Back in 1966, copywriting legend Eugene Schwartz wrote an incredible book called ‘Breakthrough Advertising’. In it, he shared many fantastic insights – insights which allowed him to sell over a ONE BILLION (yes, that’s not a mistake!) dollars worth of products in his lifetime.
I managed to get hold of his book a while back and while the entire book is full of gold, one thing in particular really stood out for me – and that’s the the market awareness model.
The Market-Awareness model is so incredibly simple, yet the ingenuity of why it’s so powerful does indeed lie in its simplicity. Eugene mentioned 5 levels of awareness that prospects have in relation to your products and services – and how you communicate with your market is very much determined by the stage in which your prospect is at.
These 5 stages move from unaware – problem aware – solution aware – product aware and finally most aware (or hyper aware of you and your solutions). The more aware someone is of you, the less work is needed to move that person from a prospect to a buyer.
So what do each of these stages actually mean and how is this relevant to the way in which you communicate with your market? To help answer this, I found this diagram online which neatly summarises the key points of what you need to know:
- The Unaware Stage – The majority of your market. This group of people are completely unaware of the problem your product solves. In fact, they have no idea you exist, which means that even though they are your target market, they have no idea who you are and what you can do for them. To move someone from being unaware to most aware requires a LOT of education and hard work. Pull people in with stories, case studies, excellent content that speaks to general issues the potential prospects are facing.
- Problem Aware Stage – People who fall into this segment of your market are aware they have a problem and they know they need to have it fixed. However, at this stage, they have no idea you are the solution for them. This is where you amp up your marketing and take it up a notch – videos and webinars would work really well at this stage.
- Solution Aware Stage – These people know there are several solutions for their problem, but they don’t know about your product or service. This group of people are actively looking to have their problem solved and so to ensure they make the right decision, you need to hit them with facts and figures and case studies etc to move them to the next stage…
- Product Aware Stage – At this stage in the game, prospects know you and your competitors and are making a decision of what to do and who to go with. Hit them with deals, discounts, free trials and demonstrations of HOW you can help them.
- Most Aware Stage – This is where your prospect is ready to make a purchase but hasn’t yet done so for whatever reason. This is the time to WOW your prospects and really amp up the product and value of it. Focus on how this will transform their lives and what their life will look like once they have used your solution.
All prospects start at the unaware stage and move through the entire spectrum. When they have become a buyer, they have been convinced enough to give you a try.
What’s interesting is that the unaware is the bulk of your market and as you move through the stages, you’ll get fewer and fewer people until you get to the buying stage. In terms of ads on Facebook for example, your market might be around 1 million… but by the time you got leads into your funnel, you have around 1000 leads… and as they move through the stages, your actual buyers might be around 10% of the total number of leads.
At each stage of awareness, you need to educate, persuade and increase the desire for your product until it tips your prospect into becoming a paying customer. The more someone knows you, the more they trust and like you. The more your prospects ‘warm up to you’, the greater the likelihood of them buying from you.
This is why sales from cold traffic are always lower than sales from warm and hot traffic. And it’s also one of the reasons why I’m a massive fan of content marketing. The more touch points you have with your audience, the easier it is to move them from being a total stranger to a raving fan.
