The five stages of awareness that’ll help you sell whatever it is you offer.

I’m currently at my kitchen table, jotting down this soon-to-be essay just moments before heading out.

All because, if I leave now, I’m afraid I’ll forget not what I wanted to share, but rather its cadence and flow.

There’s nothing like being the odd one out amidst an inside joke.

You’re an outsider in this brief moment, yet you’ll live.

You simply were just not aware of neither the context nor the foundation that led to the creation of the inside joke.

The reason I’m sharing this with you is because, in that moment, the five stages of awareness crawled across the ceiling in the attic that is my head.

One of the best copywriters to grace this earth, Eugene Schwartz, coined the five stages of awareness; these stages are super helpful when crafting copy, brainstorming ads and getting to know your customers.

The first stage in this set of easy-to-understand stages is someone who’s unaware.

Like me during the happening of an inside joke, I was simply unaware, meaning, I didn’t know the context.

In the context of copy and marketing, your efforts need to be educational and informative.

Your targeted audience is unaware that they even have a problem, let alone searching for solutions to fix said problem, so trying to sell to them in this stage will lead to sales resistance.

Your call to action here should just be to inform them that a problem exists, followed by where they can learn more.

Once you’ve shared with them the issues you solve without directly mention your solution, your targeted audience is now aware that a problem exists.

You now have their brief attention and have moved them to the next stage: problem aware.

In this stage, your copy, content and creatives need to empathize—key word empathize—with them about their issues.

“It’s not your fault…”, “How could you have known?”, “This is something that nobody talks about…”, “It never has to be that way again…”

Whether you’re absolving them of responsibility for good or for bad that’s up to you; I’m just the messenger.

Using reviews that illustrate an experience that’s enlightening to the user works here, not reviews that are focused on quality or specific features; aim for emotions, not literal, if possible.

Feel free to get creative here; create before-and-after content with call-to-actions centered around learning more.

Okay, so you’ve taken someone from unaware to problem aware; the next step is not to get them to buy, but to get them aware that your solution exists and is acceptable: solution aware.

My two cents: it’s one thing to exist—it’s another to be deemed acceptable.

Think of it like this: I’m not trying to convince you that electric cars make sense; I’m sharing with you that electric cars exist, people use them and they use them in these ways.

“This is how it was done in the past, done now and will always be done.”

Once they’re in this solution aware stage, here is where you can showcase your product or services.

However it’s relevant to your industry, demonstrate your offering through tutorials, demos or giving them free samples at Costco.

Whatever allows them to experience your product or service without having to fully commit can work here.

Okay, jumping into the next stage: product aware.

They’re already aware that they have a problem and that solutions exist—it’s time to come off as salesy, hammer in some reviews and some compelling evidence like 7 out of 11 doctors approve of whatever the hell you’re selling.

Compare your product to others and why it’s better—if you’ve built up a ton of authority from the previous stages, there shouldn’t be any fear in them running off to someone else.

Now being in the last stage of the awareness funnel, most aware, they’re primed to buy.

Here you’re restating key benefits, qualities, and all that good stuff, concluding with whatever special promos, discounts or incentives you’ve tested that would work best.

Sprinkle in the words ‘limited’ or ‘while supplies last’ or ‘offer ends in two seconds’ and consider them sold.

Abruptly ending it here—there you have it, the five stages of awareness, courtesy of Eugene Schwartz.

— George