5 Strategies to Win New Clients at the Consideration Stage
José María Lopez
Helping companies to find clients, engage customers and grow revenues | Marketing | Speaker | Writer
The first goal of a marketer is to connect via touchpoints with customers during the buyer’s cycle. This article explains how to win potential clients when they are actively looking for your product on Google.
If your products are in the initial consideration set, they can be up to three times more likely to be purchased.
Because customers control the consideration stage, pull marketing is your best strategy at this stage. Pull marketing naturally draws consumer interest in your brand with relevant information.?
People usually compare alternatives during the consideration stage to know if your product fits them. Depending on your industry you will find more or fewer competitors:
Image Source:?McKinsey
Did you know that around two-thirds of touchpoints during the consideration stage involve consumer-driven activities? The main consumer-driven activities are:
Image Source: McKinsey
How customers search for information during the consideration stage
Customers at the Consideration Stage usually tend to search for Navigational queries. Navigational search queries mean the intention of the user to go to a specific website. These queries combine brand-specific terms and navigational phrases.
Brand Specific Terms: Brand Name, Product Name, or Service Name
Navigational Phrases: Near me, Features, or Reviews
Some examples of navigational search queries are:
Your goal is to be on the first page of the search results when a user tries to navigate to your website. Have you ever tried to search for your business on Google? Is your company’s site at the top of related navigational search results?
Now, I will use Google Incognito and evaluate the results of the following navigational search queries:
ASICs running shoes
Who is competing for these keywords?
We noticed that 100% of results come from the official website of ASICS: Men’s Running Shoes, Women’s Running Shoes, Official U.S. Site, Running Shoes, Running Shoes, ASICS UK, and Men’s Clearance.
ASICs has a network of retailers around the world, and the first page on Google includes stores located nearby.
GETAC rugged laptops
The results of this query show some web pages from the official site and some eCommerce platforms and distributors’ webpages. This is logical. GETAC has a large network of resellers and distributors.??
Official Website: Rugged laptops, durable in Extreme Conditions; X500 Rugged Notebook, Getac Technology Corporation Solution, and Getac Technology (US)
Ecommerce: Amazon.com, Avadirect.com, and Toughruggedlaptops.com
Distributors: Glaciercomputer.com and Milcomputing.com
Wera screwdriver sets
What about Vera? There is only one official webpage on the first page of Google. The other results come from online stores, eCommerce, and distributors.
In my opinion, Wera should craft and publish more content on their website to attract visitors. Bringing traffic to a website has many advantages, and the first one is the possibility to get qualified leads.
Official Website: Screwdriver Set-Wera
Ecommerce/Online Store: Ebay.co.uk, Toolstation.com, and Screwfix.com
Distributor: MSCdirect.com and Kctool.com
5 Best Practices for the Consideration Stage
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Increase organic traffic to your website.
Craft content including navigational keywords such as:
I recommend producing content optimized for search. If your potential clients look for additional information about your products, they will easily find it. You will generate traffic to your website and your company will rank on the first page of Google Search.?
You can hire someone to write more in-depth content that guides users through the process of solving their problems. This content should be actionable and filled with images, examples, and step-by-step instructions. Here is your must-have list:
Collaborate with influencers and affiliate marketers
Your product will have more chances to show up on Google if you collaborate with influencers. Ask them to talk about your product in exchange for free samples, fees, or commissions.?
This collaboration is very effective because their websites attract a lot of visitors and they are considered authorities in the industry. Consequently, your client will find your product easily and he will be more confident about this third-party recommendation. Here are some ideas about potential collaborations with influencers:
Advertising campaigns
You can run ad campaigns (pay-per-click ads) using your company name as a keyword for navigational search queries related to you. It is a very effective way to make sure you own your own brand’s navigational query.
Some site owners use ads even when they are already organically at the top of navigational search results related to them. The site appears in both the top organic spot and as the top sponsored result in a search for the company name.
Image source. Wordstream
Distributors and online stores?
Depending on your industry and your business you may need to collaborate with distributors, resellers, or online stores to sell your products.
It is important to monitor the way your partners show your products and review the information provided, and the keywords used. They should upload promotional videos, FAQs, and catalogs. This information can help to show up your product on the first page of Google
Google My Business
The?Google My Business?account is free. It helps you to connect with customers across Google Search and Maps. Your potential clients can connect with you by calling or messaging. You can measure the number of calls, website clicks, direction requests, followers, bookings… Google My Business is simply a must-have for every business.
Conclusion
Businesses should have a pull marketing mindset to connect with their audiences at the consideration stage. At this stage, consumers will use navigational search queries to get more info on potential solutions to their problems.
We studied the results of different navigational search queries and we noticed that Google shows up four types of results: the official websites of those companies, e-commerce platforms, Google My Business Results, and some distributors’ websites.
The 5 best strategies during this stage are:
Do you have other ideas? Please share them with us!
P.S. Before you go, you may also be interested in the following articles:
POST WRITTEN BY
Jose Maria (Chema) Lopez
A Madrid Polytechnic University International MBA has worked as global marketing director in B2B and B2C international leading companies implementing global marketing and communication strategies to ensure business objectives and to optimize brands reputation and visibility on a global level.