How to Reach Customers in Different Awareness Levels and Get Them to Listen to You
What is your prospect thinking the moment they land on your advertisement?
Would they recognize the solution that you’re offering?
Would they relate to the words you used to describe their pain?
Would they recognize the name of your product?
Knowing the “awareness level” of your prospects will help you decide how to start the conversation, what to present in your headlines or subject lines, and how to lead them towards a sale.
You may have heard of Eugene Schwartz’s “Stages of Awareness” before. For those who haven’t, here’s a quick summary. There are 5 different states:
Unaware customers have not identified their pain or problem yet. They also don’t know your brand or that you offer a solution for it.
Pain-aware customers understand their pain and recognize a problem, but they don’t know there are solutions for it.
Solution-aware customers are starting to see that there are answers for the problem they are facing.
Product-aware customers would recognize your product or service as one of the answers to their pain/problem.
Most-aware customers consider you to be one of the best solutions out there; and would be ready to buy your product.
You can see how knowing your prospect’s state of awareness is critical to writing effective copy. You will know what to say to move your prospect to the bottom of the sales funnel.
In this article, we’ll talk about how to reach buyers with different awareness levels and facilitate their journey, so they ultimately buy your product or service!
But first thing’s first, how do you know what to say to them?
Step 1: Identify Your Customer’s Current State of Awareness
Follow these research tips to identify your customer’s current state.
1) Ask Them Why They Didn’t Buy
Colgate creating a poll or a comment box on their website and simply asked their customers why they didn’t buy:
Remember to make it easy for customers to give out their answers, like this one from Allplants:
There’s nothing better than getting the answers from your actual customers.
2) Mine Online Forums & Review Sections
If you want validation from your research or need to expedite the process, the review sections of apps and online courses similar to your offering or online forums such as Quora & Reddit like this one are great places to start with:
These spaces promote sharing of personal opinions, so they are typically reliable for getting honest answers.
Now that you have a great idea of your buyer’s journey, it’s time to meet them where they are.
Knowing what their actual experiences are through research helps you facilitate their journey.
Step 2: Communicate According to Your Client’s Level of Awareness and Move them Actively to the Next Stage
Getting a customer to listen to you takes more than writing a witty caption or designing attractive social posts. You need to step into their shoes to engage them properly.
Even when you passionately discuss your fitness program’s list of benefits, it wouldn’t make a lasting impact on them when they are not aware that they need to lose weight in the first place.
You wouldn’t make a lasting impact on them no matter how passionate you seem when discussing your fitness program when they are not aware that they need to lose weight in the first place.
So how do you capture and actively move your customers along the bottom of the sales funnel?
Be intentional. Create content informed by your market research and should prime customers to the next level.
I’ll list down types of content that you can use for every journey your customers are in:
1. Unaware stage.
Generally, unaware customers need more education before you get to sell to them.
According to the Founder of Amplify Digital Marketing Ltd, Jonathan Hedger, it takes seven interactions with your brand before a customer purchases your product.
So, educational content such as blog posts is an excellent starter for buyers of this stage.
A good example would be Healthyplace’s blog:
Healthyplace provides psychological services. For their unaware buyers, they decided to publish a blog focusing on coping when having Depression without telling the readers that they have it for their unaware buyers. It talks about subtle signs and making their way to the hearts of the readers by giving tips.
2. Problem aware.
Buyers of this stage have a lot of questions as they just recently knew they have a problem. This is not yet the time to introduce your product or service.
Craft educational content that answers your buyer’s question (from your market research).
Take Sleepjunkies content, for example:
3. Solution aware.
Your content for this stage should do the job of getting your product on your client’s radar slowly. This stage is not yet for your offering promotions.
Your buyers are only starting to get to know you and what you have to offer, so you have to allow them to get to know you warmly so as not to scare them.
The types of content that can introduce your brands are testimonials and case studies like this one from Shannon Ashley:
It’s not enough for introduction if you want to move them to the next stage actively. You have to show your potential clients that your methods work as well.
You can also do webinars like this one from Make Your Body Work:
4. Product aware.
You now have to take your content up a notch when you reach your buyers of this stage. This is where they have shortlisted potential solutions to their problems, but you are not the only one on the list.
Your job is to make sure you stand out from your competition. The types of content you can use for this stage are in-depth looks, demos, comparison videos, or reviews like this one from Ultimateperformace:
5. The most aware stage.
You have proved that you are the best solution, so a little nudging can help you move your clients to take action.
This is where you can finally offer generous discounts, freebies, and any promotion you can think of.
Take the Life Fitness Gym ad for example:
And this example from Life Fitness Centre:
You don’t need to say too much at this stage. Buyers know you and are just waiting for you to poke them a little.
Doing market research and using them for communicating is an excellent investment when you want to reach a wide range of customers. It might be your perfect solution to converting them!
Need Help Reaching Different Customers?
I’m confident that I could help you get some clarity on your copywriting and marketing strategy pretty quickly.
No pressure, no sales tricks.
I love connecting with health and wellness professionals for short calls offering up my expertise to:
Build up my network
See if I can help anyone on a longer-term basis
To just get out there and serve (I’ve found that good things happen to people who put service first)
If you’re interested in having a chat, you can select a time that works for you by clicking here to book your call:
