Another week, another episode of “Stages of Awareness in Marketing” series. Possibly the single most important concept you need to know if you want to sell more through words. Simply put, you need to be aware of where your prospect is in their buyer journey and write your marketing message (copy) based on that.
Week 4 upon us, and we’re finally tilting to the left side of the scale where advertising gets easier and easier.
At the Product Aware stage, we’re talking about people who already know that the solution for their problem is a certain type of product or service.
According to Gene Schwartz, from whom the concept of Awareness Stages comes, “Here, your prospect isn’t completely aware of all your product does, or isn’t’ convinced how well it does it, or hasn’t yet been told how much better it does it now”
Your job is to show why you’re the best to provide them with and why overall it stands above the rest.
The good news is that because this group is very aware, they’ve got a big buying potential. Many of these prospects sit on the fence and all they need is an extra nudge, that extra bit of reassurance and/or information.
So what does your copy look like at this stage?
Show your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and paint the picture of how it could bring value to someone’s life through short- and long term benefits,
Now, you might wanna say “How can I do all of that if my products are nothing unique in reality” and that’s a fair point. Especially in the world of eCommerce, standing out may be quite tricky.
If that’s the case, you can do three things.
- Compete on price in the race to the bottom (not recommended)
- Outcompete competitors by offering more perks (this heightens the perceived value of your products)
- Offer better service and guarantees (which has the same effect as the former)
A few “classic” examples of copy at the “Product Aware Stage”
- “At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in a Rolls Royce is the electric clock”
- “In Boston, the no.1 tea-drinking city, the no.1 tea is Salada”
- “World’s only dog food that makes its own gravy—Gaines Gravy Train”
Some modern examples:
We can also safely assume that most emails are at that stage too (people who sign up for a newsletter already have some sort of intent to buy).
Stay tuned for the next (and last) episode next week where you’ll learn about the most aware prospects.
Now, here’s the next step you might consider…
If you’ve got a weird feeling that you’re leaving money on the table because people skip past your emails/ads and you want an extra set of trained, brown and charming eyeballs to look at your stuff, I might be the guy you want to schedule for a free copy-audit. You can book it here: https://calendly.com/oscarolczakcopywriting/30min
Alternatively , you can share this article with someone you think could benefit from reading it or leave a comment below. Because why not.