5 Ways to Increase Leads in the Consideration Stage of Your Funnel
You’ve done a stellar job of attracting potential customers and implementing a creative content strategy that’s gotten them to the awareness stage of their buyer’s journey. Good job!
Now, you’ve got to keep that momentum going!
The consideration stage is a bit tricky. With your leads exploring all their possible options, you have to position your brand as a no-brainer choice, making it easier for them to take action. However, that’s easier said than done.
We’ve entered a digital era where customer interactions are taking place primarily on online platforms. So, to consistently move more leads along your sales funnel, you must produce high-quality digital content, like product showcase videos, informative guides, and targeted emails, tailored to the needs and preferences of potential customers at each stage.
That’s what will encourage them to pursue your brand.
In this piece, you’ll learn exactly how to do that for the consideration stage of your funnel and, hopefully, gain a deeper understanding of this type of content within your overall sales strategy.
Psychology Behind Leads in The Consideration Stage
The first thing you need to understand is what your leads are feeling at this stage of their journey.
Potential customers at this marketing funnel stage tend to have a cursory understanding of your brand and products in general terms. However, they are likely still more focused on the problem or pain point they need to solve.
During the awareness stage, your content is meant to make leads aware of the problem or need they’re experiencing and push them into action-oriented behavior.
Thus, they enter the consideration stage curious; intent on finding the best product or service that can help their situation.
Since leads are researching different brands or products that could do this, one of the main aims of consideration-stage content is to make your brand and products stand out from the rest.
So, all things being equal, your main goal here will be to craft content that uses your product’s USPs (Unique Selling Points) as a foundation for your strategy.
By positioning your brand as unique instead of generic, compelling instead of dubious, and relatable instead of strange, you will go from simply being an option amongst other competitors to bringing the brand your leads intend on patronizing.
Brand Trust is Vital at This Stage
Aside from standing out, it’s worth mentioning that you must emphasize brand reliability within your consideration content strategy.
Online shopping is quickly becoming the new normal, and while this does provide more convenience, it takes away a customer’s ability to physically experience or gain accurate impressions of products and services beforehand.
This has led to online shoppers becoming a more cautious breed of customers. People do not want to be tricked or disappointed with a purchase, so they require reassurance that your brand will deliver on its promises.
So, content that helps you move more leads during the consideration stage of your funnel usually also showcases how your offering will successfully solve their problem without any hidden catches.
5 Creative Strategies to Get Leads Invested in Your Brand During the Consideration Stage
So you understand what thought processes your leads are currently going through and the main goals your content needs to meet.
Now, let’s look at five marketing strategies that utilize this information to bring leads to the second stage of your funnel – and even beyond!
Educate Through Engaging Explainer Videos
Video content has taken over the digital space, and it’s easy to see why. Brands want to convey their marketing messages in compelling ways that inform but also entertain their leads.
That’s why you see companies across all industries and niches producing high-quality video content, and not just dedicated video agencies like it was a decade ago.
Now, there are plenty of avenues you can take when it comes to effective video marketing content. But if we are talking about the consideration stage of a potential customer’s journey, you need to give video explainers a good look.
Explainer videos are engaging video pieces that make use of creative media elements to break down concepts and communicate your message effectively. They work particularly well to explain complex information (hence the name) and present it in a way that’s easy for your audience to understand.
With several styles to choose from, you can use these videos to tell leads more about your products or services, yes, but also do it in a way that helps your brand stand out from the crowd and moves customers closer to taking action.
Explainer videos are the perfect tool for the consideration stage because they provide a sense of convenience that is essential in today’s online marketplace.
Why make your leads spend unnecessary time researching your brand and products, how they work, or even their credibility when all of that information can be showcased in an entertaining and useful 2-minutes video?
Collect Info Through Sweepstakes and Contests.
Because who doesn’t love free prizes and giveaways?
