Consideration (aka MOFU) is unpopular with some B2B marketers, who dismiss it as outdated,
impractical, or irrelevant.
Their criticisms are often valid, but
consideration still has marketing value, warts and all.
Why Consideration Is Under Attack
The heat I see comes from two directions. Both strike me as influenced by the
95-5 rule.
1. You're Either Buying or Not Buying
Some marketers argue that because B2B prospects are either in or out of market, this makes the entire
marketing funnel (with its three or more stages) irrelevant, especially the middle.
2. Consideration Content Consumption Doesn't Reveal Intent
When someone consumes
a piece of content (or other
marketing asset) that qualifies as consideration,
current buying intent is not revealed.
In fact, not much is revealed at all.
Why I'm Sticking With Consideration
Both criticisms are correct, but I don't see them as disqualifying, especially since I've
yet to see a better model for
marketing or
content marketing without it.
Marketers Aren't Psychic
Intent is tied up with both arguments against consideration.
But here's the thing. We can never know someone's intent until they make an inquiry.
Before that, we're just guessing, at every stage of
the funnel.
Just because someone gives their contact details in exchange for
gated content,
or access to some other
lead magnet, doesn't mean they want to be contacted.
And
awareness content can be consumed by anyone at any time.
Marketers can create certain types of consideration content more likely to indicate current buying intent
than others (such as a product selector or buyer's guide), but it's all still probabilities.
Nothing in B2B marketing reveals intent until the prospect starts talking to you.
Nothing.
Consideration Is Useful
Consideration was never about current intent to buy.
It's about whether
your brand is on a prospect's radar.
Someone might consider a Ferrari for their entire lives without buying one (or seriously considering buying
one).
Maybe they can't afford it. Maybe their spouse has forbidden it.
But they can still be lifelong fans, and such fans are useful, because adoration makes
your brand
more attractive and valuable to those who can buy.
And lifelong fans are certainly more likely to buy something from you, if they ever have the need or means,
than someone who's never considered you.
Consideration Can Indicate Probable Intent
Good guesses about purchasing intent can be made in some instances.
A person drooling over a Ferrari on the street reveals nothing, but a person drooling over a Ferrari in a
dealership is much more likely to buy one.
And it's the same in B2B marketing.
When someone looks at a product page for a couple of minutes and then leaves, it doesn't tell you much.
Maybe they're thinking about buying. Maybe they're not.
But when someone looks at a product page, then a case study, then your warranty info, then your CSR page, they're
probably sizing you up.
And speaking of CSR....
Consideration Content Covers More Than You Might Think
Consideration content doesn't merely sell your product, it sells you as a vendor.
Throwing out consideration leaves your vendor-focused content without a home.
Such content is definitely not awareness (since it rarely talks about prospects' problems) and most of it
shouldn't be lead gen (
BOFU) either.
Speaking of lead gen.....
Lead Generation Should Not Consume More of the Buyer's Journey
The marketing funnel has been under attack for a decade or more, with attackers calling it flawed
because customer journeys in real life don't happen in a straight line.
Again, this is true, but so what?
The funnel exists for us as marketers.
It's a guide to our efforts. Our planning. It's not for prospects.
And it's not meant to be taken literally, but it's still useful.
Just like rolling out the red carpet for VIPs is useful, even if they don't walk on it.
Without pure consideration content (product/vendor-focused content that doesn't ask for contact details),
everything that would otherwise be pure consideration becomes lead gen, with more of your awareness
content also likely to become lead gen.
This will make your brand seem annoying or desperate.
Strong brands work by attraction, which neither annoyance nor desperation are.
People want to be able to inspect what you sell, in comfort and without pressure.
Which is what pure consideration content does, by keeping lead-gen pressure from intruding.
Nothing good comes from pressuring B2B prospects.
Prospects talk to vendors when they're ready to talk,
not before.
