a weaker brand needs the product/solution to add its own voice to the
argument.
That's it for the consideration stage of the content marketing funnel. To learn more about the
awareness or
lead-gen stages, follow the links.
