Customer awareness stages

Customer awareness stages describe how much a visitor already knows when they arrive: unaware of the problem, problem aware, solution aware, product aware, or most aware and ready to buy.

Why it matters

A page written for one stage loses visitors at another. Someone who just learned they have a problem needs the problem named first; someone comparing vendors wants proof and price. Where visitors come from usually tells you their stage.

How to get it right

• Work out the stage from the traffic source: brand search is late, a social ad about a problem is early.
• Open the page where the visitor is: the problem for early stages, the offer for late ones.
• Use separate pages or headlines for traffic at very different stages.

Common mistakes

• Leading with features for visitors who don't know they have the problem yet.
• Explaining the problem at length to visitors who are ready to buy.