10 Middle of Funnel Marketing Strategies To Improve Consideration

by Cat Hausler

8 Min Read

It’s easier than ever to create ads with specific messaging to target different customers. Tools including social media, digital ads, and Connected TV (CTV) let you create multiple messages that appeal to people at different stages of their buyer journey. These middle-of-the-funnel marketing strategies can help you nudge people in this stage down your sales funnel.

What Is Middle of Funnel Marketing?

People in the middle stage of their journey to buying your product or service know about your brand and are interested in learning more. At this stage of funnel building, your ads should foster engagement and allow you to build a trusting relationship with new customers who know you but aren’t ready to take the leap and buy.

When targeting this group of potential customers, create ads that highlight how your products or services meet the user’s needs. These ads should be persuasive and educational, as opposed to top-of-funnel marketing ads, which are more generic and intended to drive awareness rather than consideration.

As part of your sales funnel optimization strategy, there are many ways to effectively target people in the consideration funnel. Here are 10 of our favorites.

1. Retargeting Ads

A retargeting ad is aimed at people who have previously visited your website. You can run retargeting ads on social media, as banners on websites, and even on Connected TV. All you need to do is add a pixel to your website. Then, when people engage with the site, they will be added to your list for retargeting ads.

List-based retargeting is another option in which you can target existing members of your email list. With this method, you create an email list and upload it to your chosen ad platform which then sends targeted messages to people in your network. List-based retargeting is good for highly personalized ads directed to people with similar needs.

Create various ads based on user activity. For example, if someone started filling out your contact form without subscribing or sending a message, you could target them with a call to action to finish the action.

Your retargeting ads can also contain links to educational and informative content that will spur a user down the funnel. Or you can create ads with special deals and promotions encouraging potential customers to complete their purchases.

2. Email Marketing

Even now, email remains one of the most successful marketing strategies. Email marketing generates an average $40 return on investment for every $1 spent. It’s also the perfect channel for mid-funnel marketing because everyone on your email list signed up of their own accord.

Engage mid-funnel customers with curated emails containing product information or targeted content that aids them on their journey. Your email may include links to white papers or webinars with answers to frequently asked questions. When you’re selling to people at the consideration stage, don’t be too pushy. This is the time to paint the picture of how your products and services could benefit a potential customer.

3. Webinars

Webinars are excellent for mid-funnel marketing because they let you go in-depth on topics your potential customers want to hear about. With webinars, you can answer frequently asked questions and address potential buyer objections with an engaging presentation.

Popular webinars include product demonstrations. You may also create a webinar series with in-depth presentations about different product features. Potential customers can sign up to learn about the features that interest them or they can watch the whole series.

4. Free Trials or Demos

For some products and services, webinars have their limitations. Free trials and demos build on your consideration marketing content and give potential customers a chance to actually experience your product or service.

Free trials and demos are nothing new. Every clothing store has a fitting room so customers can try on the merch. Car shoppers usually go on test drives to see how a vehicle handles and other features that made them curious when they decided to go to the dealership.

Depending on your product or service, a free trial serves as a test drive to familiarize potential customers before they commit to the sale.

Middle-of-funnel marketing is all about establishing trust, and one of the best ways to do so is to rely on your existing customers. Most customers (88%) consult online reviews when considering a local business.

Social proof refers to reviews, case studies, client testimonials, and other evidence that real customers are satisfied with your business. You can weave social proof throughout your other consideration marketing tactics. Build social media posts around positive testimonials and invite your other customers to leave a review.

Create Connected TV ads that highlight specific customer success stories. Add reviews and ratings to your website. However you promote social proof, it is critical to creating a good relationship with new customers.

6. Content Upgrades

Content upgrades refer to opt-in offers through which people on your contact list can get specific, targeted content. For example, if you’re hosting a webinar, you might offer your product overview to the general public and send feature-specific content to those who opt-in to your email list.

Bonus content is a great way to generate warm leads including people in the consideration stage.

7. Segmentation

By segmenting your audience, you can create ads that appeal to people based on their interests. If you created an email campaign around a content upgrade, build a separate landing page on your website and track people who sign up using that offer.

In your general emails, add segmenting features to sort subscribers based on which parts of your message interest them. Add multiple categories to your email sign-up list to best segment your audience.

When you’ve identified specific leads as being in the middle of the sales funnel, you can create informative and engaging ads that entice them to interact further with your brand. You can even add people in the middle of the funnel to your retargeting list.

8. Sales Enablement

Sales enablement refers to the tools and content your sales team uses to boost their chances of making a sale. When your team targets people in the middle of the funnel, they can skip the introductions and focus their pitches on how your product or service will meet a potential customer’s needs.

This approach is most successful when your sales and marketing teams work together to create cohesive messages based on where potential customers are on their buyer journey. Content and pitches should give customers a well-rounded insight into your business.

9. Personalization

Since people in the middle of the funnel have interacted with your brand before, you can create personalized ads based on their needs and preferences. One way to do this is with the retargeting pixels we covered earlier.

For example, if you run an e-commerce site, you might use pixels to show retargeting ads that feature similar merchandise based on where the customer was looking on your site.

If your customers haven’t interacted with you before, you can still personalize their ads. Use your frequently asked questions and customer reviews to develop ads that showcase what people like about your brand and what they want to know about it.

10. Influencer Marketing

More than half of customers (61%) trust influencer recommendations. Partnering with influencers to promote your products and services can push people from the middle of the sales funnel straight to the bottom.

Influencer campaigns aren’t limited to social media. Feature popular influencers in your OTT advertising campaigns to drive people to your website. For instance, adtech solutions like MNTN Performance TV can help you create and launch CTV campaigns with detailed audience targeting similar to what you would find on social media and paid search.

With this tool, you can leverage the full potential of influencer marketing by targeting the middle of your funnel with memorable ads.

Related: 8 Benefits of a Sales Funnel for Your Business

How CTV Advertising Can Keep Your Funnel Full

In the past, television ads were limited to the channel on which they were being aired and the audience in front of the TV. You made educated guesses on where to place your ads and hoped that your generalized messages would resonate with people.

Connected TV takes this linear TV advertising strategy to the next level. Because CTV is a performance marketing channel similar to paid social or display, you can leverage mid-funnel ads to target people who already have some level of awareness.

Need help developing your CTV ad creative? QuickFrame by MNTN can help you to make impactful ads that speak to people in the consideration funnel. And, when you add MNTN Performance TV to your marketing mix, you’ll get access to valuable audience insights and campaign results that will help you refine each successive campaign.

Use our CTV platform to target specific audiences based on their interests, or serve retargeting ads with first-party data from a pixel on your website or from a CRM list. Additionally, prospecting is a breeze because you get all the benefits of video marketing with the insights of social media and digital ads. Over 80% of internet users stream and download videos, and MNTN gives you what you need to reach this captive audience.

Schedule a demo to see how it can work for you.

Mid-Funnel Marketing: Final Thoughts

Since people in the middle of the sales funnel already have some level of brand awareness, your advertising goals are different. With this audience, your aim is to build trust and offer a better understanding of how your products or services can benefit them.

The 10 consideration marketing strategies listed above offer effective solutions to giving mid-funnel buyers a deeper understanding of your products and services—potentially inspiring them to make a purchase. With some strategy, funnel-specific messaging, and an innovative performance marketing platform like MNTN, you can convert more of these leads.