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CraftNo. 87

Customer awareness stages

Eugene Schwartz identified five stages of customer awareness: Unaware (they don’t know they have a problem), Problem-aware (they feel the pain but don’t know solutions exist), Solution-aware (they know solutions exist but not yours), Product-aware (they know your product but aren’t convinced), and Most Aware (they know and trust you – they just need a nudge). Each stage demands radically different copy. Writing a features comparison for an unaware audience is a waste. Leading with the problem for someone who already knows your product is patronising. Identify the stage first, then write.

See also: AIDA; Take a single step; Focus on the reader

From Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene M. Schwartz

Try this

Identify which awareness stage your primary audience sits at. Now check your copy: does it speak to that stage, or does it assume more (or less) knowledge than your reader actually has?

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Craft

AIDA

First, you must get a reader’s attention, then capture their interest before arousing desire and, finally, encouraging action.

Persuasion

Take a single step

You wouldn’t ask a stranger for their hand in marriage, so don’t rush into propositioning a reader who barely knows you.

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Focus on the reader

People aren’t selfish.

Ideas

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Run a ten-minute sprint with Customer awareness stages as your prompt. Free, with no sign-in: it stays on your device.

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