What is the awareness stage? The awareness stage is usually the first stage in the Buyer’s Journey. The Buyer’s Journey is an analogy for how a prospect becomes a customer. The first part of this journey is awareness. This happens when a customer becomes aware of a problem or an opportunity for improvement. It does not necessarily mean that they are yet aware of your business as a solution, however.
Create Blog Posts Directly Addressing Possible Problems that your Product Solves
Blog posts are a great way to end up on one of the first pages of a google search. By using SEO, you could even end up being the first link that appears. Use a blog title that directly echoes the buyers question. For example, a question someone might google could be: How to get gum off my shoe? The title of the corresponding blog should be: How to get gum off your shoe (with one simple solution!). The blog title has to do more than just echo the question, however. It needs to add something that makes it more enticing and exciting. This is what will get you more clicks, and stand out from the competition.
If blog posts are not necessarily the vibe of your business’ website, still make some sort of content that will bring in people looking for the answer to their problem. Remember, people will not know to choose your product for their issue, if they do not know that your product even exists. That is what the awareness stage is all about, being aware of a problem and starting a search for a solution. And where do most people look for a solution when they have a problem? The internet! That is why it is so important to incorporate SEO into your marketing strategy. So whether it is a blog, a web page, or some other piece of engaging content, it needs to contain key words and outbound links to reputable sources in order to appear as one of the results to a search query.
Create Videos that Are Both Engaging and Helpful
While blog posts are a great way to increase your website’s SEO, odds are not all of your audience will be engaged with just blog posts. If you are segmenting your audience, which you should be, you should know that different parts of your audience will come to be aware of their problem in different ways. So in order to reach them you will need to diversify your marketing outreach.
Videos are a cutting edge marketing choice that is full of potential. But remember, you are not creating an advertisement. You are creating a video for someone who is looking for a solution to their problem. A format that may be helpful is a “how-to” video. Potential prospects may search for videos on YouTube, and if your how-to video shows up, you can place your product in the how-to video to
If how-to videos aren’t for you or your business’ product, that’s fine as well. Get creative, and get into your potential prospect’s shoes. If you had their problems, what would you search for to help you find a solution?
Create Infographics
Infographics are another great way to attract a prospect’s attention if they are not privy to reading blogs. Infographics, much like blogs, can appear at the top of a search with the right search engine optimization. Infographics are great because, by simply clicking on the image from a search, you can bring the lead directly onto a landing page.
Good infographics should be eye-catching, organized, and informative. Here is an example of an infographic that will catch the eye of new leads:
And aside from catching their eye, it will make them more curious about the solution. The goal is that they become more curious and request for more information or search for more information on your website.
Infographics can take on several different formats: “how-to,” pyramids, flowcharts, graphs. But all should directly address the problem that the prospect is searching to solve. Notice that the infographic has a “title” or a short portion of text that is larger than the rest.
Create Free Resources for Prospects Looking for Solutions
Some parts of your audience will want a resource that they can refer to in order to resolve their problem. You can provide these resources for them and market your product while doing so. These resources are simple to make, they are usually just a pdf that they can download for free and keep returning to even when they are off-line. In order to get the most value out of this, it is best practice to require leads to fill out a form before downloading. This gives you valuable information on those downloading your guide such as a name and an email. They should also have the option to sign up for marketing emails.
An example of a resource leads will find helpful: a glossary. A glossary is a good choice because it will greatly increase leads awareness of the problem they want to solve and increase intrigue into your product to solve it. It is a great way to move leads from the awareness stage to the consideration stage.
The awareness stage can be tricky because leads will be looking at many different solutions, without really having the full knowledge of exactly what their specific product is. It is your job to make them more aware while guiding them towards your product as a solution. But the awareness stage is where you have the most creative freedom. You can experiment to see what garners attention to your product. You may find yourself becoming a reliable source that leads will appreciate having, and this will eventually lead to sales and conversions!
