As a savvy marketer you know that it’s important to understand who you’re talking to before you hire a copywriter and ask them to write your next brochure, Web site or blog post. However, it’s also important to know more than demographics . . . even more than lifestyle information.
Do you know your target market’s state of awareness about your product or service? What is their present state of knowledge about it and the satisfaction that it performs?
Just like a promotion that speaks to single women 45-55 years of age most likely won’t catch the attention of a teenage girls, a headline that works to a market in one stage of awareness will not work to a market in another stage of awareness. With the help of my mentor, the late Eugene Schwartz, here are various awareness levels from his book Breakthrough Advertising:
1. Fully Aware (the easiest market to address) – they know about your product – what it does – and know that they want it. They just haven’t gotten around to buying it yet.
2. Not Completely Aware – they know about your product but aren’t completely aware of everything it does, or not convinced of how well it does it, or haven’t yet been told how much better it does it now. This, according to Mr. Schwartz, is “the great bulk of all advertising.” Some examples of here include: “Joy – the costliest perfume in the world” or “At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in a Rolls Royce is the electric clock.”
3. Less aware – they either know or recognize immediately that they want what the product does; but don’t yet know that there is a product – your product – that will do it for them.
4. Completely unaware (most difficult market) – they are either not aware of their desire or need – or they won’t honestly admit it to themselves without being lead into it by your ad – or the need is their own secret that just can’t be verbalized yet.
How aware are you when it comes to understanding how aware your prospects are? Give this some thought as you’re putting together your marketing plan. Then, when you’re ready to sit down with your creative team, you’ll be equipped with the information you need to pass on to get a great job done.
Please share your thoughts in the comment section below because I’d love to hear from you. Thanks a million and here’s to your sweet success.
Need assistance in writing attention-getting content for your next brochure, blog post or Web site? Head to The Write Direction. Feel free to give me a call at (303) 443-1942 or e-mail me for your complimentary quote today.