Sometimes, all it takes to get people to learn more about your brand is a small incentive. With sweepstakes and contests, you can seamlessly collect contact information from your leads,r get them to share your content, or just register for email updates, and all you need is to give them a reason for them to do so.
That’s why these content tools are so often used as an effective lead-generation tactic at this stage! You can use your social channels to promote these contests, telling people how to enter and what they need to do to stand a chance at winning.
Once the entry cut-off date arrives, you can select a winner (remember your winners have to be selected randomly) and deliver the promised prize.
Now, as part of the entry requirements, many brands using these tools ask people to share the contest with their followers. By doing this, not only do you get your immediate audience to participate, but you can potentially attract new leads into your funnel.
Ideally, you’ll want to tie the giveaway directly to your offerings or brand, such as a free product bundle, significant discounts, etc. Find ways to merge an attractive incentive with your audience’s interests, and you’ll be one step closer to attracting and converting more leads going through this stage of your funnel.
Target Specific Leads with Segmented Email Campaigns
One thing about the consideration stage is that you often have to do quite a bit of persuading before you get your leads to follow through.
While they may see you as a potential solution, certain doubts or a lack of confidence can result in them deciding to go with a different product or brand once they’ve moved to the decision stage.
Through targeted emails, you can connect with leads on a more personal level and provide them with specific info tailored to answer any questions on their mind that are keeping them from taking action.
To go about this, you’d need to segment your leads using buyer personas, i.e., separate them based on their individual needs and interests.
Once you’ve done this, you can use this data to craft email campaigns with content that will appeal to your segments in a more personal way. And maybe, more importantly, provide them with content that subtly nudges them toward your decision-stage content once they are primed for it.
Generate FOMO With Limited Time Specials
There will be people who will already be genuinely curious to try your products or services during the consideration stage of your funnel. A special offer or discount can be just the thing to drive them into action, and listing it as available only for a specific time window will entice them to act sooner rather than later.
Discounts convey the idea that your leads can gain the same quality offering at a lower price point. You can also use limited free trials for a more immersive experience that will provide leads with precisely what they need to decide whether they want to continue to use your products going forward.
You can promote these offers through emails and social media, and usually, you’ll want to limit their availability, but not so much that too few people get to participate (and talk about) their experience with your product.
Done right, these special offers can become a regular engine that constantly drives more people toward considering your products and, maybe more importantly, actually getting them when they otherwise might not have.
Provide Downloadable Reference Material
As we’ve mentioned, the consideration stage is characterized by leads weighing their options to solve a need. And in doing so, they’ll undertake a lot of research before they come to a decision.
So, another big part of a consideration stage strategy revolves around your need to provide potential leads with all the essential (and not so essential) info relating to what you are offering.
This can take the form of online PDFs, digital brochures, eBooks, whitepapers, or other types of written guides, which tend to perform particularly well in B2B scenarios.
These can also work as “gifts” that offer value to potential leads and can require some form of registration or subscription, usually to be a part of your mailing list.
Bear in mind that quality is the main goal when it comes to providing your audience with educational resources. If you were to send out an article; something useful, technical, and to the point would be much more valuable than something long-winded and generic.
Show your leads that you’re not only marketing your brand but prioritizing the customer experience it provides.
Wrapping Up
In summation, the consideration stage is all about providing leads with information that will persuade them to choose your brand over others with a similar offering.
When gathering information that will convince them to make the right choice, engaging content strategies will allow you to present it in a way that’s engaging and easy to digest.
Your leads will approach your brand once they have sufficient knowledge surrounding your products or services. So, once you’ve refined the content offered in the consideration stage of your funnel, you can feel confident knowing that you’re one step closer to turning solid leads into actual conversions.
Author bio:
Victor Blasco is an audiovisual designer, video marketing expert, and founder/CEO of the explainer video production company Yum Yum Videos. Besides running the business, he’s a lifelong student of Chinese philosophy and a passionate geek for all things sci-fi.
