The Five Stages of Customer Awareness
Do your customers know they need what you're selling?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
There are Five Stages of Customer Awareness: the progression a potential customer makes from not recognizing a problem to becoming deeply familiar with a specific product. The five stages are Problem Unaware, Problem Aware, Solution Aware, Product Aware, and Most Aware. Understanding where a customer sits in this progression is essential, because effective marketing does not just promote a product. It helps people recognize their own challenges, discover that solutions exist, and identify a specific product as the right one for them.
“Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese monk and peace activist
If you couldn’t tell yet, I’m a bit of an optimist. I love nonprofits and support many on a recurring basis, but I also believe for-profit organizations can be an incredible force for good. A business adds value by its very existence because every transaction is a sign that someone found what it offered worthwhile. After all, why would anyone trade their money for goods or services if they didn’t see value in them?
Of course, as the saying from Spider-Man reminds us, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Too often, individuals and organizations with power fail to use it wisely. That is precisely why I am passionate about building and supporting all organizations that use their influence to actively benefit others.
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, once said, “There’s no point in starting a company unless you want to make a contribution to society.” The optimist in me agrees, but the pragmatist recognizes a challenge. Many founders create products that are genuinely useful and solve real problems, yet their companies still fail to gain traction.
A great product combined with great marketing can create an enormous contribution to society. But a great product with poor marketing often results in wasted potential and wasted resources.
People need to know your brand exists.
Let me share a simple statistic with you, one that requires no citation: Your company will sell zero products if zero people know you’re selling them…