What are the five levels of customer awareness? Why are these levels important to consider when selling a product?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you’ve chosen the specific customer need your headline will target, you need to find out how much they already know about your product. According to Eugene M. Schwartz in Breakthrough Advertising<\/em>, this will help you determine what type of information<\/a> you should put in your headline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s look at the different levels of customer awareness and how to create headlines for each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n According to Schwartz, customers move through five different levels of awareness as they learn more about your product.<\/strong> Each level of customer awareness determines how much information you must provide in the headline to get customers to consider your sales pitch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: Seth Godin (Purple Cow<\/em><\/a>) expands on why you should pay attention to customer awareness levels. Knowing exactly what customers already know about your product makes it easier to understand their perspective<\/em>\u2014how they judge your product<\/a>. This understanding helps you frame your content in a way that engages and educates customers. For example, customers unaware of a product\u2019s purpose don\u2019t understand its value\u2014so, when you show them the price up front, they might judge it as overpriced. However, when you know that customers don\u2019t understand your product<\/a>, you can sway them into perceiving it as a good deal by educating them on the product\u2019s value before<\/em> mentioning the price.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schwartz suggests that you should find out what level of awareness the majority of your customers currently <\/em>have and write a headline that caters to how much they know about your product<\/strong>. Let\u2019s explore his advice for crafting headlines for each awareness level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first level of customer awareness represents customers who don\u2019t recognize or acknowledge the need that your product satisfies<\/strong>. This means that they\u2019re either unaware of your product or don\u2019t care about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schwartz suggests that your headline should echo an emotion or an attitude that they can identify with. You can then use your copy to educate them on why they need your product. For example, when advertising a dating app, you could use the headline, \u201cHave you forgotten what it\u2019s like to be in love?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: Marketing experts expand on Schwartz\u2019s advice for appealing to customers<\/a> who don\u2019t feel like they need your product. For a product to create a new desire in customers, it must have five characteristics<\/a>: newness, surprise, intricacy, mystery, and an ability to raise questions in the customer. For example, the iPhone is a notable example of a product that created a customer desire that hadn\u2019t existed before: Customers didn\u2019t want hand-held computers that could make calls and browse the internet because they didn\u2019t know it was possible. This changed in 2007 when Apple generated hype with an intriguing marketing campaign<\/a> that showcased the product\u2019s novelty.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second level of customer awareness represents customers who are aware that they require something<\/em> to fulfill the specific need your product satisfies<\/strong> but they don\u2019t yet know about any<\/em> potential solutions\u2014including yours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Schwartz suggests that your headline clearly defines the need you\u2019re targeting, convinces customers that they urgently need a solution, and then presents your product as the inevitable solution. For example, \u201cAre you tired of feeling alone and unwanted? Download our app and you\u2019ll never be single again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The third level of customer awareness represents customers who are aware of the need your product satisfies, and they know how they want to fulfill it<\/strong>. However, these customers don\u2019t know that your product can provide the solution they seek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schwartz suggests that your headline should emphasize three points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, \u201cSick of bad dates? Sign up for [app name] where all the good ones hang out!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fourth level of customer awareness represents customers who aren\u2019t sure that your product can fulfill their needs<\/strong>. This is because they either don\u2019t have enough information about your product, or they feel skeptical about the product information that they have seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To engage customers at this awareness level, Schwartz suggests that your headline should focus on achieving one of five objectives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) Reinforce their need for your product: <\/strong>For example, <\/strong>\u201cDon\u2019t waste your life waiting for the one<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Emphasize how good life will be once they\u2019ve purchased your product:<\/strong> For example, \u201cHave fun finding the love of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) Prove that your product can fulfill their need:<\/strong> For example, \u201cSparks more dates, relationships, and marriages than any other dating app.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4) Clarify how your product fulfills their need:<\/strong> For example, \u201cFind the perfect someone in your own city using GPS technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5) Suppress any doubts or concerns they might have about your product:<\/strong> For example, \u201cFind your match in six weeks or get a full refund.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: Customers often have doubts or concerns about completing a purchase when they\u2019re under the influence of a cognitive bias<\/a> called loss aversion: the tendency to worry more about what they might lose than to feel hopeful about what they might gain<\/a>. This means that customers tend to focus more on the amount of money that they might<\/em> lose<\/em> if the product fails to fulfill their needs, rather than the number of benefits they might enjoy<\/em> if the product succeeds. Marketing experts suggest that you can restrict the influence of this bias by offering customers a risk-free way to learn more about your product\u2014for instance, by offering free samples, trial periods, and discounts.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fifth level of customer awareness represents customers who already know about and want your product<\/strong>. They just require a little motivation to complete the purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schwartz suggests that since these customers already know about all of the features and benefits your product offers, your headline\u2019s primary focus should be on incentivizing customers to complete the purchase. For example, \u201cSign up now to get 75% off!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve figured out what your customers want and how aware they are of your product, find out how aware customers are of competitive products<\/strong>. This will help you determine how much emphasis to place on distinguishing your product from similar versions in the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s explore Schwartz\u2019s advice for distinguishing your product for two different types of customers<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Schwartz, if customers aren\u2019t aware of similar versions of your product, your headline should be as simple and direct as possible. For example, \u201cFinally, an effortless way to find love!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If customers are aware of a few<\/em> similar versions of your product, Schwartz suggests that, instead of inventing a new headline, you simply expand on your competitors\u2019 headlines and elaborate on why your product is better than all other versions. For example, if a competitor uses the headline, \u201cAn easy way to find love,\u201d you can expand on their claim with: \u201cThe fastest and easiest way to find love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If customers are aware of many<\/em> versions of your product, they won\u2019t be as receptive to new advertisements\u2014because they\u2019ve already heard all of the claims and have lost interest in this type of product. Schwartz suggests two ways your headline can revive customer interest in your product:<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: While the three research methods Schwartz suggests may help to distinguish your product, they\u2019re unlikely to change how customers feel about the first competing product they learned about. According to Al Ries and Jack Trout<\/a> (The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing<\/em><\/a>), when consumers learn about a new product, they unconsciously perceive the brand that first introduced the product as synonymous with the product itself<\/a>. For example, people often refer to tissues as Kleenex\u2014because Kleenex was the first brand to offer facial tissues. This form of attachment makes it difficult for new brands to change how customers feel about established brands with existing products\u2014even if the new brands offer superior products.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What are the five levels of customer awareness? Why are these levels important to consider when selling a product? Once you’ve chosen the specific customer need your headline will target, you need to find out how much they already know about your product. According to Eugene M. Schwartz in Breakthrough Advertising, this will help you determine what type of information you should put in your headline. Let’s look at the different levels of customer awareness and how to create headlines for each.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":59551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,103],"tags":[759],"class_list":["post-80159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","category-sales","tag-breakthrough-advertising","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nCustomer Awareness of Your Product<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Awareness #1: Customers Don\u2019t Feel Like They Need Your Product<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Awareness #2: Customers Feel a Need\u2014But Don\u2019t Know How to Fulfill It<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Awareness #3: Customers Know How They Want to Fulfill the Need Your Product Satisfies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Awareness #4: Customers Aren\u2019t Sure About Your Product <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Awareness #5: Customers Want Your Product<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Customer Awareness of Your Competitors\u2019 Products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Customer Group #1: Unaware of Competitive Products<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Customer Group #2: Aware of Competitive Products<\/h3>\n\n\n\n