Mid-Funnel Marketing Needs Consideration Stage Content
At the next stage of your content marketing, your job is to help your audience start to evaluate a solution.
They may not be looking for a specific vendor yet, but they are reviewing their options for solving their problems. Rather than talking about your specific product or service, talk about the category your solution falls into.
For example, Impulse Creative could talk about hiring more experts for your marketing team vs bringing on an agency. Or a home builder could talk about the pros and cons of talking to an architect vs a general contractor.
Your mission is to provide guidance by laying out their options and advising them on choosing the right path forward.
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Consideration Stage Reminder
People in this stage are warming up to a purchase but are still evaluating what their best path forward is.
They aren’t necessarily considering you as a vendor, but they are considering what you offer (aka your type of product/service) as an option.
This can be a great opportunity to push for more conversions and lead nurture. Doing this well could land you on their short list of options for the decision stage.
Great formats for this content include:
- Longer form written content
- Deeper dive videos
- Digital content/website pages (so you can update often)
- Digital experiences (calculators, assessments, etc.)
Mid-Funnel Content Ideas
- “Cheap XYZ alternatives” content: Cost can big a critical evaluation point when your audience is evaluating different solutions. Giving them cheap alternatives (and the pros and cons of taking this option) can help them move faster.
- “Cost of XYZ” content: In the consideration stage, your audience wants to evaluate the cost of the decision (what are they gaining or giving up?) and plan their budget.
- “Budget/ROI calculator” content: Help your audience see solutions as investments not sunk costs. Provide an interactive lead magnet for the audience to input their financial boundaries; this can also give your sales team context for future conversations.
- “Product/Service comparison” content: There are likely several options for your audience to choose from when solving their problem. Compare the options side-by-side, so they know the differences. For example, do I need an endodontist or a dentist?
- “Product/Service vs DIY” content: Your audience may still be leaning toward doing it themselves. Show the time, energy, and cost comparison of outsourcing versus taking it on personally.
- “Pros and Cons of XYZ” content: Content that transparently shows the positives and negatives of a solution will help build trust with the audience and help them prioritize what matters most in their search for a solution.
- “Solution 1 vs Solution 2” content: Directly compare two solutions to show the strengths and weaknesses of each. The differences will resonate with the audience and show them where their values lie in a final choice.
- Case studies and customer stories: In the consideration stage, customer stories and case studies help show buyers that the type of product or service you offer CAN and HAS solved the problem they are experiencing.
- “XYZ solution FAQs” content: Your audience may not know what questions to ask. Give them a head start and help them evaluate their options by giving them questions you’ve gathered from current customers.
- State of XYZ industry/product/service report: While it may be a heavier lift as it requires research and analysis, this content puts the industry/product/service in the context of trends, peer-to-peer alignment, breakthroughs, funding, lawsuits, up-and-coming research, government oversight, etc.
- “Future of XYZ” content: Put your futurist hat on and display predictions for the market within the next 2-5 years. Content like this can help people decide whether they want to stick with something tried and true or take a chance on something novel.
- “Timeline for XYZ” content: Time can be one of the most valuable resources. Show how long it will take for a solution to be implemented as some people can wait while others may need something to take effect more immediately.
- “XYZ for (insert role)” content: Solutions may look different depending on who someone is, their background, their decision-making power, etc. Segment out content based on your buyer personas (e.g. “coffee maker for family” vs. “coffee maker for office”).
- “Support for XYZ” content: Some buyers may value the support or service mechanisms in place to help them with their product or service. Give them information to help them ask the right questions and prioritize must-haves.
Other resources to help you with MoFu Marketing Tactics
As you are creating this content, be sure to replace XYZ with high-volume, low-difficulty keywords in your product or service category. Keyword research will help you find the alternative products, services, and solutions people are evaluating the most.
Your consideration stage content should be setting the stage or shepherding your audience to the decision stage.
For example, on a “pros and cons of using a marketing agency vs DIYing” you can end the post with a CTA to go to a blog post about “how our agency plans marketing campaigns” to show how your brand is better than the rest and should be on their shortlist for the decision stage.
Want more content ideas? Check out the other blogs in the series.