There are three primary stages a client goes through when deciding to purchase from your company: awareness, engagement, and Consideration. You can think of each step as a part of a funnel. At the top of your funnel are people just becoming aware of your company. Some individuals will continue to the engagement stage, while others will drop off immediately.

At the engagement stage, your potential customer is already familiar with your brand. They’ve done some browsing, checked your reviews, and are interested. However, they haven’t decided whether what you offer will truly benefit them or even if they need your products at all.

The Consideration Funnel is the last part of the buyer’s journey. At this stage, your customer is genuinely interested. They’re at the tip of the buying decision, and anything you provide them to ease them into pulling out their wallet will likely benefit you.

While marketers often stress brand awareness and continuous client engagement, the last stage of the funnel is truly the most critical. If you don’t take advantage of it, you may lose your customer — turning all your hard work in the earlier stages of the marketing process into a lost opportunity.

The Benefits of Consideration Funnel Marketing

Most companies can’t survive without sales. Sales are what keep the lights on, your employees working for you, and provide you with money to sustain your business for the next months or years. If you can’t maintain a solid stream of revenue, the fallout will likely be the closure of your organization.

While those statements may sound dire, you can’t understate the value of a comprehensive marketing strategy incorporating the consideration funnel. Social media engagement and website views will only get you so far. You must provide the encouragement your clients need to make a purchase.

A solid Consideration Funnel Marketing strategy keeps the buyer in mind. You’re no longer showing off colorful pictures of your products or trying to reel them in with a 10% discount. You need to inform them how your products and services will benefit them and why you’re better than your competitors.

With a robust consideration funnel marketing strategy, you should see your conversions increase. You’ll need to revisit your consideration marketing methods if they don’t.

Incorporating Consideration Funnel Marketing into Your Marketing Plan

So how can you implement consideration funnel marketing into your advertising techniques? Start by thinking like a buyer. Sit back and take an objective look at what you have to offer, and be honest with yourself. How do your products compare with those of your competitors? What sets you apart? Are there any benefits that your competitors provide that you don’t?

You’ll want to emphasize your products’ positive aspects to prospective buyers. The benefits of your goods should be obvious to anyone in the consideration stage.

For instance, perhaps you offer free global shipping on all your products, or you use sustainable packaging for all your orders. You may have thousands of five-star customer reviews, while your competitors lag with two and three-star averages.

The idea is to position your products and services as valuable and beneficial to your customers. The more information you can give them, the better — as long as it’s not repetitive and adds weight to their purchase decision.

Some helpful materials that can encourage buyers in the consideration stage include infographics, white papers, and e-books. You can also use your landing pages to further promote customer engagement. For instance, you might summarize the benefits of your services in a visually appealing format that spells out what you have to offer.

In some industries, offering a free trial or demo is beneficial during the consideration stage. For instance, if you provide a monthly subscription service, you might give clients two weeks to try out your product before deciding whether they want to become full-fledged clients.

When your consideration funnel aligns with your other marketing strategies, your clients won’t feel like they’re being “sold.” Instead, the entire process will feel natural, and they’ll feel good knowing they’re making the right choice if they purchase from you.

Don’t Ignore the Importance of Consideration Funnel Marketing

While consideration funnel marketing may not seem as critical as getting your name out there or engaging with potential clients, it is. A poorly constructed consideration funnel will lead to lost sales and opportunities — money you’ll leave on the table for your competitors to seize. You’ll see more sales with the right consideration funnel strategies, making your efforts worthwhile.

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