What is the Consideration Stage?
The consideration stage (also called MOFU - Middle of Funnel) is the second phase in the buyer's journey where prospects have identified their problem and are actively researching and evaluating potential solutions.
At This Stage:
- Problem is clearly defined
- Prospect is researching solutions
- Comparing vendors and options
- Narrowing down choices
- Not ready to buy immediately
- TOFU (Top): Awareness - discovering they have a problem
- MOFU (Middle): Consideration - evaluating solutions
- BOFU (Bottom): Decision - choosing and purchasing
Why Consideration Stage Matters
Critical Evaluation Period
Most purchasing decisions happen here.
Consideration Reality:
- 60-75% of research happens before sales contact
- Prospects compare 3-5 solutions on average
- Content consumed shapes final decision
- Relationships formed here influence choice
Competitive Arena
This is where you win or lose.
Competition in Consideration:
- Prospects actively compare options
- Differentiation becomes critical
- Value props are tested
- Preferences are formed
Nurture Opportunity
Not ready to buy doesn't mean not interested.
Nurture Value:
- Stay top-of-mind during research
- Influence evaluation criteria
- Build trust before decision
- Accelerate decision timeline
Consideration Stage Behaviors
What Prospects Do
Research Activities:
- Request demos and trials
- Read comparison content
- Attend webinars and events
- Download case studies and whitepapers
- Check reviews and ratings (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius)
- Ask peers for recommendations
- Visit pricing pages repeatedly
Information Needs
Questions Prospects Ask:
- "What options exist for solving this?"
- "How do these solutions compare?"
- "What are the pros and cons of each?"
- "What do others like me choose?"
- "What will implementation look like?"
Stakeholder Involvement
Multiple stakeholders become engaged.
Typical Evaluation Team:
- Champion: Person driving evaluation forward
- Technical buyer: Evaluates capabilities
- User buyer: Tests usability and features
- Economic buyer: Approves budget and ROI
Consideration Stage Content
Content Types That Work
Effective Consideration Content:
- Comparison guides: Your solution vs. alternatives
- Case studies: Similar companies and results
- Webinars: Product demonstrations and education
- Whitepapers: Deep dives into specific topics
- ROI calculators: Quantified business impact
- Trial offers: Hands-on product experience
- Implementation guides: What adoption looks like
Content Principles
What Makes Content Effective:
- Comparative: Shows how you compare
- Specific: Addresses their use case
- Social proof: Others' success stories
- Practical: Implementation details
- Visual: Easy to scan and understand
Consideration Stage Strategy
Content Marketing
fuel evaluation with valuable content.
Content Strategy:
- Blog posts comparing approaches
- Industry reports and benchmarks
- Customer interview content
- Product vs. competitor content
- Implementation case studies
Lead Nurturing
Stay relevant during extended research.
Nurture Tactics:
- Email sequences with educational content
- Retargeting ads based on content consumed
- Webinar invitations for deep dives
- Personalized content recommendations
- Sales touches with value, not just "checking in"
Sales Engagement
Match outreach to evaluation stage.
Consideration Stage Outreach:
- "I noticed you've been researching [topic]..."
- "Many companies at this stage ask about [concern]..."
- "Would you like to see how [similar company] solved this?"
- "Can I share a comparison that might help?"
Consideration Stage Metrics
Key Performance Indicators
What to Measure:
| Metric | Description | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| **Content engagement** | Time on page, scroll depth | 3+ minutes |
| **Return visits** | Multiple site visits | 40%+ return |
| **Comparison views** | Pricing/comparison pages | 30%+ traffic |
| **Demo requests** | Trials or demos requested | 5-10% conversion |
| **Nurture engagement** | Email/content opens and clicks | 20-30% open |
Funnel Conversion
Stage-to-Stage Conversion:
- Awareness to Consideration: 20-40%
- Consideration to Decision: 25-50%
- Overall funnel conversion: 5-15%
Consideration vs. Other Stages
Consideration vs. Awareness
Awareness Stage:
- Problem discovery
- Broad research
- Educational content
- Vendor-agnostic
- Solution evaluation
- Narrow research
- Comparative content
- Vendor-specific comparison
Consideration vs. Decision
Consideration Stage:
- Still exploring options
- Gathering information
- Open to alternatives
- Timeline flexible
- Ready to choose
- Finalizing details
- Negotiating terms
- Timeline urgent
Consideration Stage Best Practices
Provide Comparison Content
Help them evaluate fairly.
Effective Comparisons:
- Feature comparison tables
- Pricing transparency
- Use case scenarios
- Pros and cons of approaches
- When each solution makes sense
Use Social Proof
Show others' success.
Social Proof Types:
- Customer testimonials
- Case studies with results
- Customer logos and count
- User reviews and ratings
- Industry recognition
Make Evaluation Easy
Reduce friction in learning about your solution.
Tactics:
- Self-service product tours
- Freemium or trial options
- Comprehensive documentation
- Responsive support chat
- Sandbox environments
Address Common Objections
Pre-emptively handle concerns.
Common Consideration Objections:
- "Switching is too complicated"
- "Current solution is good enough"
- "Your solution is too expensive"
- "We're not sure about ROI"
- "Implementation will take too long"
Common Consideration Stage Mistakes
Overly Promotional Content
Salesy content turns off evaluators.
Problem:
- Constant selling language
- Missing objective information
- No balanced comparisons
- Hype over substance
One-Size-Fits-All
Generic content doesn't address specific needs.
Problem:
- Same content for all industries
- Generic use cases
- No role-specific messaging
- Missing personalization
Ignoring Stakeholder Differences
Different stakeholders need different information.
Problem:
- Same content for technical and economic buyers
- One-size-fits-all messaging
- Missing stakeholder-specific concerns
Key Takeaways
- Consideration stage = middle-of-funnel where prospects evaluate solutions
- 60-75% of research happens before sales contact
- Prospects compare 3-5 solutions, engage multiple stakeholders
- Content: comparison guides, case studies, webinars, ROI calculators, trials
- Metrics: content engagement, return visits, demo requests
- Strategy: educational content, lead nurturing, matched sales outreach
- Provide: comparison content, social proof, easy evaluation, objection handling
- Avoid: overly promotional, generic content, ignoring stakeholder differences
- Match content to stage: awareness (educational) → consideration (comparative) → decision (validation)
- Consideration to decision conversion: 25-50% typically
- Best opportunity to influence evaluation criteria and preferences
- Nurture during consideration to accelerate decision timeline
Sources:
Related Terms
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
Total sales and marketing spend divided by new customers. Lower is better.
Cadence
Sequence and timing of touchpoints in outreach campaign.
Call-to-Action (CTA)
Specific action you want prospect to take. Clear CTA improves conversion.
CAN-SPAM Act
US law regulating commercial email. Requires opt-out mechanism and sender identification.
