The 5 stages of awareness are the ultimate marketing framework

"Speak to your audience in a way that resonates with them."

I always found this advice too abstract and have struggled with actually implementing it.

But I've now found a framework that works incredibly well for me: The Five Stages of Awareness. It's taken from Eugene Schwartz's 1966 book "Breakthrough Advertising".

I use it for everything: from coming up with marketing activities on a strategic level to writing the specific copy for a landing page.

The idea is simple: People are at different stages of knowing about their problems and the solutions available. Your job in marketing is to guide them to the next stage. And only that.

Here are the five stages:

1. Unaware: People don't even know they have a problem or need.
2. Problem Aware: People know they have a problem, but don't know there's a solution.
3. Solution Aware: People know there are solutions, but don't know your product is one of them.
4. Product Aware: People know your product, but don't know it's right for them.
5. Most Aware: People know your product and just need a push to buy.

The key is to only talk to people at the stage they're at. If someone is unaware of their problem, don't talk about your product. Instead, talk about the problem. If someone knows about your product, don't talk about the problem. Talk about your product.

Coming up with marketing activities

Originally, the Five Stages of Awareness are a copywriting framework. But I've found that it's a great way to come up with new ideas for marketing activities outside your comfort zone. Here's how:

How I do it

I go through the five stages backwards. Starting with the "Most Aware" stage.

Imagine you're a potential customer at the "Most Aware" stage. You've evaluated the product and everything is great, but something is keeping you from buying. What could be the push you need to buy?

Then go to the "Product Aware" stage. What would make you realize that this product is right for you?

And so on.

Next steps

There are many nuances to this approach, so if you want to learn more, I highly recommend Rob Walling's video on the 5 stages of awareness.

I've also done a deep dive into the topic on my blog where I cover when to be in education mode and when in sales mode. I also list examples to get you started:

https://tractionroad.com/blog/the-five-stages-of-awareness/

Does anyone else use the Five Stages of Awareness in their marketing?