New benchmark data from On Device finds media channels are playing increasingly distinct roles across the funnel, with consideration now the hardest metric to shift. Awareness is cheap to buy and purchase intent spikes near the moment. The messy middle, where people decide you are worth thinking about, is where the work now sits.
Awareness gets you seen. Consideration gets you thought about. They are different jobs, and only one of them is getting harder.
New benchmark analysis from On Device finds that media channels are playing increasingly distinct roles across the funnel, and that consideration is now the hardest metric to shift. Awareness can be bought. Purchase intent spikes when someone is close to the moment. The bit in between, where a person moves from knowing you exist to actually weighing you up, is where the resistance now lives.
That matters because most businesses spend as if the funnel is one job. It is not. Each stage responds to different work, and pouring more awareness budget into a consideration problem is like shouting louder at someone who already heard you and is not convinced.
Why it matters
Consideration is the stage where a customer decides you belong on the shortlist. It is built on proof, reputation and relevance, not reach. You cannot buy your way to it with impressions the way you can buy awareness. That is exactly why it is the hardest to move, and why the businesses that crack it are hard to catch.
For Australian businesses, the practical read is about where the budget is misfiring. If your awareness is strong but sales are soft, the leak is usually in the middle. People know you. They are just not convinced you are the right choice. Throwing more top-of-funnel spend at that does nothing. The channel doing awareness cannot do the job of the channel doing consideration.
The funnel is one word most businesses treat as one job. It is at least three, and the middle is the hardest
What to do about it
Diagnose which stage is actually failing. Strong awareness and weak sales usually means a consideration problem, not a reach problem.
Match the channel to the job. Reach channels build awareness. Proof, reviews and comparison content build consideration.
Feed the middle with evidence. Case studies, reviews and specifics move consideration in a way that more impressions never will.
Stop over-investing in the stage that is already working. If everyone knows you, another awareness campaign is wasted money.
Measure each stage on its own terms. Judging a consideration channel on reach hides whether it is doing its actual job.
The funnel was never one motion, and this data makes the point sharper. Awareness and intent are getting easier to influence. The middle is getting harder. The businesses that win are the ones who work out which stage is broken and spend on that, rather than buying more of the thing that was never the problem.