{"id":8069,"date":"2020-10-02T21:00:29","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T21:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/?p=8069"},"modified":"2020-10-02T21:01:12","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T21:01:12","slug":"write-better-copy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/?p=8069","title":{"rendered":"How to Write Better Copy with the 5 Stages of Awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is one critical question you should always ask before writing an email, ad, or any kind of sales copy:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do my prospects know?\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. About my\u00a0product<\/span><\/strong>?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. About the\u00a0problem<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0I solve?<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. About their\u00a0need<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0to solve it?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There are 5 potential answers, and each one dictates the exact points\/topics your copy needs to address in order to connect with your audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In this post, I\u2019m going to show you what they are using real examples.<\/span><\/p>\n

    First, back to the question itself:\u00a0\u201cWhat do my prospects know?\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

    The 5 answers to this question are known as the 5 Levels of Awareness, a concept invented by legendary copywriter Eugene Schwartz:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Most Aware:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u201cSup fam!\u201d \ud83d\ude0d<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Product Aware:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI know you!\u201d \ud83d\udc4b<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Solution Aware:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI’ve heard of it\u201d \ud83e\udd14<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Problem Aware:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThis sucks!\u201d \ud83d\ude21<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Unaware:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u201cLife is good yo!\u201d \ud83d\ude00 \ud83c\udf6d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Learn which stage your prospects are in and writing effective copy gets way easier.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Let\u2019s zoom in.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Stage #1: Most Aware<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\ud83d\ude0d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

      Who Is It:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0People who already know and want your product.<\/span><\/p>\n

      What Your Copy Should Do:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Remind them of your product<\/span><\/li>\n
      2. Review and display price<\/span><\/li>\n
      3. Highlight features and benefits<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Example:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

        \"\"

        Don\u2019t overcomplicate things for your Most Aware prospects. Give \u2018em the offer, hit the key benefits, and get out of the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

        I would expect this kind of ad to be targeted at people who have already visited the product\u2019s sales or pricing page.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Stage #2: Product Aware<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\ud83d\udc4b<\/span><\/h2>\n

        Who Is It:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0People who know your product but aren\u2019t sure yet if it\u2019s right for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

        What Your Copy Should Do:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Remind them of product<\/span><\/li>\n
        2. Remind them of price<\/span><\/li>\n
        3. Mention specific applications<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Example:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

          \"\"

          Similar to the \u201cMost Aware\u201d ad, but notice the second underlined section reminds prospects who the product is for and its specific applications.<\/span><\/p>\n

          The paragraph above that also spends a little time handling common objections (\u201cno technical or design skills needed\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

          Stage #3: Solution Aware<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\ud83e\udd14<\/span><\/h2>\n

          Who Is It:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0People who know the results they want but aren\u2019t aware your product gets them those results.<\/span><\/p>\n

          What Your Copy Should Do:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Address the need<\/span><\/li>\n
          2. Present product as solution<\/span><\/li>\n
          3. Leave out price<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Example:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

            \"\"

            The first two ads led with price\/offer. The 3rd stage of awareness is where you start to see an earlier emphasis on the\u00a0need<\/span><\/em>\u00a0since prospects are not as familiar with your product.<\/span><\/p>\n

            Meet prospects where they are. Call out the need and\u00a0then<\/span><\/em>\u00a0show why your product is the best way to address it.<\/span><\/p>\n

            Stage #4: Problem Aware<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\ud83d\ude21<\/span><\/h2>\n

            Who Is It:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0People who know they have a problem but aren\u2019t aware that any product exists to solve it.<\/span><\/p>\n

            What Your Copy Should Do:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Focus on problem<\/span><\/li>\n
            2. Build desire to resolve it<\/span><\/li>\n
            3. Offer a solution<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Example:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

              \"\"

              Any sales rep who sees this ad is likely to have some level of interest in Drift\u2019s product\u2014eventually.<\/span><\/p>\n

              But if they don\u2019t know about it yet, it is easier to get their attention by focusing on something they DO know about\u2014that monthly sales quota they\u2019re struggling to hit.<\/span><\/p>\n

              This ad picks at a nagging problem and then offers a clear solution. The perfect formula for \u201cProblem Aware\u201d people.<\/span><\/p>\n

              Stage #5: Unaware<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\ud83d\ude00 \ud83c\udf6d<\/span><\/h2>\n

              Who Is It:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0People who are totally unaware of the problem and have no existing desire to fix it.<\/span><\/p>\n

              What Your Copy Should Do:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Address problem\/need<\/span><\/li>\n
              2. Present product<\/span><\/li>\n
              3. Present compelling offer<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Example:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

                \"\"

                It\u2019s tough to find true \u201cUnaware\u201d ads in the wild, but this one comes close.<\/span><\/p>\n

                Notice how it starts with a question that TONS of people could have: what\u2019s it really like to be a freelance writer?<\/span><\/p>\n

                He channels the answer to that question into the kinds of benefits and desires many people have, regardless whether they have a specific problem or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

                More money, more freedom, a better living that won\u2019t require an advanced degree.<\/span><\/p>\n

                Then he caps it off with a low-cost offer that\u2019s more likely to appeal to unfamiliar prospects than whatever his more expensive flagship product is.<\/span><\/p>\n

                Your Takeaways:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. Always identify which stage of awareness your prospect is in before writing any copy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                    \n
                  1. Create variations of your messaging to hit multiple stages of awareness (for example, run different ads for different audiences on FB; make sure your launch sequence contains emails that speak to different types of prospects; etc.).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    Have you written something for a specific stage of awareness recently? Leave a comment with a link to your example.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                    There is one critical question you should always ask before writing an email, ad, or any kind of sales copy:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}